Guide and summary of the Treaty Peah (+VIDEO) / the origin of The Social Security

I. Location and purpose of the treaty

Peah it is the second treatise of the order Zeraim of the Mishnah. Its central theme are the donations farming for the poor in the Land of Israel, based on the precepts of the Torah on not collect completely to the field and leave part to the need (for example: Lev 19.9–10; Deut 24.19–22).

The wise systematizing here a set of institutions halajicas protection social to ensure that the needy have a right to effective part of each harvest. Literature research stresses that Peah makes a real “letter of rights” of the poor within the agricultural economy of israel.

STUDY IN ENGLISH IN 30 MINUTES ALL THE TREATY PEAH

II. The five (or six) “matnot aniyim” main

According to the introduction rabinica to Peah, scholars identify several donations farming for the poor, among them:

1. Peah – the “corner” or final part of the field that is left un-harvested.
2. Leket – the spikes that fall to the ground during harvest.
3. Shikheja (shikhhah) – sheaves, or fruit, and forgotten.
4. Peret – grapes loose falls to the harvest.
5. Olelot – clusters defective, without bunches complete.
6. (In other contexts are added to it aspects of the maaser ani, tithe of the poor, although his treatise specific is Maaserot/Maaser Sheni).

Peah organizes the rules that define:

• That products are required,
• Terms you must leave,
• As is distributed among the poor,
• Who you have the right to receive,
• Passes with disputes and abuse,
• And, in chapter 8, the community institutions of charity (tamjui and kupá).

STUDY IN ENGLISH IN 30 MINUTES ALL THE TREATY PEAH

III. General structure of the treaty

The treaty consists of eight chapters, which can be grouped thematically it like this:

1. Cap. 1 – Measures “without measure”; definition basic Peah and its dimension ethics.
2. Cap. 2 – That divides a field and how to calculate the Peah.
3. Cap. 3 – Application to trees and other crops; details of liability.
4. Cap. 4 – Details of Leket, Shikheja and Peret.
5. Cap. 5 – Rights of the owner and of the poor; situations limit.
6. Cap. 6 – Conflict and rules of conduct in the field.
7. Cap. 7 – Special case of the olive trees and similar fruits.
8. Cap. 8 – System of charity published: tamjui, kupá and eligibility criteria.

IV. Chapter 1 – “These are the things that do not have measured”

1. Main theme

The first chapter opens with the famous mishnah “Elu devarim she-in lahem shiur” – “These are the things that have no size”:

• Peah (the corner of the field),
• Bikurim (firstfruits),
• Reiyah (the pilgrimage to the Temple),
• Gemilut jasadim (acts of kindness),
• Talmud Torah (Torah study), the value of which is equal to all of them”.

With this, the Mishnah puts Peah within a set of commandments which the Torah does not set a maximum: there is a minimum halajico, but the space of generosity is open.

2. Content halajico

In this chapter is defined as:

• The Torah is not fixed as maxima for Peah, but the wise recommend as a minimum 1/60 of the field.
• That Peah not necessarily need to be in a “corner geometrica”; can be left at the start, middle or end of the field, although the classic form is the corner.
• The owner needs to stop the Peah when to harvest; if the field was mowed without leave, there are implications of non-compliance.

3. Dimension ethics and liturgy

This mishnah is joined to the daily recitation in many traditions, stressing that leave Peah and the practice of charity is not only a duty technical but a pillar of the religious life.

V. Chapter 2 – That divides a field for the purposes of Peah

1. Central question

What a large field is considered a single unit (and it leaves a Peah) or is divided into several units (and let Peah in each)? This chapter responds by identifying which elements are “cut off” the field.

2. Factors that divided the field

Among the elements that divide a field for Peah are mentioned:

• A stream, channel, or wadi,
• A road public or private in constant use,
• A plot barbechada (fallow) in the middle of the field,
• A plot of another type of seed (different culture),
• To ploughed land, which clearly marks a section other than.

Conclusion: each “drive agricola functional” requires its own portion of Peah. This prevents a homeowner to stop all Peah in a corner remote, far away from where they work most of the poor.

