meta: {"file": "/data/tomer/Sefaria-Export/txt_done/Mishnah/Seder Zeraim/Mishnah Peah/English/Open Mishnah.txt"}
text: Mishnah Peah
  משנה פאה
  Open Mishnah
  
  
  Mishnah Peah
  
  
  
  
  
  These are the things that have no measure: <i>Peah</i> [corner of the field which, while harvesting, must be left for the poor], <i>Bikurim</i> [First-fruits that must be brought to the Temple and given to the priest], the appearance-sacrifice [brought to the Temple on Pilgrimage Festivals], acts of kindness, and the study of the Torah.  These are things the fruits of which a man enjoys in this world, while the principal remains for him in the World to Come: Honoring one's father and mother, acts of kindness, and bringing peace between a man and his fellow. But the study of Torah is equal to them all.
  One should not make the <i>Peah</i> less than one-sixtieth [of the entire crop]. And although they [the Sages] say that there is no definite amount given for <i>Peah</i>, it is all based upon the size of the field and upon the number of poor [who will be collecting it] and upon the abundance of the crop.
  One may give <i>Peah</i> from the beginning of the field or from its middle. Rabbi Shimon says: only if one gives the full measure at the end. Rabbi Yehudah says: if one has left even one stalk [at the end], he adjoins to it [what he has left to the beginning or middle, and it becomes <i>Peah</i>], if not, he has merely made it ownerless.
  They made a rule about <i>Peah</i>: all which is food and which is guarded and grows from the ground and collected in one crop and stored for preservation is obligated in <i>Peah</i>. Grain and legumes are [included] in this rule.
  And as for the trees: the sumac, the carobs, the nuts, the almonds, the grapevines, the pomegranates, the olives, and the dates are obligated in <i>Peah</i>.
  He may give <i>Peah</i> at any time and it is exempt from the tithes, until he smoothes out [the pile of produce]; and he may declare his produce ownerless and it is exempt from tithes, until he smooths out [the pile of produce]; and he may feed it to livestock, other animals and to birds and it is exempt from tithes,  until he smoothes out [the pile]; and he may take it from the threshing-floor and sow it and it is exempt from tithes until he smoothes out [the pile] - [these are] the words of Rabbi Akiva. If a priest or a Levite bought a granary the tithes are theirs, until he smoothes out [the pile]. One who dedicates [produce for Temple use] and redeems [the dedicated produce] is obligated in tithes, until the treasurer smoothes out [the pile].
  
  
  
  And these divide the <i>Peah</i> [corner of the field that must be given to the poor]: a river, a pond, a private road, a public road, a public path, a private path that is permanent during summer and winter days, uncultivated land, plowed land, and a different crop. One who harvests for the purpose of animal food creates a division - [these are] the words of Rabbi Meir; the Sages say: He does not create a division unless he plowed.
  [Regarding] an irrigation ditch that one cannot harvest [both sides] as if [they were] one, Rabbi Yehudah says: This is a division. And all the hills that are cultivated with a hoe, even though oxen cannot cross [them] with their [plowing] equipment, he gives <i>Peah</i> for the whole [field, without dividing it].
  All of these divide for seed crops and do not divide for trees, except for a fence. If there were branches that were intermingling [over the fence], this is not a division, but rather one gives <i>Peah</i> for everything.
  And for carob trees, all that are in sight of one another. Rabban Gamliel said: It was customary in my father’s house to give one  <i>Peah</i> for the olive trees on each side, and for the carob trees [to give once for] all that are in sight of one another. Rabbi Elazar bar Tzadok says in his name: Even for the carob trees that they had in the entire city.
  If one sows his field with one species, even though he makes it into two granaries, he gives one <i>Peah</i>. If he sows it with two species, even though he makes them into one granary, he gives two <i>Peot</i>. If he sows his field with two species of wheat: if he makes them into one granary, he gives one <i>Peah</i>; if two granaries, two <i>Peot</i>.
  It happened that Rabbi Shimon of Mitzpah sowed [and came] before Rabban Gamliel, and they went up to the Chamber of Hewn Stone [meeting place of the Great Sanhedrin] and they asked.  Nachum the clerk said: I have received it from Rabbi Meyasha, who received it from [his] father, who received it from the <i>Zugot</i> [pairs of leading Sages from the earliest years of the Tannaitic period], who received it from the Prophets, [as a] Law of Moshe from Sinai: in [a case of] one who sows his field with two kinds of wheat - if he makes them into one granary, he gives one <i>Peah</i>; if two granaries, two <i>Peot</i>.
  If a field was harvested by non-Jews, harvested by robbers, chewed up by ants, or broken by wind or animals, it is exempt [from <i>Peah</i>]. If he [the owner] harvested half and [then] robbers harvested half, it is exempt since the obligation of <i>Peah</i> applies only regarding standing grain.
  If robbers harvested half, and [then] he [the owner] harvested half, he gives <i>Peah</i> from what he harvested. If he harvested half and sells [the other] half, the buyer gives <i>Peah</i> for all [the field]. If he harvested half and dedicated [the other] half [for Temple use], the one who redeems it from the treasurer gives <i>Peah</i> for all [the field].
  
