How Big is an Olive

(8) The olive of which they spoke is one that is neither big nor small but of moderate size the egori.

And let the mishna teach [that one can be liable to bring] six sin offerings, and interpret it as referring to a case where he consumed an olive-bulk of blood [in addition to the other two olive-bulks]. [The mishna is] referring to one act of eating, but is not referring to two acts of eating, and the Sages calculated that one’s throat does not hold more than two olives.

Rabbi Abahu himself said: [The verse states]: “Of all food which may be eaten.” [This is referring to] food that you can eat at one time. The Sages calculated: The throat cannot hold more than a chicken’s egg [and therefore this is the measure used for the ritual impurity of foods].

[And Rav Yehuda] incidentally teaches us that [food for] two meals consists of [a measure equal to] eighteen dried figs.

MISHNA: What is the measure [for a joining of Shabbat boundaries]? [It consists of a quantity of] food [sufficient for] two meals for each and every one [of those included in the eiruv]....Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Beroka says: [Food for two meals is the size] of a loaf [bought] with a pundeyon, [which is one-forty-eighth of a sela], when four se’a [of wheat are sold] for a sela. Rabbi Shimon says: [Food for two meals is] two [of three] parts of a loaf, when three [loaves are prepared] from a kav [of wheat]...

Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Beroka says [etc.]. A Sage taught in the Tosefta: And their statements are close to being identical. Are they really identical? [According to the opinion] of Rabbi Yoḥanan there are four meals to a kav, [according to the opinion] of Rabbi Shimon, there are nine meals to a kav. Rav Ḥisda said: Deduct one-third for the grocer’s [markup, as he takes one-third as profit. This adds one half to the total cost.] [Even after allowing for this adjustment,] it remains the case that according to this Sage, [Rabbi Shimon,] there are nine [meals to a kav,] whereas according to the other Sage, [Rabbi Yoḥanan, there are only] six [meals to a kav]. Rather, [we must explain] in accordance with that other statement of Rav Ḥisda, as he said: Deduct one half for the grocer’s [markup]. But it remains the case that according to this Sage, there are nine [meals to a kav, whereas] according to the other Sage, [there are only] eight [meals to a kav]. This is the meaning of that which was stated in the Tosefta: And their rulings are close to being identical.

Rava raised a dilemma before Rav Naḥman: If one threw an olive-bulk of teruma into an impure house, what is the halakha? With regard to what [matter was this dilemma raised]? If it was raised with regard to Shabbat, [the measure that] we require [to determine liability for carrying out] is a dried fig-bulk, [and an olive-bulk is smaller than that]. [And] if it was raised with regard to ritual impurity, [the measure that] we require [to determine impurity for] food [is at least] an egg-bulk, [and an olive-bulk is smaller than that as well]. Actually, [this dilemma was raised] with regard to Shabbat. And [it is referring to a case] where there is less than an egg-bulk of food [in the house], and this [olive-bulk that was thrown into the house] completes [the measure of the food in the house] to an egg-bulk. What is the halakha [in that case]? Is it from the fact that [the olive-bulk] joins together [with the food in the house] with regard to ritual impurity that he is also liable with regard to Shabbat? Or perhaps, all matters [concerning carrying out on] Shabbat require a dried fig-bulk [in order to be liable].

They said about Hillel that he would wrap them together and eat them, as it is stated: “They shall eat it with matzot and bitter herbs” (Numbers 9:11).

That he would wrap them together - Pesach, matzah and maror

What quantity of food is necessary to establish a shituf?...If, however, there are more than [eighteen inhabitants], the minimum measure [of the shituf] is [an amount of] food [sufficient] for two meals - i.e., an amount equivalent to eighteen dried figs, which is equivalent to the measure of six medium-size eggs...

A handful should not be less than two olive-sized portions.

A standard kometz in our times does not even contain 40cc

...But [what about the] removal of a handful [from a meal offering with intent to eat one olive-bulk beyond its time and one outside of its area], which is comparable to [a case where one says]: To split...

...and there are many olives in it...