3. Basic principle

The underlying idea: the mitzvah must fulfill its social function real. If the divisions of physical make certain parts of the field are inaccessible to the poor, each section has its own Peah.

VI. Chapter 3 – Trees and other crop varieties

1. Expansion of trees and vines

Chapter 3 extends the rules of Peah to fruit trees, vineyards and other permanent crops:

• When multiple trees count as a single “field of trees”?
• What distance or obstacles that separate them into different units for Peah?
• As fixed Peah in vineyards, olive groves, sycomore trees, etc

A key criterion is the visibility and continuity: if the trees are to each other and form a whole agricola continuous, are considered a single unit; if not, they can be divided.

2. Definition of obligation

We discuss:

• What species are forced in Peah (which are harvested in bulk and stored) in front of products that is consumed immediately.
• The relationship between Peah and other obligations agricolas (for example, tithes).

VII. Chapter 4 – Leket, Shikheja, Peret, and Olelot

1. Change of focus

Here the Mishnah stops to focus on the “corner” of the field and moves on to the other donations required:

• Leket – spikes that fall during the harvest,
• Shikheja – sheaves or objects of harvest forgotten,
• Peret – grapes loose,
• Olelot – clusters incomplete.

2. Key principles

The chapter defines:

• How many ears falls counted as Leket and should be left, as it (for example, if they fall many boards).
• When a cluster is considered defective and enters in the category of Olelot.
• When something is really “forgotten” (Shikheja) and passes legally become the property of the poor.

Important content: what is dangerous for you to reap the poor (such as certain fruits in tall trees) can have a regulation different, for security reasons.

VIII. Chapter 5 – Rights of the owner and of the poor; situations limit

1. Interaction affordable

This chapter enters into problems exchange between the owner and the poor:

• If the owner “buy back” the poor part of Peah, Leket or Shikheja that they picked up.
• If the poor give to the owner what halajicamente already belongs to them.
• Cases in which someone sells the field: the new owner may have the obligation of Peah, while the former, if he is poor, it can pick up as any in need.

The basic principle is that donations to the poor, once halajicamente are transferred, are not subject to the owner to negotiate favourableexcept under very specific.

2. Property and dignity

It tries to protect the dignity of the poor: what halajicamente is yours to be respected as full property, without handling it by pressure or abuse econonomico.

IX. Chapter 6 – Conflict, order and conduct in the field

1. Conflicts between the poor

This chapter regulates the dynamics practice when several poor picked-up time:

• How to avoid fights,
• What to do if some will arrive sooner than others,
• Up to that point can be “run” or “push” to take more.

The Mishnah sets limits so that the competition does not turn into violence or humiliation.

2. Participation of other groups

We also discussed:

• If the owner or your family can compete with the poor,
• If certain types of people (e.g., children) have priority or restrictions.

The goal is to maintain a order minimal of justice and social peace in the critical stage of the redistribution.

X. Chapter 7 – The case of the olive trees

1. For that a special chapter

Olive trees require a specific treatment for the form of harvest and for the value of the fruit. The chapter defines when the olive trees still belong to the owner and when they become Shikheja for the poor.

2. Olive trees “forgotten”

He examines:

• From that moment on it is considered that the owner abandonment of de facto some olive trees.
• As influencing factors such as the time of harvest, the amount of fruit remaining, distance, etc

The text discusses disputes between schools rabinicas on precise definitions of olive trees “forgotten” and how this affects the right of the poor to pick up.

XI. Chapter 8 – Charitable published: tamjui and kupá

1. From the individual parcel to the institution community

The last chapter goes donations in the field to organizacion community of the charity. The Mishnah describes two institutions:

1. Tamjui – distribution of daily food (to travellers and the needy of step).
2. Kupa – community fund charity, administered weekly for the poor residents.

2. Eligibility criteria

The chapter details:

• Who has the right to take the tamjui and the kupa.
• Which is the minimum these institutions must submit (for example, a certain amount of meals per day or on Shabbat).
• Levels of poverty: those who have certain assets or income can't take the charity publishes, to prevent abuse.

