Kiddushin 38: The New Crop, Diverse Kinds, and Orla; Moshe's Birth and Death

If moshav, dwelling, teaches us that we are forbidden from benefiting from the new crop only after we inherit and settle in Eretz Yisrael, why don't the Jews eat the produce of HaAretz as soon as they enter the land?  Manna, answer the rabbis.  Manna was left over from their time in the wilderness.  We are directed to a number of texts that tell the story of both "coming to a settled land"  and "to the borders of the land of Canaan".  If Moshe Rabbeinu died on the seventh of Adar and the manna stopped falling that day, the Jews would have eaten the manna that they stored in their vessels until the sixteenth of Nissan.  That day, also the second day of Pesach, initiated the sacrifice of the omer and with it, permission to benefit from the new crop. 

Our rabbis take this opportunity to quote from baraitot which provide multiple textual references to prove that Moshe died on the seventh of Adar and that he was born on the seventh of Adar.

Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai says that the Jewish people were commanded to do three mitzvot immediately when entering HaAretz: the new crop, diverse kinds, and orla.  All three of these mitzvot apply in and outside of HaAretz.  He then argues why these mitzvot should apply in all places.  He notes that the new crop is not a permanent prohibition (it lasts until the omer is sacrificed).  As well, it is not a prohibition against deriving benefit, for the new crop can be used for things other than eating.  Finally, there is dissolution for its prohibition.  This means that the grain grown before the omer has been sacrificed is allowed after the 16th of Nissan.  These halachot apply in all places, and so diverse kinds should have the same halacha.

He continues: diverse kinds are prohibited permanently, and their prohibition is against deriving benefit, and there is no dissolution for its prohibition.  Shouldn't this apply inside and outside  of HaAretz?  Similarly, orla is not a permanent prohibition (it lasts only the first three years of the tree's life), but one may not derive benefit from it and its prohibited fruit never becomes permitted.

Rabbi Eliezer, son of Rabbi Shimon, argues that any mitzvah that Jews were commanded to perform before entering HaAretz apply in all places.  Any mitzvah that was commanded within HaAretz should be performed only there, with the exception of monetary debts in the shemita, the sabbatical year, and the freeing of slaves in the Jubilee year.  Proofs for these exceptions are offered as well, of course.  One of these is that monetary debts are obligations of the body.  Our bodies travel with us outside of HaAretz, and so do our bodily obligations. Further, abrogation of monetary debts is not dependent upon the land but is proclaimed by G-d (Deuteronomy 15:2).  The emancipation of slaves does depend on "throughout the land" (Leviticus 25:10), but the Jubilee year overrides HaAretz and extends beyond the land.

Our Gemara ends with a discussion about some of the other similarities and differences between the mitzvot of the new crop, diverse kinds, and orla.  It is noted that these mitzvot were handed to Moshe from Sinai.  Orla and diverse kinds hold an uncertain status and thus apply outside of HaAretz only by rabbinic law.    Orla may be allowed outside of the land, for example, in Syria (Orla 3:9).  Jews are even allowed to purchase orla from a Gentile outside of HaAretz as long as the Gentile does not witness this!  Two other examples are shared regarding the permitted use of diverse kinds (vegetables grown in a vineyard).