SHEVI'IT

SHEVI'IT (Heb. שְׁבִיעִית; "Seventh Year"), fifth tractate in the Mishnah order *Zera'im, dealing with the problems of the sabbatical or shemittah year. There is Gemara in the Jerusalem Talmud but not in the Babylonian.

The contents of the ten chapters of the mishnaic tractate are briefly as follows: Chapters 1–2 deal with the problems of tosefet shevi'it, certain agricultural works which had to be stopped, by rabbinical command, already in the sixth year, on the "eve of the seventh." Chapters 3–4 speak of works allowed during the sabbatical year. Chapter 5 deals with the special regulations concerning certain specific products and discusses the attitude toward people suspected of not observing the shemittah. Chapter 6 speaks of the differences between the various areas of the Holy Land as to shemittah observance. Chapters 7–9 define the plants and products subject to the law of shemittah, and discuss the ways and the circumstances in which use may be made of the products grown during the shemittah year. Chapter 10 speaks of the release of debts and discusses the institution of *prosbul.

The closing sentence of the tractate affords a good example of equity in Jewish law. Having mentioned that the sages are pleased with him who repays a debt despite the sabbatical year, it concludes that equally praiseworthy is he who keeps an agreement though it is not legally binding. Noteworthy in the same context is the concluding sentence of the tractate in the Jerusalem Talmud, which relates that as a matter of piety (middat ḥasidut) *Rav enjoined his household that if they promised a present to somebody they should not retract, even if the promise was not legally binding; he said this despite his known halakhic ruling that a withdrawal from an agreement not legally binding does not involve a formal breach of faith (meḥussar amana, fidei laesio: see bm 49a). Attention may be drawn also to the story of Abba b. Zevina, whom a gentile once threatened to kill if he did not eat the forbidden food he offered him; when the rabbi remained steadfast, the gentile declared that, in fact, he had wanted only to test his loyalty to Judaism, and, on the contrary, he would have killed him had he eaten it (tj, 4:2, 35a–b).

The Tosefta to this tractate is divided into eight chapters. Interesting is the account of how the produce of the shemittah year used to be stored in communal granaries, and allocations made to the members of the community, each according to his needs, every Friday (8:1). The Mishnah was translated into English by H. Danby (1933).

For bibliography see the main articles on *Mishnah, *Talmud, and *Tosefta.

[Arnost Zvi Ehrman]