Yerushalmi Maaser Sheni 4:3 ירושלמי מעשר שני ד׳:ג׳

MISHNAH: One may circumvent about Second Tithe⁷⁴Circumvent the payment of the fifth.. How is this? A person may say to his neighbor, his adult son or daughter, his Hebrew male or female slave⁷⁵This rule is purely theoretical since the institution of Hebrew slavery was intrinsically bound to the land distribution by Joshua and automatically disappeared with the destruction of the first Temple, never to be re-instituted. The male Hebrew “slave” is not a slave but a servant indentured for six years (Deut. 15:18) and remains a legal person. The female Hebrew slave is necessarily a minor and supposed to be married by a member of the master’s family.: Take these coins and redeem this tithe for yourself. But he should not say so to his minor son or daughter or his Canaanite male or female slave⁷⁶They are not Canaanites but originally Gentile slaves or their offspring who became semi-Jewish by circumcision and/or immersion in water. If manumitted, they will automatically become full Jews but as slaves they have no independent legal standing. because their hand is like his hand.
If somebody was standing on the threshing floor and no coins were in his hand⁹⁸If the coins were in his hand, he could give them to another person and let him redeem the Second Tithe without paying a fifth., he says to a friend, this produce is given to you as a gift; then he goes on and says to him, it is redeemed⁹⁹Since now the produce is not his own, he does not have to pay the fifth. For what has to be formally given to the neighbor, cf. Note 54. by coins in the house.

HALAKHAH: Rebbi Abun said, Rebbi Eleazar and Rebbi Yose bar Ḥanina disagree. One said, why may one circumvent it? For “blessing” is written about it⁷⁷Deut. 14:24, “because the Eternal, your God, will bless you.” This is taken as authorization to be lenient in several respects.. The other said, why is it redeemed at a cheap rate? For “blessing” is written about it.

How do we hold? If he said to him, go and redeem for me, he is his agent⁷⁸The status of the agent is the status of his employer; a fifth is due.; go and redeem for yourself, they are the other’s property⁷⁹A fifth is due for the gift as stated in Mishnah 3.. But we have to hold that he said to him, redeem for me of your property, or redeem for yourself of my property. We have stated thus: “Redeem for me of your property, or redeem for yourself of my property, he does not add a fifth.” Rebbi Joḥanan said, for any tithe, where neither it nor its redemption money is his, he does not have to add a fifth. Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Abun in the name of Rebbi Ḥanina, the reason of Rebbi Joḥanan (Lev. 27:31): “If a person goes to redeem of his own tithes, his own fifth he shall add to it;” both it and its redemption money must be his.

How do we hold? If she⁸¹The female Hebrew slave who when she becomes an adult either is a wife or a free adult; cf. Note 75. The Babli (Giṭṭin 65a) restricts the female Hebrew slave to redeeming heave of produce not grown in the soil (in a flower pot without a hole). This answer is very questionable for many reasons. is an adult, she acquired [her freedom] by the signs [of puberty]⁸²It is argued (Mekhilta Mišpaṭim3) that the verse (Ex. 21:7) which gave the father the right to sell his daughter also restricted her servitude to the period in which the father had this right, before she became an adult.; if she is a minor, may a minor acquire? Rebbi Yudan bar Shalom said before Rebbi Yose, explain it following him who said, a minor may give heave⁸³Cf. Terumot 1:1, Notes 56–58.. He said to him, even following him who said, a minor may give heave, may a minor acquire? Following the opinion of the rabbis there⁸⁴In Babylonia. it is acceptable since there, they say in the name of Rav Naḥman bar Jacob: One to whom one gives a nut and he throws it away, a pebble and he keeps it, what is found in his hand is as if found on a garbage heap; a nut and he keeps it, a pebble and he throws it away, what is robbed from him is robbed because of communal peace; a nut or a pebble he takes, hides them, and produces them later, what is robbed from him is total robbery. He can acquire for himself but not for others⁸⁵In the Babli, Giṭṭin 65a, the formulation (by Rava, student of Rav Naḥman) is: “There are three stages for minors. If he throws away a pebble and takes a nut, he can acquire for himself but not for others; for school children, their buying is buying and their selling selling, for movables; if they reached the time of vows (cf. Terumot, Mishnah 1:3, Note 105) their vows and dedications are valid; but to sell inherited real estate {without permission of the court} one must be 20 years old.”. Rav Huna said, just as he can acquire for himself so he can acquire for others. Everybody agrees⁸⁶The Babli, Baba Qama 106b, concurs. that his gift is not a gift since it is written (Ex. 22:6): “If a man give.” The gift of a man is a gift, but the gift of a minor is no gift, the words of the Sages. Rebbi Jehudah bar Pazi in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan, Rebbi Jacob bar Aḥa in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan, robbing from him is not total robbery unless he grew two pubic hairs. Rebbi Abbahu in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan, that is, to recover from him by a law suit, but to have to bring a sacrifice for [a false] oath only if he grew two pubic hairs⁸⁷The minor, or an adult representing him, can successfully prosecute the robber from a minor in court but if in the course of the proceedings the accused swears falsely that he did not take anything, he is not obliged to bring (or, if he has a guilty conscience, he is barred from bringing) a guilt sacrifice since his robbery was forbidden by police law, not biblical law.. But following the rabbis here, Rebbi Yose asked that even for himself he should not be able to acquire since it is written (Ex. 22:6): “To his neighbor”, until he be like his neighbor. Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Abun in the name of Samuel ben Rav Isaac explained it by the method of small children. As we have stated there⁸⁸Mishnah Giṭṭin 5:9. The quote here shows that ה and א were both silent.: “For school children, their buying is buying and their selling selling, for movables.” But did we not state⁸⁹Mishnah Eruvin 7:6. In order to turn a dead-end street into a private domain for the purpose of carrying on the Sabbath, one has to affix to it a symbolic gate and then all residents of the dead-end street have to contribute to the food for a common meal. It is acceptable that one person designate the food, e. g., a wine barrel, and then appoints somebody to acquire for the other dwellers their part for this Sabbath. The qualifications in that Mishnah are the same as in the Mishnah here, with the same questions about the qualifications of the female Hebrew slave. {Since the devices of participation and eruv are ascribed to King Solomon, the mention of the Hebrew slave can be justified in that case.}: “He cannot make them acquire through his minor son or daughter or his Canaanite male or female slave, because their hand is like his hand.” The rabbis of Caesarea say, here a minor with knowledge⁹⁰It seems that a “minor with knowledge” is a minor who reached the time of vows, cf. Tosaphot Sanhedrin68b, s. v. קטן., there a minor without knowledge.

