Beitza 35 a, b

Today's daf begins with an exploration of exceptions to tithing.  Through examples, our rabbis seek to establish halacha.  Are we permitted to remove olives from a vat and immediately salt them and eat them without tithing?  Well, that depends.  Is the vat ritually pure?  Is the person ritually impure (for s/he may return an olive to the vat and impart ritual impurity on all of  its contents)?

The rabbis look at the notion of 'fixed'.  We learn in a note that six things define fruits as fixed; fixed fruits must be tithed before we eat them.  These are fire, ie. cooking the fruit; salting the fruit; taking from the fruit on Shabbat; already taking teruma from the fruit; taking from the fruit in a courtyard; the act of buying the fruit from its owners.  At this point, I do not know why these particular items are thought of as fixed - why a courtyard and not a kitchen, for example - but further reasoning will be shared, I'm sure.  

Beyond salting olives, other examples include clusters of grapes, the coming of evening/darkness on Shabbat, and whether or not labour has been completed.  We learn that Hillel believes that fruit is completed by the arrival of Shabbat, while other rabbis disagree.  In this unusual case, the halacha is against Hillel.  Because I am not fully clear as to the meaning of "completed" (ie. ripe? prepared to consume? all parts are ripe? etc.), it is difficult to understand the significance of this position - beyond the fact that the halacha goes against Hillel.

Amud (b) ends in Perek IV.  Our first conversation discusses figs that are collected and are ready to be dried in the courtyard.  Perhaps this is the meaning of completed; the fruit is ready to consume but we have not completed the task that we designated ourselves?  The rabbis' conversations about this issue is complicated.  It is clear that tithing can happen a different times, and so the importance of tithing before food is consumed is a particularly challenging question.  We learn that if two people exchange foods with the intention of eating those foods - which is a transaction, like buying - then both must tithe their food.  If one is taking the food to dry it for later consumption, that person is not obligated to separate tithes. This confirms the words of Rabbi Yehuda, in accordance with the previous baraita as stated by Rabbi Yochanan.

One more Mishna to end Perek IV.   We are taught that one may lower produce [left on a roof to dry] through a skylight on a Festival to protect them from rain -- but not on Shabbat.  Similarly we can cover produce, jugs of wine/oil with cloths to protect them from leaks indoors.  On Shabbat, we are allowed to catch the water from a leak in a vessel to keep the house from becoming dirty.

First, the rabbis discuss the language used in this Mishna.  The consider the spelling and meaning of words used to describe what is done to produce.  Of course, the rabbis raise the question of whether we can cover produce, wine and oil on Shabbat and not only on Festivals.  Finally, they look at how much produce can be lowered through a skylight.  It is suggested that since up to five sacks of hay or grain. can be removed from a room to create space for study or for a guest, the same amount should be permitted to be lowered on a Festival.  Of course, different opinions are debated.

What is most interesting to me is the fact that people stored hay and grain in their homes!  I cannot imagine the state of the homes we are discussing.  Dirt floors were 'cleaned' for Shabbat?  Huge amounts of semi-perishable items were stored inside peoples' homes?  Skylights?  Courtyards?  Rooftops used for drying fruit?  Just the idea of this as a 'welcome sign' for insects and animals is enough to make me itchy.  I continue to wonder how our ancestors managed these conditions while maintaining their dedication to the observance of halacha.