It also explains that, past a certain point (for example, after the second round pick for the elderly poor), donations have not been taken become hefker (res nullius), and anyone can pick them up.

3. Social Vision

Outside of the Mishnah, sources further indicate that the communities beans had systematically these two institutions, making Peah and other donations to the core juridico a stable system of social assistance.

XII. Axes theological and ethical Peah

1. God like owner last of the earth
   The farmer is not the absolute owner; it is administrator. Part of the crop is reserved by God for the poor. Refusing to let Peah it is, in the background, deny the right of the Creator.
2. Rights, not alms discretionary
   Peah and other donations were presented as rights and legal of the poor, not as a voluntary charity of the rich. The Mishnah speaks of “their fair share”, not favors.
3. Balance between halachah and generosity
   There is a minimum required (for example, 1/60) but the Torah leaves open the possibility of a generosity so much more. The system jurido brand a floor, not a ceiling.
4. Dignity of the needy
   The regulation of conflicts, to avoid abuses of the owner and the precise eligibility criteria seeks to preserve the dignity of the poor, avoiding the humiliation as the exploitation of the system.
5. Dimension of liturgical and educational
   The inclusion of Peah 1.1 in the daily liturgy converts these rules into constant reminder that true piety is expressed in social justice concrete.

XIII. Relevance to the study of the Talmud and rabbinic Judaism

1. Gateway to the order Zeraim
   Along with Berachot, Peah opens Zeraim and displayed as the wise, translated a precept bible brief in a complete legal system, with measurement criteria, property, conflict and management community.
2. Base to fall back
   Discussions Peah are developed in the Tosefta and in the Talmud Yerushalmi, and later codes such as the Rambam (Hilchot Matanot Aniyim) and the Shulchan Aruch. To understand well Peah is the key to the whole issue of tzedakah and social justice in the halachah.
3. Model interpretation rabinica of the economy
   The treaty is a “lab” where it is seen as rabbinic Judaism regulates property, work, poverty, and redistribution of resources without abolishing private property, but restricting it in the name of justice.

XIV. Synthesis

If you have to retain the essential points of the treaty, it would be the following:

1. Central theme
   Peah regulates the donations farming for the poor: peah, leket, shikheja, peret, olelot and the framework of the charity publishes (tamjui and kupá).
2. Principle of “without measure”
   Although there is a minimum recommended (1/60), the Torah does not set a maximum: the generosity remains open. Peah 1.1 links this halachah with other commandments key and with the study of the Torah.
3. Drive to the field
   Chapter 2 defines elements divide a field for the purposes of Peah (roads, streams, fallow land, changes of crop, etc), forcing them to leave Peah in each unit of real production.
4. Extension to trees and vines
   Chapter 3 applies the principles to fruit trees and vines, with criteria of continuity and visibility to establish if they form a single set or multiple.
5. Definition accurate from Leket, Shikheja, Peret, and Olelot
   Chapter 4 fixed criteria technical to know that ears falls, which bunches defective and forgotten products belong legally to the poor.
6. Property rights and limits
   Chapter 5 regulates when the owner may or may not negotiate with the poor what already belongs to them, protecting their right of ownership over the donations.
7. Rules of conduct in the field
   Chapter 6 establishes norms to prevent violence and abuse during the collection: the poor have the right, but must comply with an order; the owner is not able to compete improperly.
8. Special case of the olive trees
   Chapter 7 defines the criteria thin on when the olive trees and their fruits are considered to be “forgotten” and go to the poor, reflecting the economic importance and symbolic of the olive tree.
9. Institutions of charity community
   Chapter 8 describes the tamjui (daily meal to people in need, especially travelers) and the kupa (fund weekly to the poor local), with the rules of eligibility and minimum amount.
10. Global Vision
    Peah is not only a treaty technical agriculture ancient; it is a model of social order based on justicewhere the private property is limited by the obligation to share with the needy, and where the community organized institutionally this obligation.