  
  
  For rectangular beds of grain that are between olive trees, the school of Shammai says: [Give] <i>Peah</i> [corner of the field that must be given to the poor] from each and every one; the school of Hillel says: [Give] from one for all of them. They concede [however,] that if the heads of the rows are intertwined, one gives <i>Peah</i> from one for all of them.
  If one harvests [the ripe stalks of] his field and leaves over moist stalks, Rabbi Akiva says: One gives <i>Peah</i> from each and every one; the Sages say: One gives <i>Peah</i> from one for all of them. The Sages concede to Rabbi Akiva in [a case of] one who sows dill or mustard in three places, that he gives <i>Peah</i> from each and every one.
  One who uproots moist onions [to take] to the market, while leaving the dry ones for the granary, gives <i>Peah</i> for both separately. And thus it is for beans, and thus it is for a vineyard. One who thins out [the field] gives from the remnant for the remainder, and one who uproots from one particular area gives from the remnant for the whole.
  The [seed] onions are obligated in <i>Peah</i>; Rabbi Yosi exempts. For the rectangular beds of onions that are between other vegetables, Rabbi Yosi says: <i>Peah</i> must be taken from each and every one; the Sages say: From one for all of them.
  When brothers divide [inherited land], they give two <i>Peot</i>. If they become partners, they give one <i>Peah</i>. Two who buy a tree give one <i>Peah</i>. If this one buys the north and that one buys the south, this one gives <i>Peah</i> for his own and that one gives <i>Peah</i> for his own. One who sells [only] the trees in his field [and not the land] must give <i>Peah</i> for each and every one; Rabbi Yehudah said: When is this? In a time when the field owner did not retain any [trees], but if the field owner retained some [trees], he gives <i>Peah</i> for everything.”
  Rabbi Eliezer says: Land [the size of a] <i>beit rova</i> [the quarter measurement] is obligated in <i>Peah</i>; Rabbi Yehoshua says: That [amount of land] which produces two <i>Seah</i> [a specific unit of volume]; Rabbi Tarfon says: Six [hand-breadths] by six hand-breadths. Rabbi Yehudah ben Beteirah says: [The size that would be needed] in order to harvest and repeat, and the law is according to his words. Rabbi Akiva says: Any size of land is obligated in <i>Peah</i>, and in <i>Bikurim</i> [First-fruits that must be brought to the Temple and given to the priest], and a <i>Pruzbul</i> [legal arrangement which avoids the mandatory Sabbatical year cancellation of personal debts by deeding them to the court, and being subsequently appointed their agent for collection] may be written against it, and movable property are acquired along with it by means of money, contract, or <i>chazakah</i> [action taken upon a property to formalize its legal acquisition].
  If a dying man writes his property [to another]: if he leaves some land over [for himself], his gift is a gift; if he does not leave any land over, his gift is not a gift. If he writes his property to his children, and writes some land to his wife, she has lost her marriage contract [i.e.,, its lien on those properties]; Rabbi Yosi says: If she accepts [being included with the gift-recipients], even though he did not write it to her, she has lost her marriage contract.
  If one writes his property over to his slave, he goes out a freeman. If he leaves some land over [for himself], he does not go out as a freeman. Rabbi Shimon says: He is in all cases a freeman unless he says: ‘Indeed, all my property is given to so-and-so, my slave, except for one out of a multitude that is among them [i.e., an unspecified, though tiny, portion].’
  
