Maaser Sheni, Chapter 3, Mishnah 6. In the previous mishnah we presented the principle that once produce of maaser sheni has entered Jerusalem, it can no longer leave. Our mishnah comes to define the precise limits of this halachah.
Produce whose processing was completed that passed through Jerusalem:
"Peiros shenigmerah melachtan" - produce whose processing has been completed, so that it has reached the stage of gemar melachah and is ready for the separation of Terumah and tithes, except that they have not yet been separated from it. "Ve'avru betoch Yerushalayim" - while it was still tevel, before the tithe had been separated from it, it was brought into Jerusalem and taken out again, and the separation of maaser rishon and maaser sheni was done outside Jerusalem.
The halachah in such a case: "Yachazir maaser sheni shelahen veye'achel biYerushalayim" - the maaser sheni must be brought back to Jerusalem and eaten there, and there is no possibility of redeeming it outside Jerusalem. The reason is that the Tanna of our mishnah holds "matanos shelo hurmu ke'ilu hurmu" - all Terumah and tithes, including the gifts to the kohen and the gifts to the Levi, as well as maaser sheni (even though it is not given to anyone else but is eaten by the owners themselves), are viewed even before they have been separated as though they had already been lifted out and separated.
Therefore, even though at the time the produce was brought into Jerusalem the maaser sheni had no independent existence of its own but was entirely included within the tevel, since the maaser sheni is destined ultimately to be separated from it, it is as though the maaser sheni itself had been in Jerusalem. For that reason it can no longer be redeemed, and that very maaser sheni must be returned to Jerusalem and eaten there.
Produce whose processing was not completed:
All of the above applies specifically to tevel that has reached the stage of gemar melachah. But "shelo nigmerah melachtan" - produce whose processing has not been completed, such as "salei anavim lagat", baskets of grapes designated to be brought to the winepress that have not yet been brought there, or "salei te'einim lamuktzeh", baskets full of figs designated to be brought to the muktzeh, the place where figs are dried and pressed into cakes. Such produce has not yet reached gemar melachah, and regarding its law Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel disagree:
Beis Shammai say: "Yachazir maaser sheni shelahen veye'achel biYerushalayim" - the maaser sheni must be returned to Jerusalem even though the produce had not reached gemar melachah. In their view, the walls and boundaries of Jerusalem have the power to absorb the maaser sheni, and not only at the stage of tevel that precedes the separation and the designation of the produce as maaser sheni, but even earlier, while the processing of the fruit has not yet been completed.
Beis Hillel say: since the tevel has not reached the stage of gemar melachah and the completion of its processing, the walls do not absorb it. Therefore, when he takes the produce out of Jerusalem and separates maaser sheni from it, and he now has a distinct portion of maaser sheni before him, he may redeem it, eat the produce wherever he wishes, and bring only the coins up to Jerusalem.
The view of Rabbi Shimon ben Yehudah in the name of Rabbi Yose:
Rabbi Shimon ben Yehudah disagrees and says that Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel did not argue at all about produce whose processing was not completed: all agree that it does not have the status of maaser sheni at the time it was brought into Jerusalem, and when maaser sheni is later separated from it, that maaser sheni may be eaten anywhere and the coins go up to Jerusalem, since it can be redeemed. About what, then, did they argue? About produce whose processing was completed:
Beis Shammai: the maaser sheni must be returned to Jerusalem and can no longer be redeemed, since it is as though the maaser sheni itself had been in Jerusalem.
Beis Hillel: even in this case it may be redeemed and eaten anywhere.
This view stands in contrast to the first view in the mishnah, according to which all agree that when produce whose processing was completed passed through Jerusalem, the maaser sheni must return to Jerusalem. According to Rabbi Shimon ben Yehudah, Beis Hillel hold that even if the produce reached gemar melachah there is no need to return it, and the maaser sheni may be redeemed outside Jerusalem.
"Veshel demai - nichnas veyotzei venifdeh":
The mishnah concludes with the law of demai, produce about which there is a doubt whether tithes were separated from it. Demai may enter Jerusalem, leave it, and be redeemed outside it. There are two ways of understanding this statement:
Some understand that the mishnah is speaking of actual maaser sheni of demai that has already been separated: even if this maaser sheni was brought into Jerusalem, it may be taken out and redeemed outside Jerusalem.
Others say that even maaser sheni of demai itself, once it has been brought into Jerusalem, cannot leave, and its law is like that of ordinary maaser sheni. Our mishnah is speaking of tevel of demai, from which the tithes have not yet been separated: if it entered Jerusalem, it may be taken out and maaser sheni separated from it outside the city, and that maaser sheni need not return to Jerusalem but may be redeemed outside.
In summary: in this mishnah we learned that when produce whose processing was completed passed through Jerusalem, the maaser sheni that will be separated from it must return to Jerusalem and be eaten there, by force of the principle that "matanos shelo hurmu ke'ilu hurmu". Regarding produce whose processing was not completed, Beis Shammai hold that the walls of Jerusalem absorb it even at this stage, while Beis Hillel hold that it may be redeemed. Rabbi Shimon ben Yehudah in the name of Rabbi Yose reversed the matter: the dispute is specifically about produce whose processing was completed, whereas when the processing was not completed all agree that it may be redeemed. Finally, we clarified the law of demai and the two approaches to understanding it.