Does Shabbat impact the tithing timeline? TB Beitzah 34

On the preceding daf TB Beitzah 33a the Mishna recorded that Rabbi Eliezer was lenient concerning muktze on the festival. “Rabbi Eliezer says: On a Festival, a person may remove a sliver from a pile of straw or from similar material that is before him, in order to clean with it between his teeth. And he may collect straw from a courtyard and kindle it, for anything in a courtyard is considered prepared for all purposes” (Sefartia.org translation) Because that Mishna presented some of his leniencies, the Mishnah on our daf TB Beitzah 34 shares another one even though it has nothing to do with the laws of Yom Tov. “And Rabbi Eliezer further stated the following leniency: A person may stand over objects in storage, such as produce that he has for some reason previously set aside from use, on Shabbat eve during the Sabbatical Year, during which no tithes are separated, which means one may take fruit on the following day without the need for any corrective measure, and say: From here, from these fruits, I will eat tomorrow.” (Sefartia.org translation)

Because there is no Gemara on the tractates concerning agricultural laws, let me introduce some important concepts about tithing to better understand our Gemara. The Torah commands that the Israelites give trumah (תרומה) to the priest and ma’serot (מעשרות) to the Levites. The obligation to separate trumah and ma’serot only begins when the following two conditions are met. First, the grains’ and fruits’ labor must be completed (גמר מלאכתן) and secondly, they must be brought into farmer’s private domain (ראיית פני הבית). When the produce meets these two conditions and hasn’t been tithed, it is tevel (טבל). One may snack on it, but not make a meal out of the produce until it is tithed. Today’s daf begins the discussion whether Shabbat establishes the obligation (קובע) to tithe even when the labor has not been completed.

“Based on these two sources, Rava inquired of Rav Naḥman: With regard to Shabbat, what is the halakha in terms of whether it establishes an obligation to tithe food that has been muktze on Shabbat? Specifically, in the case of an item whose labor has not been completed, does the fact that the food is muktze on Shabbat give it the status of completely prepared food, or not? Do we say that since it is written: “And call Shabbat a delight” (Isaiah 58:13), this implies that any food one eats on Shabbat is considered a delight and not a casual meal, and therefore Shabbat establishes an obligation to tithe, as if the food were fully completed and fit to be eaten as a fixed meal, even for an item that has not had its labor completed? Or perhaps Shabbat establishes an obligation to tithe an item whose labor is completed, but regarding an item whose labor is not completed it does not establish an obligation to tithe?

“Rav Naḥman said to Rava: Shabbat establishes the obligation for tithes, both with regard to an item whose work is completed and things whose work is not completed. Rava said to Rav Naḥman and challenged: But say that the law of Shabbat should be similar to that of a courtyard: Just as a courtyard establishes food placed inside it as a fixed meal with regard to tithes only when the work on an item is completed, so too, Shabbat should establish only an item whose work is completed as liable for tithing. Rav Naḥman said to Rava: I did not say this based on my own logic, which can be countered by logic of your own. Rather, we have it as an ordered teaching that Shabbat establishes both things whose work is completed and things whose work is not completed.” (Sefaria.org translation)

This discussion will continue tomorrow, (a spoiler alert) Rambam poskins that Shabbat does not establish an obligation to tithe food as Rav Naḥman asserts. (Mishneh Torah, Sefer Zemanim. Hilkhot Yom Tov, chapter 3, halakha 3)