  
  
  <i>Peah</i> [corner of the field that is given to the poor] is given while connected to the ground. From vines and palm trees, the  property owner goes down and distributes [them] for the poor. Rabbi Shimon says: Also for smooth nut trees. Even if ninety-nine say to distribute and one says to plunder [i.e. to leave it for the poor to snatch what they can], to this one we listen for he has spoken as is the law.
  For vines and palm trees, this is not so. Even if ninety-nine say to plunder and one says to distribute, to this one we listen for he has spoken as is the law.
  If one took  a part of the <i>Peah</i> and threw it on the rest, he gets no portion of it [thereby]. Even if he falls upon it or spreads his cloak on it, we remove it [the <i>Peah</i>] from him. And thus it is for <i>Leket</i> [fallen gleanings given to the poor], and thus it is for the sheaf of <i>Shikhechah</i> [forgotten sheaves given to the poor].
  <i>Peah</i> cannot be harvested with a scythe, and cannot be uprooted with a spade, so that a man will not hit his fellow.
  [There are] three "begging" [i.e., field-access] times a day: at daybreak, at midday, and in the later afternoon. Rabban Gamliel says: They only said [i.e., specified that number] so that [the begging times] should not be reduced. Rabbi Akiva says: They only said so that that [the begging times] should not be increased. The people of Beit Nameir would gather that which was on [marked by] the rope and give <i>Peah</i> from each and every row.
  A non-Jew who harvests his field and afterwards converts is exempt from [the obligation of giving] <i>Leket</i> and from <i>Shikhechah</i> and from <i>Peah</i>. Rabbi Yehudah obligates him in <i>Shikhechah</i>, since <i>Shikhechah</i> only applies at the time of bundling.
  One who dedicated standing crop [to the Temple] and redeemed it, he is obligated [to give <i>Peah</i>]. One who dedicated cut sheaves and redeemed them, he is obligated. [One who] dedicated standing crop and redeemed [after it became] cut sheaves, he is exempt, for at the time that it would have become obligated, it was exempt.
  Similarly, if one dedicates his fruit before <i>Onat Ma'asrot</i> [the point in the development of a fruit when it becomes subject to tithing], and he redeems them, they are obligated.  If [he dedicates them] after <i>Onat Ma'asrot</i> and he redeems them, they are obligated.  If he dedicated them before they were ripe and they ripened [while possessed] by the treasurer, and afterwards he redeemed them, they are exempt, for at the time that they would have become obligated, they were exempt.
  He who collects <i>Peah</i> and says: “Behold, this is for such-and-such poor man” - Rabbi Eliezer says: He acquired it for him; the Sages say: He must give it to the first poor person that he finds. The <i>Leket</i>, the <i>Shikhechah</i>, and the <i>Peah</i> of a non-Jew are obligated in tithes unless he abandons them.
  What is <i>Leket</i>? That which drops at the time of harvesting.  If he was harvesting, and harvested a handful or plucked a fistful, and a thorn pricked him and [the handful or fistful] falls from his hand to the earth, behold it belongs to the property owner. [If it fell] from inside his hand or from inside the scythe [blade, it belongs] to the poor. [If from] outside his hand, or the back of the scythe, it belongs to the property owner. [If it is] from the tip of the hand or the tip of the scythe, Rabbi Yishmael says: It is for the poor; Rabbi Akiva says: It is for the property owner.
  [Produce in] ant-holes that are within the standing crop behold they belong to the property owner. [Produce in ant-holes that are] after the harvesters [have harvested that crop], the upper parts belong to the poor and the lower parts belong to the property owner. Rabbi Meir says: Everything is for the poor, since doubtful <i>Leket</i> is [nevertheless considered] <i>Leket</i>.
  
