3,165. Grain Forgotten Between Two Harvesters

Hilchos Matnos Aniyim 5:11

Let’s say that two people start harvesting from the middle of a field, one facing north and the other facing south. They each forget sheaves both in front of them and behind them. What’s in front of them is shich’cha because what’s in front of one is behind the other. If a sheaf was forgotten behind them where they started harvesting, it’s not shich’cha because it combines with the east-west rows, which demonstrates that it’s not shich’cha. The same is true of the rows of sheaves being moved to the threshing floor: if two people start gathering them in the middle of the field and they forget a sheaf in the middle, which is behind both of their backs, shich’cha doesn’t apply. Again, since it’s in the middle of the east-west rows from which they haven’t yet started, this shows it wasn’t forgotten.

Hilchos Matnos Aniyim 5:12

Let’s say that someone harvests, binds sheaves, and moves the sheaves to a different place. He then moves them from that place to another, and then from that third place to the threshing floor. What if he forgets a sheaf when moving them from place to place? If he forgot it while moving to a place where work is completed,* then shich’cha applies. If he forgot it while moving from a place where work is completed to the threshing floor, then shich’cha doesn’t apply. If he later moved the sheaves to a place where work isn’t completed and forgot them there, shich’cha doesn’t apply. If he later moved the sheaves from a place where work isn’t completed to the threshing floor, shich’cha does apply.

*For the definition of “where work is completed,” see the next halacha.