Introduction

Above in mishnah seven we learned that if a stalk of grain has two seahs it is not considered forgotten.  Our mishnah asks what happens if he forgets a stalk that has one seah and doesn’t forget some already harvested grain that is also one seah?  Do the two add up causing the two-seah rule to still apply?

Mishnah Nine

1)      A seah of plucked grain and a seah of unplucked grain, and also trees; and garlic and to onions do not combine to count as two seahs, but rather they must be left to the poor.

2)      Rabbi Yose says: if anything that belongs to the poor comes in between them, the two are not combined together; otherwise, they do combine.

Explanation

Section one:  If the unforgotten plucked grain and the forgotten unplucked grain add up to two seahs, they do not combine, and they still must be left for the poor.  The same holds true for a seah of unharvested fruit and a seah of harvested fruit—if both are forgotten they do not combine together and both belong to the poor. 

In addition the mishnah notes that forgotten garlic and onions do not combine together to count as two seahs, even if both are harvested or both are unharvested. This is because garlic and onions are different species, even though they go together very well in many delicious dishes (yum—I love garlic and onion).

Section two:  Rabbi Yose says that if there is between one seah and the other something that belongs to the poor, such as gleanings, then the two seahs do not join together.  However, if they are lying right next to each other with nothing that belongs to the poor interrupting them, then they do join together to add up to two seahs and they do not belong to the poor.