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BAVA METZIA 88

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1) FRUIT HANGING INTO A HOUSE
QUESTION: Rebbi Yanai maintains that fruit of Tevel becomes subject to the obligation to separate Ma'aser only when it enters one's house. Rebbi Yochanan maintains that entering the Chatzer is sufficient to render it subject to Ma'aser. The Gemara challenges both opinions from the Beraisa mentioned earlier. The Beraisa derives from a verse that a laborer is not required to separate Ma'aser from the fruit that he eats while he works in the field. Since the verse teaches this Halachah specifically with regard to a laborer, it implies that a purchaser who buys the fruit in the field is obligated to separate Ma'aser even though it has not yet entered a house or a Chatzer.

Rav Papa answers that the Beraisa refers specifically to a case in which the fruit tree grows in the garden but its fruit hangs into the Chatzer (according to Rebbi Yochanan) or into the house (according to Rebbi Yanai). Since the fruit is located in the Chatzer or house as soon as it is plucked, the purchaser must separate Ma'aser.

Why is there an obligation to separate Ma'aser from such fruit? Although the fruit is located in a Chatzer or house, it was not brought in through the gate, a necessary condition -- according to both Rebbi Yochanan and Rebbi Yanai -- for the fruit to be subject to Ma'aser. (Rishonim)

ANSWERS:
(a) The RASHBA cites an opinion (in the name of "Yesh Mi she'Piresh") that in the case of the Beraisa, the trunk of the tree has grown through the gate of the Chatzer, and thus the fruit indeed has entered the Chatzer via the gate.

The Rashba cites the RA'AVAD who rejects this explanation. The Ra'avad contends that even if the tree grows through the gate (and is considered to have entered the Chatzer), the fruit would not be subject to the obligation of Ma'aser because the fruit itself entered the gate before it was picked (before the "Gemar Melachah"). The fruit, therefore, is comparable to wheat that was brought into the Chatzer while still sheathed in its chaff, which is not subject to the obligation of Ma'aser.

(b) The RAMBAN, RASHBA, and RAN answer that the requirement that the fruit be brought through the gate applies only when the fruit grew outside of the Chatzer. Fruit that grew inside of the Chatzer (such as in this case, where the trunk of the tree was leaning into the Chatzer) is not subject to this requirement, and thus the obligation to separate Ma'aser takes effect without the fruit entering the Chatzer through the gate. They add that, on the contrary, this is the most ideal form of "Re'iyas Penei ha'Bayis."

(c) The RITVA writes that when the Gemara says that the trunk of the tree leans into the Chatzer, it means that it is next to the entrance to the Chatzer such that one can pick the fruit from the tree and bring it in without having to leave the Chatzer. Thus, when the fruit is brought into the Chatzer it passes through the gate and becomes subject to the obligation of Ma'aser. (Although this explanation is not given by any of the other Rishonim, the MAHARSHA asserts that this is also the view of TOSFOS, beginning of DH Ad she'Yir'eh.)

2) FRUIT BROUGHT INTO SOMEONE ELSE'S HOUSE
QUESTION: The Gemara teaches that once a laborer brings the fruit which he is allowed to eat into the Chatzer or house of his employer, it becomes subject to the obligation of Ma'aser. The RASHASH questions this from the Mishnah in Ma'aseros (2:2) which teaches (according to the Yerushalmi cited by the RASH there) that when a person brings his fruit into someone else's house the fruit does not become subject to the obligation of Ma'aser. The obligation of Ma'aser takes effect only when he brings the fruit into his own house. Why, then, does the laborer's fruit become subject to the obligation of Ma'aser when he brings the fruit into his employer's house or Chatzer?

ANSWERS:
(a) The RASHASH gives an answer based on the words of TOSFOS (DH Tevu'as), who says that the laborer does not acquire the fruit until he eats it. Hence, at the time he picks the fruit it still belongs to the employer, and thus the fruit becomes obligated in Ma'aser when the laborer brings it into the employer's house.

(b) The CHAZON ISH (Ma'aseros 3:14) answers that the Rashash's understanding of the Mishnah in Ma'aseros is not accurate. The Rashash understands the Mishnah there based on the Yerushalmi which says that "a Chatzer does not establish [the obligation of Ma'aser] except for the owner." However, the Yerushalmi does not mean that fruit does not become obligated in Ma'aser when it is brought into someone else's Chatzer or house. Rather, the Yerushalmi means that entry into a Chatzer activates the obligation of Ma'aser only for someone who has a regular place ("Kevi'us Makom") in that Chatzer. He does not have to be the owner of the Chatzer, but he must be like an owner who has regular usage of the Chatzer. Therefore, the laborer -- who regularly uses the Chatzer where he eats the fruit that he picked -- becomes obligated to separate Ma'aser when he brings the fruit into the Chatzer of his employer. (I. Alsheich)

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