Kil’ayim – Mixed Species – Mixing it up in the fields
- This tractate deals with biblical prohibitions of mixing species, such as the planting of seeds, or grafting of different trees to each other, the growing of plants other than grapevines in vineyards, crossbreeding animals, combining a team of different kinds of animals together to work, and the mixing animal and plant fibers in garments. These prohibitions come from Leviticus 19:19 and Deuteronomy 22:9–11 in the Torah.
- Chapter 1 – A litany of, mostly, different species that are not considered kil’ayim, that is, the sages feel are sufficiently similar that raising them together is not an issue under the rules. So, for example, different kinds of beans can be grown together. Cucumbers and melons can be. On the other hand, radishes, turnips, and mustards are considered, while similar, to be sufficiently different as to not be permitted to be grown together. When it comes to grafting, interestingly, while two different fruit trees can’t be grafted together, it is permitted to graft vegetables and vines onto a tree, assuming that would even work, biologically speaking.
- Chapter 2 – Sets out the minimum size of a plot on which only one type of grain or vegetable can be planted – a bet rova, a measurement roughly equal to 100 square cubits, or 225 square feet – so a square plot that’s 15 feet on a side. There must be a separation between the plots that is definite (six handbreadths, or about 2 feet), and you can’t plant similar looking grains or vegetables next to each other where they might be confused with one another. If you want to replant a plot with something new, you have to uproot every plant and till the soil before planting anew.
- Chapter 3 – If you’re going to plant in long rows (minimum length 12 cubits, or 18 feet), you can do that, though any given vegetable needs to be planted in at least two adjacent rows. No single rows of a vegetable permitted, even as a border. If a plant tends to wander in its growth, you have to train the vines or stalks to go in a different direction from its neighbors.
- Chapter 4 – Even the workspace for the workers is measured. If you’re going to have an area where you do things like sort seeds and arrange for planting, that’s within the planted area, it must be a bare area of a minimum of, depending on which sage you ask, 12, 16, or 24 cubits in width or length. This ensures that any seeds that are destined for one patch don’t accidentally end up in another because of wind or other natural forces. Reminds me of the whole Monsanto kerfuffle about windblown genetically altered seeds growing on neighboring farms.
- Chapter 5 – Haphazardly planted vineyards are not true vineyards – the vines must be planted in straight rows, with correct spacing. If you plant vegetables in and around vines, you make an area of 45 vines invalid for harvest. If a vegetable or grape or grain is ready for harvest, you should harvest it then. If you wait long enough that it increases in measure by 1/200th (no idea how this was then measured, and I’m sure no one actually did), you aren’t allowed to harvest it. Or, you could just pretend you didn’t notice it was ready for harvesting.
- Chapter 6 – Apparently, an exception to the rule of no single row planting, are grapevines, if you are planting a single row along a fence line, creating a border around your fields. If you have trees on your property that don’t produce fruit, and you want to leave them in place, perhaps for shade, or decorative purposes, you have to plant your orchards, vineyards, or fields in such a way as to respect their space, leaving a clear gap around them.
- Chapter 7 – If a grapevine or cotton plant has died and dried up, you can’t plant around it without tearing it out by the roots and tilling the soil first. You can, however, use the dried seeds from that plant for replanting purposes. In what would be a victory for Monsanto as noted above, if plants from outside your fields that have either been planted by someone else, or windblown onto your property are growing, you are required to tear them out. If you choose not to, you must pay compensation to the original owner of the seeds.
- Chapter 8 – Yoking together animals of different species to pull carts, or tilling equipment, etc., is not permitted, particularly with regard to related wild and domestic species – like wild oxen and domestic cattle. Of particular emphasis is the parentage of mules, a hybrid between a donkey and a horse. You have to know which parent was the father and which the mother. You can’t mix, for example, a mule whose father was a horse with a mule whose father was a donkey. If you’re not sure, you don’t mix.
- Chapter 9 – No garment or cloth that will come into contact with a person’s skin is permitted to be made by weaving or attaching together linen (fibers made from flax) and wool. An exception is made for camel wool, which can be mixed with linen, no reason given. An exception is made for death shrouds and saddlebags, which can be made of mixed fibers, as long as you don’t handle them directly. Interestingly, while not in this tractate, I know that at some point the rabbis extended the linen part of the prohibition to any plant material, such as, cotton fibers, perhaps in similar vein to extending the whole mother/kid/milk thing to any meat and dairy – it’s all about appearances.