  
  
  A stack of grain underneath which <i>Leket</i> [individual stalks that fall during harvest, which must be left for the poor to glean] was not collected, everything touching the ground is for the poor. If wind scatters the sheaves, he estimates how much <i>Leket</i> [that field would make and gives [that amount] to the poor. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: He gives to the poor the amount that [normally] falls [in such a field].
  An [unharvested] ear of grain [in an area already harvested] the tip of which can touch the standing crop - if it can be harvested with the standing crop, it belongs to the property owner; if not, it belongs to the poor. If an ear of grain that is <i>Leket</i> is intermixed in a stack, one ear must be tithed and given to him [the poor man]. Rabbi Eliezer said: And how does this poor person exchange for something that never came into his possession? Rather, he grants him the entire stack and tithes one ear and gives it to him [and then repossesses the stack].
  One may not use an irrigating wheel [before the poor have collected <i>Leket</i>]- [these are] the words of Rabbi Meir; the Sages permit it, because it is possible  [to irrigate without damaging the <i>Leket</i>]. 
  If a property owner was passing from one place to another place, and needs to take <i>Leket</i>, <i>Shikhechah</i> [individual sheaves, forgotten in the field, which must be left for the poor to collect], or <i>Peah</i> [corner of the field which, while harvesting, must be left for the poor] or <i>Ma'aser Ani</i> [a tithe given to the poor in the third and sixth years of the Sabbatical cycle] he may take and when he returns to his house pay [for them] - [these are] the words of Rabbi Eliezer;  the Sages say: He was poor at that time.
  Someone who exchanges [his produce] with the poor [i.e. their gifts from the field], what is [now] his is exempt [in tithes] and what is [now] the poor person's is obligated [in tithes]. If two [poor people] received a field as sharecroppers, one may give the other <i>Ma'aser Ani</i> [a tithe given to the poor in the third and sixth years of the Sabbatical cycle] from his portion, and that other may give him <i>Ma'aser Ani</i> from his portion. Someone who contracts for a field to harvest, is forbidden in [taking] <i>Leket</i>, <i>Shikhechah</i>, <i>Peah</i>, and <i>Ma'aser Ani</i>. Rabbi Yehudah said: When? At a time that he contracts for a half, a third, or a fourth [of the harvest]. But if he said to him, "a third of what you harvest is yours", [then] he is permitted in [taking] <i>Leket</i>, <i>Shikcha</i>, and <i>Peah</i> and forbidden in <i>Ma'aser Ani</i>.
  If someone sells his field, the seller is permitted [in <i>Leket</i>, <i>Shikcha</i>, and <i>Peah</i>] and the buyer is forbidden. A man may not hire a worker on the condition that his [the worker's] son may glean after him. One who does not allow the poor to glean, or who allows one and not another, or who helps one of them - he is stealing from the poor. Regarding this it is said, “Do not encroach upon the border of those who go up [to glean"] (Proverbs 22:28).
  A sheaf that is forgotten by workers and not forgotten by the property owner, or that is forgotten by the property owner and not forgotten by the workers, or if the poor stood before it [thereby concealing it], or covered it with straw, indeed this is not <i>Shikhechah</i>.
  One who gathers sheaves into hat-shaped piles or cap-shaped piles or circular piles, these are not [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i>; if they are taken from there to the threshing floor, they are [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i>. One who gathers sheaves to a stack, they are [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i>; if they are taken to the threshing floor, they are not [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i>. This is the general rule: When the sheaves are gathered to a place where their work is completed, they are [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i>; from there to the threshing floor, they are not [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i>. [When the sheaves are gathered] to a place where their work is not completed, they are not [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i>, from there to the threshing floor, they are [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i>.
  
  
  
