Resources for Rosh Hashana daf 15
Rabbi Yitzchok Gutterman
- The גמרא asks if ט"ו בשבט follows the lunar cycle or the solar cycle. The גמרא answers that it follows the lunar cycle. תוספות asks how that can be when the growth of a fruit seemingly follows the solar cycle. תוספות even brings a פּסוק to prove it. His first answer is that the end of that פּסוק indicates that it follows the moon as well. His second answer is that the Jews count by the lunar calendar. This second answer seems difficult to understand since it doesn’t seem to address the question. See theשו"ת חתם סופר, או"ח סימן י"ד who gives a beautiful explanation. He explains that the physical world follows the will of the Torah. If the Torah, based on how בית דין is מקדש the חדש, says that today is ט"ו בשבט, then by today the tree will have received enough water to grow. This is based on a famous ירושלמי brought by the ש"ך in י"ד סימן קפּ"ט ס"ק י"ג that if a young girl turns three in a leap year, then her בתולים (which grow back until her third birthday) will grow back for an extra month. The ירושלמי teaches us that the physical world follows what ב"ד decides in terms of the months of the year. Therefore, since the Jews count the lunar year, the beginning of the growth of the trees will follow that as well.
- רבה said that an אתרוג which blossomed in the sixth year but was picked in the seventh is פּטור from מעשר and ביעור. Although we follow חנטה for אתרוגים in which case it should be חייב, it is still פּטור from מעשר since יד הכל ממשמשין בו. רש"י explains that since the אתרוג is effectively הפקר, it is actually considered הפקר in regards to מעשר. רב המנונא apparently disagrees with that סברא. Many ראשונים ask why this מחלוקת is specifically about אתרוג. If they argue about whether יד הכל ממשמשין בו makes the fruit הפקר, then any fruit that grew partially in the seventh year would be פּטור from מעשר and not just אתרוגים. See the תוספות הרא"ש who actually says אה"נ, all fruit grown in the seventh year are פּטור from מעשר even though they blossomed in the sixth year. See the מאירי who says that the פּטור of יד הכל ממשמשין בו doesn’t apply to other fruit since it is highly unusual for other fruits to grow from the sixth to the seventh year. Therefore, people would know it isn’t necessarily שמיטה fruit and would not be touching it.
- The גמרא brings ר"ש בן יהודה who says that an אתרוג that blossomed in the seventh year and was picked in the eighth is פּטור from מעשר and ביעור. See the חידושי הר"ן who asks why you should be פּטור from מעשר if you are also פּטור from ביעור. He answers that since the אתרוג was הפקר during שמיטה, even though now it’s yours again, it is as if you were acquired the אתרוג from הפקר in which case you are פּטור from מעשר. See the קהילת יעקב סימן י"א who discusses the following fundamental question: do we say that a fruit that blossomed in שמיטה and was picked in the eight year is איגלאי מילתא למפרע that it never was considered a שמיטה fruit? Or do we say that it is considered a שמיטה fruit until the time you pick it, and only from that point forward do we consider it an eighth-year fruit? He says that the ר"ן we mentioned is a proof that even though it was an eighth-year fruit based on its picking, it is still considered to have been actually הפקר during the seventh year, even post facto. However, see the בעל המאור who has a different גירסא in רבה. His גירסא is that רבה said that a seventh-year fruit that went into the eighth year was חייב in ביעור and מעשר. If we apply the ר"ן‘s reasoning to that, then if it would have been actually הפקר in the seventh year, it would never have been חייב in מעשר since it would be as if you acquired the fruit from הפקר which is פּטור from מעשר. It must be that the בעל המאור holds that once you pick the fruit in the eighth year, it is איגלאי מילתא למפרע that it was always an eighth-year fruit.
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