(א) ועשיתם את חקתי ואת משפטי תשמרו ואמר "וישבתם על הארץ לבטח" שבעון שמיטה ויובל ישראל גולים (אבותה ט) וחזר ואמר (ויקרא כ״ה:י״ט) ונתנה הארץ פריה וגו' וישבתם לבטח עליה" שלא תצטרכו לצאת ממנה בשביעית לגור בארץ אחרת מפני חוסר לחם:
(1) AND YE SHALL DO MY STATUTES, AND KEEP MINE ORDINANCES. He said, and ye shall dwell in the Land in safety, because it is for the sin of [transgressing the laws of] the Sabbatical year and the Jubilee that Israel goes into exile. He then said again, And the Land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat until ye have enough, and dwell therein in safety, meaning that you will not have to go out of the Land in the Sabbatical year in order to live in another land on account of lack of food [because the Land shall yield enough fruit].
עד השנה התשיעית UNTIL THE NINTH YEAR — i. e. until the Feast of Tabernacles of the ninth year which is the time when the crop of the eighth year comes (בא תבואתה) into the house (the granaries). For during the whole summer-time (the fruits) remained in the fields in the barns, and in Tishri was the time for gathering them into the house. Sometimes indeed the soil had to bring forth fruits for four years, such as during the sixth year preceding the seventh “Shemittah” (i. e. in the forty-eighth year of the Jubilee-period) when they had to refrain from agricultural work two successive years: the Sabbatical year and the Jubilee immediately following it. This verse, however, (which mentions only an increase sufficient for three years) is said (written) with reference to all other (i. e. ordinary) Sabbatical years.
§ The Sages taught: When the verse states: “And you shall eat of the produce of the old store” (Leviticus 25:22), this means without salmanton. What is the meaning of: Without salmanton? Rav Naḥman said: Without worms [retzinta] and Rav Sheshet said: Without blight.
It is taught in accordance with Rav Sheshet: “And you shall eat of the produce of the old store,” one might have thought that the Jewish people will wait for the new produce due to the old store because the old store will have gone bad. Therefore, the verse states: “Until its produce comes in,” which indicates that they will not stop eating the old produce until the new produce comes of itself.
The Sages taught: “And you shall eat old store long kept” (Leviticus 26:10). This teaches that any produce that is older than other better than that other produce. And I have derived that this is the case only with regard to items for which it is the normal manner to age them. From where do I derive in the case of items for which it is not the normal manner to age them? The verse states: “Old store long kept,” in any case.
וְיָשָׁן מִפְּנֵי חָדָשׁ תּוֹצִיאוּ מְלַמֵּד שֶׁהָיוּ אוֹצָרוֹת מְלֵאִין יָשָׁן וָגֳרָנוֹת מְלֵאִין חָדָשׁ וְהָיוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל אוֹמְרִים הֵיאַךְ נוֹצִיא זֶה מִפְּנֵי זֶה
אָמַר רַב פָּפָּא כׇּל מִילֵּי עַתִּיקָא מְעַלְּיָא לְבַר מִתַּמְרֵי וְשִׁיכְרָא וְהַרְסָנָא:
“You shall bring forth the old from before the new,” teaches that there will be storehouses full of old produce and threshing floors full of new produce, and the Jewish people will say: How will we take out this produce before that produce is brought in?
Rav Pappa said: Everything that is old is superior in quality to the new, except for dates, liquor, and small fish.