  Beit Shammai says: Abandoning property only to the poor is abandonment; Beit Hillel says: It is not abandonment until it has also been abandoned to the rich, like in the Sabbatical year. If all sheaves of the field are of one <i>Kav</i> [halachic measurement], and one sheaf is four <i>Kav</i> and it was forgotten, Beit Shammai says: It is not [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i> [individual sheaves, forgotten in the field, which must be left for the poor to collect]; Beit Hillel says: It is [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i>.
  The sheaf that is next to a stone wall, or to a stack, or to cattle, or to vessels, and was forgotten, Beit Shammai says: It is not <i>Shikhechah</i>; Beit Hillel says, “[It is] <i>Shikhechah</i>.
  [The sheaves at] the heads of rows, [or] the sheaf [in an ungathered row] adjoining [an apparently forgotten sheaf], [or] the sheaf that he took to bring to the city and [afterwards] forgot it; they [Beit Hillel] concede that these are not <i>Shikhechah</i>.
  And these are the heads of rows: two who started from the middle of the row, this one facing north and that one facing south, and they forgot [some sheaves] before them and after them, the ones that are before them are <i>Shikhechah</i> and the ones that are behind them are not <i>Shikhechah</i>. An individual who starts from the head of the row and forgets [some sheaves] before himself and after himself, that which is before him is not <i>Shikhechah</i> and that which is after him is <i>Shikhechah</i>, since it falls under [the prohibition of] "Do not return." This is the general rule, all that falls under "Do not return" is <i>Shikhechah</i>, and whatever does not fall under "Do not return" is not <i>Shikhechah</i>.
  Two sheaves are <i>Shikhechah</i> and three are not <i>Shikhechah</i>, two piles of olives or carobs are <i>Shikhechah</i> and three are not <i>Shikhechah</i>, two flax-stalks are <i>Shikhechah</i> and three are not <i>Shikhechah</i>, two single grapes are <i>Peret</i> [fallen grapes given to the poor] and three are not <i>Peret</i>, two ears of grain are <i>Leket</i> [fallen gleanings given to the poor] and three are not <i>Leket</i> - [these are] the words of Beit Hillel; regarding all these, Beit Shammai said: Three [belong] to the poor and four to the property owner.
  If a sheaf has [a volume of] two <i>Seah</i> [a specific unit of volume] and he forgets it, it is not <i>Shikhechah</i>. If two sheaves have [together a volume of] two <i>Seah</i>, Rabban Gamliel says: [It belongs] to the property owner; the Sages say: [It belongs] to the poor. Rabban Gamliel said, "Does an abundance of sheaves strengthen the power of the property owner or weaken his power?” They said to him, “They strengthen his power.” He said to them, “So since, at a time when there is one sheaf and it has two <i>Se'ah</i> and he forgot it, it is not <i>Shikhechah</i>, [if he had] two sheaves and they have two <i>Se'ah</i>, is it not the law that they will not be <i>Shikhechah</i>?” They said to him, “No, if you say [a law] regarding one sheaf, which is like a stack, will you say [that law] regarding two sheaves, which are like small bundles?”
  If a standing crop has two <i>Seah</i> and was forgotten, it is not <i>Shikhechah</i>; if it does not have two <i>Se'ah</i>, but it is fit to make two <i>Seah</i>, even if it is stunted, we view it as though it were good barley.
  The standing crop saves the sheaf and the standing crop [from being considered <i>Shikhechah</i>]. The sheaf does not save the sheaf or the standing crop. Which standing crop saves a sheaf? Anything that is not <i>Shikhechah</i>, even a single stalk.
  A <i>Seah</i> of uprooted grain and a <i>Seah</i> of grain that is not uprooted - and similarly for trees, garlic, and onions - do not combine to make two <i>Seah</i>, but rather they are for the poor. Rabbi Yosi says: If property of the poor man comes between them, they do not combine; if not, indeed these combine.
  Grain that is intended for animal food or for binding [other grain into sheaves] - and similarly for large bundles of garlic or smaller bundles of garlic and onion -  these are not [subject to the law of] <i>Shikhechah</i>. And anything that [grows] concealed in the earth, like <i>luf</i> [Arum palaestinum]  garlic and onions, Rabbi Yehuda says: They are not [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i>; t]the Sages say: They are [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i>.
  He who harvests at night and he who makes sheaves, and also a blind person, they are [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i>. And if one intended to take only the coarsest ones, they will not be [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i>. If he said, “Indeed, I am harvesting on the condition that whatever I forget I will take,” he is [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i>.
  
