Pe'ah

Pea / פאה (Eng. field corner) is a treatise of the Mishnah in order Sera'im / זרעים (Eng. " seeds "). He dealt with in its eight chapters five types of taxes to the poor in the context of the harvest, of which the Pea / field corner just one, for the treatise, however, is the eponymous.

Biblical origin

The Mishnaic rules for the arms duties have their origin in biblical instructions. So it is called

" But if you test your land, thou shalt not cut everything up to the corners of thy field, not even glean. Also thou shalt not glean even pick up the fallen berries, but the poor and stranger thou shalt leave it in your vineyard; I am the LORD your God. "

Gleaning ( Leqet / לקט ) and the apostates ( Perat / פרט ) and the gleanings are on this section, the provisions for the field corner ( Pea / פאה ) derived in grapes ( Olelet / עוללת ). The instruction for the first two charges can be found similarly in Leviticus 23

" But if ye harvests your land, you shall not cut everything to the corner of the field, nor glean, but shall leave it to the poor and strangers. I am the LORD your God. "

It must be pointed to the inclusion of these provisions in Deuteronomy, where additionally the category of the Forgotten ( Schichecha / שכחה ) is introduced.

"When you harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it, but it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless you in every work of thine hands. If ... you have read thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. "

Individual determinations

The treatise begins with the rules for the field area ( 1.2 to 4.9 ). It is clarified how a field should be like (minimum size, type of seed, etc. ) so that the output of the box corner can be collected from him. Likewise, the questions after the date of delivery, according to the procedure in possession of prescriptions, according to the access rights of the poor. The second section ( 4.10 to 5.6 ) is dedicated to gleaning. After clarifying what is to count as gleaning, among others Compensation in the event determined that the field owner has denied the poor their share. In section 5.7 to 7.2 has been forgotten is discussed. Unlike in the biblical rules that only apply to already harvested grain, not yet harvested grain, the rabbis according regarded as forgotten, as well as other types of field and tree crops, such as Olives. As of 7.3, the provisions for de-energized and gleaning grapes are finally negotiated. Again, to clarify first what and under what conditions falls within the categories listed. The final eighth chapter will first update some provisions for arms decade before it concludes the treatise with a aggadic piece: main theme is justice, understood as a protection for the poor.

Tosefta and Talmud

The treatise has a parallel in the Tosefta but only a Gemara in Talmud Yerushalmi. In the Babylonian Talmud, however, there is no Gemara to Pea, as with all treatises of the order Sera'im, except Berachot. The reason probably lies in the fact that the agricultural provisions only in the land of Israel had application and therefore were for the Babylonian diaspora of less interest.