⁹¹Parallels to this paragraph and the next are in Eruvin 7, Qiddušin 1:3, fol. 60a. There, we have stated⁹²Mishnah Baba Meẓi‘a 8:4; Babli 98b. If the borrowed animal dies, the borrower is liable to pay. Therefore, it is important to determine the exact time at which the obligation of the borrower starts. This is the moment in which disposal of the cow is transferred from lender to borrower. The Mishnah states that if the borrower asks that the cow be brought to him by the lender’s slave, he becomes liable as soon as the slave goes on his way. But this seems to contradict the Mishnah here; if the slave’s hand (in the legal sense) is his owner’s then the cow should not leave the lender’s domain until she is handed over to the borrower since nobody doubts that if the owner himself drives the cow to the borrower, the latter’s responsibility starts only at the moment of delivery, not during the trip.: “If somebody borrows a cow and [the lender] sent her to him through his son, his slave, or his agent.” Does this not say that a slave is able to transfer rights from his master to another person? Rebbi Eleazar⁹³In the Babli, Baba Meẓi‘a 99a, the position of R. Eleazar is Samuel’s, that of R. Joḥanan is Rav’s. said, explain it about a Hebrew slave. Rebbi Joḥanan said, you can even explain it for a Canaanite slave, it he told him, open the gate for her and she will go by herself, as we have stated: If he led her, drew her, called her⁹⁴In the Babli: Hit her with a stick. and she followed him, he is required to pay as a borrower.

Rebbi Zeïra understood it from here: “But he cannot make them acquire through his minor son or daughter or his Canaanite male or female slave, because their hand is not like his hand.” Does this not imply that a slave is not able to transfer rights from his master to another person? Explain it following Rebbi Meïr since Rebbi Meïr makes the hand of the slave the hand of his master⁹⁵Everywhere in the Mishnah. The baraita denies legal standing to minors and slaves.. But did we not state⁹⁶Mishnah Eruvin 7:6; cf. Note 89. In the list of people empowered, the wife is noted together with the adult children since her husband cannot make an eruv for her without her consent. “his wife”? Rebbi Meïr holds that the hand of the wife is the hand of her husband! Rebbi Ḥananiah said in the name of Rebbi Phineas, explain it following the Tanna who stated⁹⁷Tosephta 4:7. In the Babli, Rava restricts the statement of R. Simeon ben Eleazar to the case that the wife inherited Second Tithe. Since R. Meïr holds that Second Tithe is Heaven’s money, the Second Tithe does not become part of the estate. If the wife now redeems the tithe with household money, the money is the husband’s but the tithe is not; therefore, no fifth is due. The Babli rejects the conclusion of the Yerushalmi here.: “His wife cannot redeem Second Tithe for him. Rebbi Simeon ben Eleazar says in the name of Rebbi Meïr, his wife can redeem Second Tithe for him.” For that Tanna, Rebbi Meïr makes the hand of the slave the hand of his master but not the hand of the wife the hand of her husband!

In earlier times, they were doing so with coins¹⁰⁰The farmer gave coins to a third party as a gift that the recipient should redeem his Second Tithe.. They took them and fled¹⁰¹In the Tosephta (4:3), R. Joshua ben Qorḥa reports that the practice was discontinued since many people did not give the coins as gifts.. They instituted that one does it with produce¹⁰²The procedure explained in the Mishnah.. Nevertheless, they took and ate it. They instituted that he should give him the right to one in ten on the ground¹⁰³As explained in Peah 3:8, a square inch of ground can be given to the recipient and the ownership of the produce transferred with it. In that case, ownership can be transferred without the produce actually coming into the hands of the second person who, therefore, cannot eat it. This sentence is not in the Tosephta..

Rebbi Inaya bar Sisai¹⁰⁴He is R. Ḥanina bar Sisai; cf. Berakhot p. 493. came to Rebbi Jonah and said to him, shall I redeem for you with that tetradrachma¹⁰⁵With R. Jonah’s coin, in the style of earlier times, as given in the previous baraita.? He said, if you want to take it, take it. Then he took it back from him. Rebbi Jonah said, I had judged his opinion that if I took it back he would not say anything; therefore I gave it to him¹⁰⁶If there was no danger that the other person would run away with the money, the earlier practice is preferable to that of the Mishnah..