  
  
  An olive tree that has a name in the field, even the olive tree of Netufah in its time, and he forgets it, it is not [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i> [forgotten sheaves given to the poor]. Regarding what did they say this? Regarding [an olive tree] which is known for its name or for its produce or for its place. [What does]“For its name” [mean?]– that it was [called] <i>Shifchuni</i> ['The one which pours forth'] or <i>Bayshuni</i> ['The one which puts to shame']. "For its produce" --that it produces a great amount. “For its place” – that it stands near a wine press or near a hole [in a fence]. And for the rest of all the olive trees, if one forgets two, they are [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i>, but if three, they are not [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i>; Rabbi Yosi says: Olives are not [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i>.
  An olive tree that stands between three rows of two rectangles [of grain], and one forgets it, it is not [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i>. An olive tree that has two <i>Seah</i> [a specific unit of volume] [of olives remaining] in it, and he forgets it, it is not [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i>. Regarding when did they say this? When he did not start [picking] it, but if he started, even the olive tree of Netufah in its time, and he forgets it, it is [subject to] <i>Shikhechah</i>. Any time that [the law of <i>Shikhechah</i>] applies under it [the tree], it applies at the top of it; Rabbi Meir says: This is only when the olive-beater has moved on.
  Which is <i>Peret</i>? That which falls at the time of the grape harvest. If one was harvesting grapes, and he was pricked by the cluster or was entangled in leaves, and [grapes] fell from his hand to the earth and were separated into single grapes, this belongs to the property owner. If one leaves a basket under the vine, at the time that he harvests grapes, he is stealing from the poor. Regarding this it is said, “Do not withdraw the border of those who go up [to glean].” (Proverbs 22:28)
  Which is <i>Olelet</i>? Any [cluster] that has neither a shoulder nor a dangling portion [but rather is entirely attached to the main stem]. If there is a shoulder or a dangling portion, it belongs to the property owner; if there is a doubt, it belongs to the poor.  An <i>Olelet</i> that is attached to the knee [the joint between branches or the stem and the trunk] - if it is plucked with the grape cluster, indeed it belongs to the property owner; if not, indeed it belongs to the poor. A single grape - Rabbi Yehudah says: It is a cluster; the Sages say: It is an <i>Olelet</i>.
  One who prunes the vines may prune the ones for the poor just as he prunes his own - [these are] the words of Rabbi Yehudah; Rabbi Meir says: He is permitted regarding his own, but he is not permitted regarding those of the poor.
  <i>Kerem Revai</i> [the fruit of a tree in the fourth year after its planting, which must be taken to Jerusalem and consumed there] - Beit Shammai says: It does not have a [penalty of a] fifth, and it does not have <i>Bi'ur</i> [requirement to remove from one’s premises, on the eve of Pesach in the fourth and seventh years of a Sabbatical cycle,  those agricultural gifts which were not given to their intended recipients]; Beit Hillel says: It has [both]. Beit Shammai says: It has [the obligations of] <i>Peret</i> and <i>Olelet</i>, and the poor redeem it themselves; Beit Hillel says: It is all for the wine press.
  If a vineyard consists entirely of <i>Olelot</i>, Rabbi Eliezer says: It is for the property owner; Rabbi Akiva says: It is for the poor. Rabbi Eliezer said: "When you harvest, do not take the <i>Olelot</i>" (Deuteronomy 24:21) - If you do not harvest, where do the <i>Olelet</i> come from? Rabbi Akiva said to him: “[from] your vineyard do not take <i>Olelot</i> (Leviticus 19:10)", [do not take it] even if it is entirely <i>Olelot</i>. If so, why does it say "When you harvest, do not take the <i>Olelot</i>"? [to teach that] the poor have no [rights] in the <i>Olelot</i> before the harvest.”
  One who dedicates his vineyard before the <i>Olelot</i> were discernible, the <i>Olelot</i> are not for the poor; after the <i>Olelot</i> were discernible, the <i>Olelot</i> are for the poor. Rabbi Yosi says: They give the value of the [added] growth [after dedication] to the Temple treasury. What is considered <i>Shikcha</i> on a trellis? Anything that he [i.e. the harvester] is unable to take by stretching back his arm. And on runners? When he moves on from it.
  
