Siman - Rosh Hashanah Daf 10
- The source that the orlah and revai prohibitions are extended into the fourth and fifth years.
The Gemara inquires, from where is it known that the orlah and revai prohibitions are extended into the fourth and fifth years? Rebbe Chiya bar Abba said in the name of Rebbe Yochanan, and some say it was in the name of Rebbe Yannai, that after stating that the fruit of a tree’s first three years is orlah, the passuk states: "ובשנה הרביעית" – And in the fourth year, and after presenting the fourth year’s revai prohibition, it states: "ובשנה החמישית" – And in the fifth year. These connective phrases (through the letter ו) connect the fourth year to orlah and the fifth year to revai, which teaches that פעמים שברביעית ועדיין אסורה משום ערלה – there are times when a tree is in the fourth year, but it is still prohibited as orlah, ופעמים שבחמישית ועדיין אסורה משום רבעי – and there are times when it is in the fifth year, but it is still prohibited as revai. This occurs when the fruits emerge early, before the Tu B’Shevat of the fourth and fifth years. In this instance, the fruits remain prohibited forever as orlah or revai.
- The thirty days before Rosh Hashanah are for the tree to take hold
It was taught in a Baraisa on the bottom of Daf 9b, that regarding one who plants a tree, or bends a vine into the ground or grafts a branch onto an existing tree in the year before shemittah, שלשים יום לפני ראש השנה – thirty days before Rosh Hashanah, עלתה לו שנה – when Rosh Hashanah arrives, it is considered a full year with regard to orlah, which Rashi explains that it is as if a full year passed and the tree is considered in its second year, ומותר לקיימן בשביעית – and it is permissible to preserve these plants during shevi’is; they need not be uprooted. The Gemara here suggests that the Baraisa, which says that it must be a full thirty days before Rosh Hashana in order to be considered a full year, is not in accordance with Rebbe Meir, who said: יום אחד בשנה חשוב שנה – that a single day in a year is legally regarded as a full year. After extensive analysis, the Gemara will conclude that the Baraisa is in accordance with Rebbe Meir, and when the Torah states that the tree must be planted thirty days before Rosh Hashanah, it is לקליטה – discussing the period needed for the tree to take hold.
- Machlokes regarding what occurred in Nissan and Tishrei
It was taught in a Baraisa: Rebbe Eliezer says: בתשרי נברא העולם – The world was created in Tishrei. He also says that Tishrei was the month that Avraham and Yaakov were born in and died in, that it was decreed that Sarah, Rachel and Chanah should conceive, that Yosef was freed from prison, that בטלה עבודה מאבותינו במצרים – that servitude was removed from our forefathers in Mitzrayim. בניסן נגאלו בתשרי ליגאל – In the month of Nissan, they were redeemed, and in the month of Tishrei, they are destined to be again redeemed. Yitzchak was born during Pesach. Continuing on the next Daf we learn that Rebbe Yehoshua says: בניסן נברא העולם – The world was created in the month of Nissan. He also differs with Rebbe Eliezer and says that Nissan was the month that Avraham and Yaakov were born in and died in, and that בניסן נגאלו בניסן עתידין ליגאל – In Nissan, they were redeemed from Mitzrayim and in Nissan, they are destined to be redeemed again.
