Study Nedarim folio 44B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
ודלמא אתי לעשורי מן החיוב על הפטור ומן הפטור על החיוב.
And that ordinance could lead to a problem, as perhaps he will come to tithe from produce that requires tithing by Torah law for produce exempt from tithing by Torah law and from produce exempt from tithing by Torah law for produce that requires tithing by Torah law. By Torah law, the produce is not ownerless and requires tithing. However, due to the ordinance, people might relate to it as ownerless produce and assume that one is exempt from tithing it. Alternatively, they will erroneously conclude that the obligation to tithe from that produce is by rabbinic law and will tithe produce from it that one is exempt from tithing by Torah law, or they will tithe that produce from produce that one is exempt from tithing by Torah law. The result will be produce that is not properly tithed, as one may tithe produce that one is obligated to tithe by Torah law only from other produce that one is obligated to tithe by Torah law.
דאמרינן ליה: כי מעשרת — עשר מיניה וביה.
The Talmud answers: That problem will not arise, because if the declaration of ownerless status is retracted after 3 days, we say to the person who ultimately takes possession of the produce: When you tithe, tithe from that produce itself. In that way, the above problem does not arise.
מיתיבי: המפקיר את כרמו, ולשחר עמד ובצרו — חייב בפרט ובעוללות ובשכחה ובפיאה. ופטור מן המעשר.
The Talmud raises an objection from a baraita: One who declares his vineyard ownerless, and at dawn he arose and picked grapes from the vineyard, is obligated in the mitzva of leaving individual fallen grapes left for the poor [peret], and in the mitzva of leaving incompletely formed clusters of grapes for the poor [olelot], and in the mitzva of leaving forgotten sheaves, and in the mitzva of pe’a, produce from the corner of the field or vineyard, as the obligation to separate those gifts from the poor is incumbent upon the one who harvests the field (see Leviticus 19:9–10). And he is exempt from the obligation to separate the tithe from the grapes. Because the vineyard is ownerless, there is no obligation to tithe the produce.