In the previous section we established that the point of gemar melachah - the stage at which the preparation of the food is complete, and from which the obligation to tithe applies even to a casual snack - depends on whether a person's practice is to sell his produce or to bring it home for personal use. One who brings it home for personal use: his produce does not reach gemar melachah until it enters the house. But one who takes his produce to the market in order to sell it: gemar melachah takes effect once the physical processing is finished, even though he has not yet transported it from the field, where the growing and the processing were completed, to the market where he intends to sell it.
The reasoning is this: once the farmer has finished his work in the field, he is ready to sell. If a buyer happened to come out to the field, the farmer would gladly sell to him on the spot, and would even prefer that over the bother of hauling the produce to the market. Transporting it to the market is merely a matter of marketing and finding a buyer, but from the standpoint of production the work is finished.
The Mishnah's qualification: an intention to sell in a particular place
The Mishnah comes to qualify this ruling in a case where the farmer specifically intends not to sell his produce in the field, because there is a particular place where he wishes to sell it. For example, a farmer harvesting in the Galilee in the north who intends to sell in Judea in the south, because he knows that in Judea and Jerusalem he will get a better price. In such a case, just as with one who brings produce home for personal use there is no gemar melachah until it enters the house, so too here there is no gemar melachah until he reaches the specific place where he intended to sell.
And so the Mishnah says: one who takes his produce from the Galilee in the north down to Judea in the south, or who is "oleh" - going up to Jerusalem. Note that the term used is one of ascent, even though he is coming from the north and heading southward to Jerusalem, since every journey to Jerusalem is an ascent. Such a person may continue to eat from this produce as a casual snack for as long as he is transporting it to the place where he intends to sell it.
The same law applies even if he changes his mind along the way: while he is somewhere between Judea and the Galilee, he reconsiders and decides that it is better for him to sell in the Galilee, and he turns back. Since his intention is to sell in the Galilee and he is heading there and is not selling here, gemar melachah has still not taken effect. It is worth noting that there are different versions of the text of the Mishnah: some read "on his return," and some read "in Judea" - meaning that he began in Judea and is traveling north to the Galilee. The way we have explained it follows the approach of the Bartenura and the Bechor Kodesh.
Shabbos as a factor that creates the obligation
As we will see again and again throughout this chapter, there are additional factors that can cause gemar melachah to take effect on a conceptual level - meaning that one may not eat without tithing - even if the classic physical act of gemar melachah, whether by arriving home or by finishing production, has not yet occurred. One of these factors is Shabbos. We have already seen, and we will see further on, that when a person enters Shabbos with his food, that food may not be eaten on Shabbos unless it has been tithed, since Shabbos turns every act of eating into a fixed meal.
From here the Mishnah goes on to discuss a case where the farmer, transporting his produce from the Galilee southward to Judea, needs to stop somewhere for Shabbos. Does this interruption of Shabbos now obligate all the produce in the separation of tithes even before a casual snack?
In the opinion of Rabbi Meir - "ad shemagia limkom hashevisah" - until he reaches the place where he will rest for Shabbos. Once he has arrived at the place where he will spend Shabbos, even though Shabbos itself has not yet begun, he is standing in the place where he will stay for Shabbos, and this is like a place of permanence that substitutes for arriving home or at the market. For there is no such thing as a casual snack on Shabbos: Shabbos is the ultimate place of permanence and the ultimate destination. Therefore, says Rabbi Meir, from the moment he reaches his Shabbos resting place, this food may not be eaten until he separates tithes from it.
The halachah, however, does not follow Rabbi Meir, but rather the first opinion in the Mishnah: throughout the entire journey along which the farmer transports his produce there is no obligation to tithe, even if Shabbos passes over it. And it goes without saying that on Shabbos itself one may not eat from it without tithing it.
Peddlers who make the rounds of the towns
The Mishnah continues with another case, this time not about transporting produce but about traveling peddlers. In earlier times transport was slow and difficult, and unlike today, when a person goes to the store, the store would come to him: peddlers would arrive in a town, go from door to door, and sell various goods.
It is worth noting that Chazal showed special sensitivity toward these peddlers, not in this Mishnah but elsewhere, as we saw regarding the berachah of hagomel and regarding avoiding the appearance of collusion and mutual back-scratching. In several places in the Gemara we find that the public depended on these peddlers, and Chazal were concerned that if life were made difficult for them they would stop coming, and the perfume that women need in order to be attractive to their husbands would not be available. The Bartenura likewise explains that these peddlers sell perfumes and other items, such as combs, with which women beautify themselves.
So a traveling peddler who has in his pocket figs from which ma'aser has not been separated may eat from them as a casual snack while he is on the road, since he is not at home. The question is what the law is when he lodges for the night in a particular place, which is not literally his home but a sort of inn that serves as his home during his travels.
The Mishnah says: "Harochlin hamechazrin ba'ayaros - ochlin ad shemagi'in limkom halinah" - a peddler who goes from town to town may eat until he reaches the place where he lodges for the night. This is not referring to Shabbos but to an ordinary night's lodging, and from the moment he arrives at that place it is considered his home, and he may no longer eat the figs in his pocket, even as a casual snack, until he tithes them.
"Rabbi Yehudah omer: habayis harishon hu beiso" - Rabbi Yehudah moves the obligation up by one stage. Peddlers go from door to door, and at every door they knock on they also ask whether they might lodge there, for payment or for free, in a cellar or wherever may be available.
Therefore, when they reach the first house in the town where they intend to spend the night, they are about to unload their bundles in order to sell their wares, and they hope to sleep in that very house after a long day of hauling. Since their intention is to unload and not to pack up again, they feel that they have arrived at their place of rest, and that is enough for them to be considered as having reached their home. And even if in the end they cannot stay in that first house and have to move to another house on the other side of town, that makes no difference, in Rabbi Yehudah's opinion.
The halachah, however, does not follow Rabbi Yehudah but rather the Tanna Kamma: the obligation does not take effect until they reach the house in which they actually lodge that night, whatever their temporary home turns out to be. Only the place where they finally stay in the evening is what determines the matter, and from that point on the obligation takes effect.