Kilayim 6:4-5

Kilayim 6:4

If one trains a grapevine over part of a fruit tree, he may plant vegetables under the other part but if the vines spread, he must prune them back. On one occasion, Rabbi Yehoshua visited Rabbi Yishmael in K’far Aziz. Rabbi Yishmael showed him a vine that had been trained over part of a fig tree and asked if he could plant vegetables under the other part and Rabbi Yehoshua replied that it was permitted. From there, they went to a place called Beis Hamaganiah, where Rabbi Yishmael showed him a vine that had been trained over the trunk of a sycamore tree and part of one of its branches. Rabbi Yehoshua informed him that he may not plant under that branch but he may under the others.

Kilayim 6:5

Mishna 3 refers to an “ilan s’rak” (which we translated there as a non-fruit tree). The first opinion in our current mishna defines “ilan s’rak” as a tree that does not bear fruit. Rabbi Meir, however, says that all trees are considered “s’rak” except for olive trees and fig trees (because other trees would be subordinate to a grapevine trained on them). Rabbi Yosi it means any trees the likes of which are not planted throughout fields.