Sefer HaChinuch ספר החינוך

To leave over the corner of the field: To leave over a corner from the produce, as it is stated (Leviticus 19:10), “to the poor and to the stranger shall you leave them,” after it mentioned, “you shall not finish the corner of your field” (Leviticus 19:9). And the understanding of stranger [here] is a righteous convert. (See Sifra Kedoshim 3:4.) And so [too], any “stranger” stated in [the context of] gifts to the poor — as behold, it is written about the second tithe (Deuteronomy 26:12), “to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow.” And that is certainly the righteous convert — when undifferentiated — as its witnesses (the orphan and the widow) are by its side. And the same is the case for all of the gifts to the poor. And nonetheless they, may their memory be blessed, said (Gittin 59b) that we do not prevent them from the poor of the idolaters, due to the ways of peace. And the content of the corner, is that a person leaves a little of his produce at the end of his field at the time that he reaps. And there is no measure to this remnant by Torah writ, but the Sages gave a measurement to the thing (Mishnah Peah 1:2), and it is one in sixty parts.

It is from the roots of the commandment that God, blessed be He, wanted that His people that He chose be crowned with every good and dear trait and that they would have a blessed soul and a generous spirit. And I have already written (Sefer HaChinukh 16) that through the actions is the soul acted upon and it becomes good and the blessing of God descends upon it. And there is no doubt that when a man leaves a portion of his fruits in his field and he abandons them so that those in need should benefit from it, he shows about himself a satisfied will and a correct and blessed spirit, and that God, may He be blessed, has satiated him with His good, “and his soul will also recline in the good.” But the one who gathers it all into his home and does not leave over blessing that the destitute — who saw the field in its fullness and had a desire to fill themselves with it, because they were hungry — not benefit from it, shows, without a doubt, about himself an evil heart and a bad spirit and evil will come to him. And it is like they, may their memory be blessed, said (Sotah 8b), “In the measure that a person measures, so will he be measured.” And this matter will suffice for us on the level of its simple understanding also for gleanings, forgotten sheaves, fallen grapes of the vineyard and bunchless grapes.

From the laws of the commandment is, for example, that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Chullin 137a) that it is one, whether he is a harvester (cutter) or a plucker, he is liable for the corner — and even though the verse stated, “In your harvesting,” [it is] not specifically [about] a harvester. And if he transgressed and harvested everything (Bava Kamma 94a), he gives a little of the harvested [produce] to the poor. And that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Chullin 131a) that there is no [right] for the owners to benefit [by choosing who receives] the favor, but rather [the poor can] take it against their will. And the law of from when is any person permitted to them. And that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Chullin 134b) that if there are no poor to take the corner, that the owner of the field is permitted to take it; as it is stated, “to the poor and to the stranger,” and they, may their memory be blessed, expounded, “and not to the ravens and to the bats.” And they, may their memory be blessed, gave this general principle about the obligation of the corner, whether from the produce or whether from the trees: Any food that grows from the ground, is guarded, cut all at once and brought in to be preserved — for example produce, legumes, carobs, walnuts, almonds, grapes, olives and that which is similar to them that have these five [characteristics] that we said — is obligated in the corner. But woad and rubia and what is similar to them are exempted because they are not food; and so [too,] truffles and mushrooms are exempted because they are not guarded; and so [too,] figs are not obligated since their cutting is not at once; and so [too] vegetables are exempt, because they are not brought in to be preserved. (See Shabbat 68a.)

And so [too,] that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Talmud Yerushalmi Peah 4:4) that the obligation of the corner is only after the fruits have reached a third [of their ripeness], and that we leave the corner only at the end of the field, so that the poor will know its place (Shabbat 22a). And what is the law of brothers that split a field (Mishnah Peah 3:5), and so [too,] the law of partners that split [it]; the law of one who sells parts of his field to [different] people; the law of [a group of poor people, in which] one poor person says to divide the corner among them and his fellows say to plunder, that we listen to the one — and even against many — since he is saying like the law (Mishnah Peah 4:1); the law of at which times of day we distribute the corner (Mishnah Peah 4:5); the law of a poor man who took a little of the corner and threw [it] on the rest, or he spread his cloak over it [to acquire it] (Mishnah Peah 4:3); the law of poor people standing over the corner, that if [another] poor person came and took it, he acquires it, since a poor person does not acquire gleanings, forgotten sheaves and the corner — nor any person a found coin — until it reaches his hand (see Bava Metzia 118a); so [too] that which they, may their memory be blessed, said that a man is obligated to add to the corner according to the size of the field, according to the number of the poor and according to the blessing of the seed (crop); and the rest of its details are in the tractate that is built on this, and that is Tractate Peah.

And it is practiced by Torah writ by males and females — whether by Israelites, by Levites or by priests — specifically in the Land of Israel and at the time that Israel is there, as with the priestly tithe and the tithes. [This is] according to the opinion of Rambam, may his memory be blessed (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Heave Offerings 1:26), who said that the priestly tithe and the tithes are only practiced in the Land and specifically at the time that Israel is there, and as we will write with God’s help in the Order of Shoftim on the commandment of separating the great priestly tithe (Sefer HaChinukh 507). And rabbinically, it is practiced even outside the Land. And he, may his memory be blessed, wrote (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Gifts to the Poor 1:14) that it appears to him that the law is the same for the other gifts to the poor, that they are all practiced outside the Land rabbinically. And one who transgresses it and does not leave the corner in the Land at the time that it is in its inhabitation has nullified this positive commandment and is obligated to give the measure of the corner from the [produce] to the poor. And if all of the [produce] is lost or burnt before he gives anything from it to the poor, he is lashed on account of the negative commandment of “you shall not finish the corner of your field, etc.” (Sefer HaChinukh 217), since he no longer has anything in his hand with which to fix [his violation of] the negative commandment. But so long as he has from the [produce] in his hand, he gives from them and [becomes] exempt with this; since this negative commandment is a negative commandment that is rectified by a positive commandment — and so [too,] the negative commandment of gleanings (Sefer HaChinukh 219), as it is elucidated in Peah and Makkot. (See Tur, Yoreh Deah, 332.)