Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Ezekiel 45:13

ראשית דגנך THE FIRST-FRUIT [ALSO] OF THY CORN … [THOU SHALT GIVE HIM] — This refers to the heave-offering. Scripture, however, does not state any minimum quantity, but our Rabbis fixed a quantity for it from a sixtieth to a fortieth: a benevolent eye (a generous person) gives one fortieth of the crop, a niggard at least one sixtieth, a person of average generosity one fiftieth. They found a support in Scripture that one should not give less than one sixtieth, because it is said, (Ezekiel 45:13) “[This is the heave-offering which ye shall offer:] the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of wheat”. Now the sixth part of an ephah is a half Seah; if therefore you give half a Seah as Terumah from a Kor (which is another term for a Homer), that is a sixtieth part, for a Kor is thirty Seahs (Talmud Yerushalmi Terumot 4:3).

ראשית דגנך, “the first fruits of your corn harvest.” No quantity has been mentioned as adequate for the amount of fruit to be given to the priest as this gift. It suffices that what is left over is recognisable as such. In other words, the farmer must not donate his entire corn harvest, or grape harvest to a priest or priests. This is why the sages in the tractate Chulin, folio 137, state that even a single husk of corn is considered as fulfillment of this commandment, although the sages on their own gave guidance when they said if one gives the priest one sixtieth of the harvest one is considered a miser, when one gives one fiftieth one is considered average, whereas when one gives one fortieth, one is considered generous. (Compare Mishnayot T’rumot, chapter 4 mishnah 3.) The Mishnah there finds a hint in scripture for these measures. The prophet Ezekiel 45,13, writes: ששית האיפה מחומר שעורים, “one sixtieth of an eyphah from a chomer of wheat. Seeing that the measure eyphah equals three sa-ah of the measure known as סאה, half, half a סאה, from thirty סאה equals one sixtieth. There is also a hint in scripture that a generous measure is considered one fortieth of one’s harvest when Ezekiel continues by writing: וששיתם האיפה מחומר השעורים, “you are to take a sixth of an eypha from a chomer of barley. [The prophet refers to the t’rumah, gift, to be given to the priest mentioned in Numbers 18,12, which had not been quantified by the Torah. Ed.] The word ששיתם, is to be understood as “two sixths.” Our author refers us to Numbers 31,30 where the distribution of the loot from the Midianite campaign goes into further detail, from which one fiftieth is considered as average. In addition, the very word תרומה, looked at closely, really means: “two one hundreds.” It could be read as תרי מאה, “two one hundreds.”

Six measures of barley. It is impossible to say [that it means] six se’ah, because it is not customary for a woman to carry such a [large] load; rather, [it means] literally, six barleycorns; and he hinted to her that there was destined to emerge from her a son who would be blessed with six blessings: “the spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and fear of Adonoy.”²⁰Yeshaya 11:2. Alternatively, this is the equivalent of a kav which is one sixth of a se’ah, also referred to as a שש and mentioned in Yechezkel 45:13. The Mishnah in Maseches Pe’ah (8:7) states that a poor person who is traveling from place to place must be given not less than a half kav of wheat from which to make bread. Bo’az therefore gave Naomi a whole kav, one half for Rus and the other half for herself. (Malbim) The six barleycorns may allude to the six righteous men, each blessed with six virtues are destined to descend from this marriage: Dovid, Daniel, Chananya, Mishaeil, Azaryah and Moshiach. (Targum)