Rabbeinu Tam raised a difficulty, for in Perek Chalon (Eruvin 80b) they say that two meals for the loaf of an eruv are 18 dried figs, and in Perek Keitzad Mishtatfin (Eruvin 82b) the Mishna taught that R' Shimon said that [food for two meals is] two [of three] parts of a loaf, when three [loaves are prepared] from a kav [of wheat], which means two meals are 5 1⁄3 eggs and a third of an egg, for a loaf is eight eggs. And we follow R' Shimon because in all places we say a k'beitzah [is the measure] for contaminating with food impurity and R' Shimon converts the measure into an egg but other tannaim do not do this. In Eruvin (80b), we say that (the Shi'ur of bread in) two meals for an Eruv is 18 Gerogerot. In Eruvin 82b, R' Shimon says that it is two thirds of a loaf that is a third of a Kav. This is two meals, and it is five and a third Beitzim, for the entire loaf is eight Beitzim. The Halachah follows R' Shimon, for we always say that a Beitzah is the measure of Tum'at Ochlim, and according to R' Shimon the calculation works, but not according to the other Tana'im. All Tana'im agree that half of half of half of the loaf is the measure of Tum'at Ochlim. This is clear from the Sugya there. When you divide 18 Gerogerot into five and a third Beitzim, for each of these is two meals, we find that each Beitzah is three Gerogerot and three eighth's of a Gerogeres. This is because five and a third Beitzim is 16 thirds of an egg, so for each third of an egg there is one and an eighth Gerogerot. A Gerogeres is bigger than a k'Zayit. This is clear from Shabbos 91a, like I explained above. If so, how do we say in Keritut (14a), regarding [being liable four Chatas and an Asham for] one eating, that one cannot swallow more than two k'Zeitim at once? And the Ri says that even though we hold like R' Shimon that k'Beitzah is the measure of Tum'at Ochlim, we do not hold like him regarding two meals for an Eruv. Rather, it is clear there that we hold like R' Meir or R' Yehudah; Rav Yosef and Rava hold like R' Meir, and they agree that k'Beitzah is the measure of Tum'at Ochlim, like R' Shimon...

In Keritut 14 it says that a kotevet is 2 olives. And in Section 612 it says a kotevet is less than an egg, so a k'zayit is a bit less than half an egg. And this also [emerges] from what was said in Section 368:3 that a grogeret is a third of an egg. And so writes the Rambam. And according to the view that it is four ninths of an egg, and the say in Perek Hamatznia that a grogeret is bigger than an olive, see there, so an olive is in any case less than half an egg but we are not precise and [this is because] for a stringency we are not precise, but for other matters one has to be precise.

But there is a difficulty for it says in Keritut there that the throat cannot hold more than two olives, and in general we say the throat cannot hold more than an egg. And it seems to me that [the Gemara in Keritut] is saying that [the throat] cannot hold three [olives]. But for Rambam there is a difficulty [for he says] that three olives are not [as large as] an egg. And one has to say that in Perek Hamatznia that is regarding a small olive but we are talking about a medium-sized olive, as the RB"Y writes in Section 196 in the name of the Rokeach.

...half [a loaf of eight eggs] is the measure for a house with Tzara'at (if one delays there long enough to eat a half-loaf, the clothes he is wearing become Tamei), half of half [a loaf] is the Shi'ur to be Metamei a person (mid'Rabanan, for eating this much Tamei food), and half of half of half [a loaf] is the measure for Tum'at Ochlim. This does not refer to R' Meir and R' Yehudah, rather, to R' Shimon and R' Yochanan, who mentioned the measure of a loaf. You should know this, for there, in a Baraita, R' Yehudah teaches that the Shi'ur of half a Pras (half-loaf) is slightly less than two eggs. He holds like R' Shimon, who says that half of half [a loaf] is the measure to be Metamei a person, i.e. two eggs. And Rabbeinu Tam answers that here we discuss Gerogerot without pits. They can be pressed and mashed more. It is easier to put them in Beit ha'Bli'ah (where one swallows); Olives have pits. They are hard and round. They do not stick in Beit ha'Bli'ah. Therefore, the measure of two hard olives is like the measure of more than three Gerogerot, which are soft and easy to eat; Kotevet ha'Gasah is more than a k'Zayit and Gerogeret, and less than k'Beitzah. But it is not clear for the Ri [notes] gerogerot do not have a pit. They are pressed figs! Keritut 14a, which says that the Beit ha'Bli'ah does not hold more than [the volume of] two olives, discusses meat! It is not relevant to discuss pits, or being hard and round.

