הלכות מתנות עניים ג׳Gifts to the Poor 3

Halacha 4ד׳

הָיָה מַפְסִיק בָּהּ אֶרֶץ בּוּרָה שֶׁאֵינָה זְרוּעָה וְלֹא חֲרוּשָׁה. אוֹ אֶרֶץ נִירָה וְהִיא שֶׁנֶּחֶרְשָׁה וְלֹא נִזְרְעָה. אוֹ שֶׁהִפְסִיק בָּהּ זֶרַע אַחֵר. כְּגוֹן שֶׁהָיָה חִטִּים מִכָּאן וְחִטִּים מִכָּאן וּשְׂעוֹרִים בָּאֶמְצַע. אוֹ שֶׁקָּצַר בְּאֶמְצָעָהּ אֲפִלּוּ קֹדֶם שֶׁתָּבִיא שְׁלִישׁ וְחָרַשׁ מָקוֹם שֶׁקָּצַר. הֲרֵי זוֹ נִפְסֶקֶת לִשְׁתֵּי שָׂדוֹת. וְהוּא שֶׁיִּהְיֶה רֹחַב כָּל אֶחָד מֵאֵלּוּ כִּשְׁלֹשָׁה תְּלָמִים שֶׁל פָּתִיח וְהוּא פָּחוֹת מִבֵּית רֹבַע. בַּמֶּה דְּבָרִים אֲמוּרִים בְּשָׂדֶה קְטַנָּה שֶׁהִיא חֲמִשִּׁים אַמָּה שֶׁל שְׁתֵּי אַמּוֹת אוֹ פָּחוֹת. אֲבָל אִם הָיְתָה יְתֵרָה עַל זוֹ אֵין הַבּוּר אוֹ הַנִּיר מַפְסִיקָהּ לִשְׁתַּיִם אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן הָיְתָה בּוֹ רֹחַב בֵּית רֹבַע. אֲבָל זֶרַע אַחֵר כָּל שֶׁהוּא מַפְסִיק בָּהּ:

In the case of a field that is divided by fallow land which is not sown or ploughed, or land that is broken up and ploughed but not sown, or land planted with different kinds of crops, such as wheat on either side and barley in the middle, or if one harvested the middle, even if it was before the crop became a third of the way ripe and he ploughed the area he harvested, then this area is divided into two fields. This is in the case of each field [on either side] being at least the width of three furrows of ploughed land, which is a little less than an amount of land required to plant one-fourth of a kav of seed. How does this apply? This pertains to a small field that is fifty cubits by two cubits or less [that one is dividing into even smaller fields], but if it is more, the fallow land or broken land does not form a partition dividing the field into two unless it [the divider] is the width of the amount of land required for one-fourth of a kav of seed.42Maimonides claims that if one has a small, narrow field and wants to divide it into two even smaller fields, if one leaves a portion of uncultivated or simply ploughed land in between two parts of this thin field, then this serves as an adequate partition so long as the two parts are at least three furrows wide and can still be considered a field each in its own right. If, however, the field is not long and thin but larger, the divider itself must be larger, at least as large as an area in which a quarter of a kav of seed might be sown (approximately 100 square cubits). Ravad, however, points out that this is not in accordance with what is written in the Jerusalem Talmud Péah 2:1. There it describes two approaches to dividing a field with fallow or ploughed land. In that source, the sage Rav says that a field may be divided by a section of land large enough to require a quarter of a kav of seed, while Rabbi Yochanan says that the divider need only be three furrows in width. The Talmud goes on to explain that these approaches do not contradict each other, only that Rav defines the divider in terms of total area while Yochanan defines the divider in terms of width, and one could say that a divider of three furrows width is fifty cubits by two cubits, thereby satisfying Rav's measurement. Ravad clarifies that Rav's approach easily pertains when dealing with a very large field, that if one has a square section of 100 square cubits or more of uncultivated or ploughed land in the middle of a very large field, then this can serve as a divider. Yochanan's approach is applicable to the more common scenario of having either a large or a small field where one has a thin strip of land dividing it. Ravad's implication is that Maimonides has confused which measurement goes with which field, that the long, thin field that is fifty by two cubits is the divider and not the total field. In the case, however, of a different kind of crop going down the middle, any quantity of land serves as a partition.

Halacha 5ה׳

אֲכָלָהּ גּוֹבַאי אוֹ קִרְסְמוּהָ נְמָלִים בְּאֶמְצָעָהּ אִם חָרַשׁ מָקוֹם שֶׁאָכְלוּ הֲרֵי זֶה מַפְסִיק:

If locusts consumed [the crop] or ants devoured it down the middle, if the farmer ploughs the land that they ate, then this forms a partition [and each side is considered a separate field].43See Tosefta Péah 1:8.