3,170. A Forgotten Sheaf Among Standing Grain

Hilchos Matnos Aniyim 5:21

If someone forgets a sheaf next to standing grain that wasn’t forgotten, the sheaf isn’t shich’cha, based on Deuteronomy 24:19: “When you harvest... and forget a sheaf.” Shich’cha is only when one forgets a sheaf in a place that has already been harvested; a sheaf among standing grain is not shich’cha. Similarly, if one forgot standing grain next to other, not-forgotten standing grain – even one stalk – it saves the forgotten grain. In such a case, the landowner may return and retrieve it. However, if one forgets a sheaf or standing grain next to an unforgotten sheaf, it doesn’t save what was forgotten, which must be left for the needy. This is true even if the unforgotten sheaf is two seah (about seven gallons) in volume. The standing grain of a neighbor doesn’t save a person’s own sheaves, and standing barley doesn’t save a forgotten sheaf of wheat. In order to save a forgotten sheaf, standing grain must be of the same kind.

Hilchos Matnos Aniyim 5:22

If someone forgets a tree among other trees, even if it bears many seah of fruit, or if he forgets two trees, they are shich’cha. Three forgotten trees, however, are not shich’cha.