But the opinion of the Rambam is still puzzling for he writes explicitly that a grogeret is a third of an egg. And it seems that regarding what the Rambam rules, that six eggs are [equal to] eighteen grogerot, as it says in the Gemara there, that is including the shells, and [it is saying] a grogeret is [equal to] a third of an egg with its shell. And as for what is written in Yoma there that 'the throat can only hold..[no] more than an egg etc.', that is without the shell...and on this they say that an olive is half an egg, meaning without the shell...and therefore he rules regarding eruv that two meals are [equal to] six eggs and accordingly a k'zayit is less than a third of an egg, and regarding the measure of a k'zayit he writes that it is [equal to] half an egg and this is in accordance with what we wrote. And likewise the Shulchan Aruch regarding eruv writes like the Rambam and regarding Pesach writes that a k'zayit is half an egg, and based on what we have written we can reconcile the words of the Shulchan Aruch here with the view of Tosfot, in accordance with the view of R' Meir as it appears to me, and the view of the Rambam.

Regarding the measure of a k'zayit, some say it is like half an egg.

Just as bitter herbs are not first fruit - ...and furthermore the olive tree is bitter but the fruit is not...

And the measure of a kotevet (large date) is more than a grogeret (fig cake) and less than a kabeitsah (the size of a large egg) and also less than three (textual variant - two) [large] olives (zayit) — as three (textual variant - two) olives are a kabeitsah....

Which is like half an egg - medium-sized with the shell. And Rambam's view is that a k'zayit is like a third of an egg, and see the Magen Avraham and Biur Hagra regarding what they write on this. And for practical purposes for a Torah mitzvah like the positive commandment to eat matzah, some are stringent and eat the equivalent of half an egg (unless they are ill and it is difficult for them to eat the equivalent of half an egg, [in which case] they can rely on the Rambam). And for marror and the like which are rabbinic some rely bedi eved if they ate the equivalent of a third of an egg, but ideally since one needs to bless on marror it seems one should not be lenient unless they are ill and it is difficult for them, [then] they can rely on it and eat only a third, so it seems to me. (And so too regarding a bracha acharonah), in a case of doubt with blessings we are lenient and do not bless until one knows they have eaten the equivalent of half an egg. And ideally it is proper to be careful not to enter a situation of doubt with blessings and eat the equivalent of half an egg or at least more than a third of an egg (Pri Megadim). And in my humble opinion it seems correct idealy to eat the equivalent of an egg's worth of bread for if one does not do this there is a concern for a wasted blessing regarding the blessing one says initially on washing for some decisors, and so it seems to me in Section 158:2, see there. And now let us return to our subject; know that regarding what the [Shulchan Aruch] writes that a k'zayit is like half an egg, that is not a ruling for our time, for there are some from among the acharonim who demonstrate that the eggs found in our time have shrunk a lot to the point where they are half the size of those that existed in the olden times with which the Sages measured. And accordingly in every place where the measure is the equivalent of half an egg one needs to measure the equivalent of an egg in our times. And see in the Shaarei Teshuva where he decided to distinguish between something obligatory from the Torah and something obligatory form the Rabbis like marror in our times and afikoman and the cups. And we find according to this in our times that one is obligated to eat matzah in the amount of an egg's worth but for marror one fulfils [their obligation] bedi eved even if one only ate the equivalent of a third of an egg, and so it seems to me...

Measure of a k'zayit - it is taught in the seventh chapter of keilim that it is not large or small, rather medium-sized, see there. And it is known there is a disagreement between Rashi and Tosafot and Rambam: For Rashi and Tosafot hold that a k'zayit is like half an egg, and Rambam holds that it is like a third of an egg. And therefore with [eating] matzah which is a Torah mitzvah, obviously one should act stringently and eat the equivalent of half an egg. And for marror which is rabbinic, one can act leniently. And regarding the bracha acharonah and birkat hamazon, in a situation of doubt with blessings we are lenient, [so] one does not bless until they have eaten [the equivalent of] half an egg. And really one should be careful to remove themselves from a situation of doubt. And also with rabbinic measures, it is fitting to beautify [the mitzvah] for one for whom the mitzvah is dear, and to satisfy all opinions. And we have already explained above that there are some gedolim who want to double the measures now, but our view is not inclined that way. And we explained this also in Section 168 and in Yoreh Deah in Section 324. And one who is stringent is stringent for themselves and should not teach this for others, see there.