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Sheviis Chapter 8, Mishnah 6: Processing Shviis Fruit with a Shinui

Chavrusa Learning

Shevi'is, Chapter 8, Mishnah 6. This mishnah deals with the changes a person must make when processing the produce of Shevi'is - methods that are not the usual, ordinary way - so that it will be evident and clear that these fruits must be treated carefully, with the sanctity of Shevi'is.

The methods of processing for the three types of produce:

  • "Te'einim shel shevi'is - ein kotzin osan b'muktzeh" - the way figs were processed was by cutting them into small pieces, and this may not be done with a muktzeh. The Rav explains that a muktzeh is a utensil designated for cutting figs. "Aval kotzeh osan b'charbah" - one may cut them with a charbah, from the word cherev (sword), a utensil that is not convenient to use, and this is not the usual way of cutting figs.

  • "Ein dorchin anavim b'gas" - one may not tread and press grapes in a winepress, which is the usual and ordinary place for treading. "Aval dorech hu ba'arevah" - one may tread them in an arevah, a trough.

  • "V'ein osin zeisim ba'bad u'vakotev" - "to process an olive" means to extract its oil, and this may not be done in the bad, which is the olive press, nor with the kotev - the large wooden beam with which they would press down on the olives in the olive press. "Aval koseish u'machnis l'vodidah" - one may crush the olives and place them into a bodidah. Bodidah is the diminutive form of bad, meaning a small olive press, and into it one may place the olives that were crushed.

The view of Rabbi Shimon:

Rabbi Shimon says: "Af tochen hu b'veis habad u'machnis l'vodidah" - in his opinion one may perform the crushing, or the grinding of the olives, which is the stage that follows the crushing, even in the ordinary olive press. However, afterward he must continue processing the olives in the bodidah, the small olive press, and not in the usual place. This too is a change that must be made, but it is not as drastic a change as the one required by the previous Tanna.

In summary: in this mishnah we learned that processing the produce of Shevi'is requires a departure from the usual method of processing: figs are cut with a charbah and not with a muktzeh, grapes are trodden in an arevah and not in a winepress, and olives are crushed and placed into a bodidah and not into the bad and the kotev. Rabbi Shimon is lenient and permits grinding in the olive press itself, provided that afterward one places the olives into the bodidah.