  
  
  From when is everyone permitted in [taking] <i>Leket</i> [individual stalks that fall during harvest, which must be left for the poor to glean]? When the weakest of the poor have [come and] gone. And when for <i>Peret</i> [fallen grapes given to the poor] and <i>Olelot</i> [individual grapes which fall during the grape-harvest which must be left for the poor to collect]? From when the poor have [come and] gone and come [again]. And when for olive trees? When the second rain has come; Rabbi Yehudah said: Are there not those who do not harvest their olive trees until after the second rain? Rather, when the poor go out [to glean amongst the olives], and do not bring back [an amount of olives worth] four <i>Issarot</i> [specific unit of money].
  [Poor] people [selling produce] are trusted regarding <i>Leket</i>,<i>Shikcha</i>, and <i>Peah</i> [corner of the field which, while harvesting, must be left for the poor] in their time [i.e., during the harvest], and regarding <i>Ma'aser Ani</i> [a second tithe given to the poor in the third and sixth years of the Sabbatical cycle] all year long. A Levite is trusted at all times. And we do not trust them [i.e., the poor] except regarding things that people are accustomed to [give them].
  [Poor] people are trusted concerning wheat, but they are not trusted regarding flour and not regarding bread. [Poor] people are trusted regarding rice on the stalk, but are not trusted regarding it [the rice itself], whether raw or cooked. [Poor] people are trusted concerning beans, but not trusted concerning grits, whether raw or cooked. [Poor] people are trusted concerning oil, to say that it is <i>Ma'aser Ani</i>, but are not trusted to say that it is <i>Nikuf</i> [the last olives shaken down by the poor].
  [Poor] people are trusted regarding raw vegetables but not trusted regarding cooked vegetables, unless he had a small amount, because it is common that the property owner takes it out from his stew pot.
  One must not give less [<i>Ma'aser Ani</i>] to the poor from the threshing floor [than the following measures]: half a <i>Kav</i> [specific unit of volume] of wheat and a <i>Kav</i> of barley - Rabbi Meir says: half a <i>Kav</i>; a <i>Kav</i> and a half of kasha; a <i>Kav</i> of dried figs or a <i>Maneh</i> [specific unit of volume] of figs - Rabbi Akiva says: a <i>Pras</i> [half a <i>Maneh</i>]; half a <i>Log</i> [one fourth of a <i>Kav</i>] of wine - Rabbi Akiva says: a quarter; a quarter of a <i>Log</i> of oil - Rabbi Akiva says: An eighth [of that]. As for the rest of the produce, Abba Shmuel said: Enough that he can sell it and buy food for two meals.
  This measure applies to priests and Levites and Israelites. If one wants to save some [e.g., for poor relatives], he may retain half and give half. If he has a small amount [less per poor person present than the amounts indicated], he places it before them, and they divide it between themselves.
  One must not give [<i>Tzedakah</i>] to the  poor who wander from place to place less than a loaf that is the price of a  <i>Pundion</i>, when  four <i>Seah</i> [of grain] cost a <i>Sela</i>. If he spends the night, one gives [bedding] supplies for the night. If he stays for Shabbat, one gives him food for three meals. One who has [enough] food for two meals must not take from the soup kitchen. [If he has enough] food for fourteen meals, he must not take from the charity box. And the charity box [funds] are collected by two people and distributed by three people.
  One who has two hundred <i>Zuz</i> may not take <i>Leket</i>, <i>Shikhechah</i>, <i>Peah</i> or <i>Ma'aser Ani</i>. If he has one <i>Dinar</i> less than two hundred, even one thousand [people] simultaneously give him [a <i>Dinar</i>, he may take [them all]. If [his assets] are mortgaged to his creditor or his wife’s marriage contract, he may take. He is not obligated to sell his house or his [fine] clothes [in order to take agricultural gifts].
  Someone who has fifty <i>Zuz</i>, and he uses them for business, he may not take. And anyone who does not need to take, but takes anyway, will not depart from the world until he will become dependent on others. And all who need to take, yet do not take, will not die from old age until he will [be enabled to] provide for others from his portion. Regarding this, scripture states, “Blessed is the man that relies on G-d, and G-d will be his security” (Jeremiah 17:7). [The same is true] for a judge who judges in absolute truth. And he who is neither lame, nor blind, nor crippled, yet he pretends to be one of these, he will not die of old age until he becomes like one of these, as it says, “Justice, justice shall you pursue.” (Deuteronomy 16:20) And every judge who takes a bribe and subverts the law, he will not die of old age until his eyes have dimmed, as it says, “And you shall not take a bribe, because a bribe blinds those who can see and understand, etc.” (Exodus 23:8)