AI economy up to the Middle Ages 14: A wise farmer knows

After the rebellion of Ben Kusava, Judah suffered from a loss of land, what's more, the anti-Roman rebel movement was mainly rural, but within a short time it recovered and was established, and opposite it, the Galilee, which hardly suffered from any nests of rebellion, naturally became the main support of the economy of the Land of Israel

Agriculture - an introduction

Agriculture, with all its implications and implications, has always served as the main basis of the economy in the ancient Land of Israel. However, it is certainly clear that after the revolt of Ben Khosba and onwards (135 CE) its importance intensifies. It is developing and undergoing a process of "modernization" compared to the period that preceded it. And in this context President Raban Shimon Ben Gamliel, a member of the aforementioned period, declares as follows: "Even one who owns land, they write on him Prozbol (a Greek word that, like many others, has been used in the Israeli lexicon and concerns the possibility of conducting land business even in the year of Shemita, as a result of the famous regulation of the elder Hillel. Every This is against the background of a regulation that allows debt collection of loans past their repayment date even in the seventh year). For the borrower of land and the lender has no land, they write a Prozbol on it. The lender has land and the borrower does not have land, there is no write-off on it. If there is no land, and the Arabs (have) land and the debtors land, they write a prozbol on it" (Tosefta VII, 9:XNUMX).

In another place it was testified that "a seller of slaves will take (buy for them) land, but not land in which he will take slaves." Rabbi Shimon ben Gamaliel says (emphasized): "Not even slaves took land from them" (Tosefta Terumot 11:6), to teach us about the importance of land and its value in the eyes of the leadership and with it the public on the one hand and on the other hand not to get rid of the slaves working on the land. And Rabbi Yehuda asserts that: "He who is busy and restless (pursues and pursues) after money and land has nothing, what pleasure does he have?" (Kohelat Rabbah XNUMX:XNUMX). Such statements stand out mainly after the events of war and rebellion, when many Jews were left without real estate.

After the rebellion of Ben Kosba, Judah suffered from a loss of land, what's more, the anti-Roman rebel movement was mainly rural, but within a short time it recovered and was established, and the Galilee opposite it, which hardly suffered from any nests of rebellion, naturally became the main support of the economy of the Land of Israel.

An important and special phenomenon intensified and grew after the rebellion in question and it involved the process of foreigners (Hellenistic and Roman) infiltrating the agricultural farms in Israel. This process caused the creation of a new norm of joint work between Jews and Gentiles, while the Sage constantly sought to reach a modus vivendi with the Gentiles. This phenomenon brought with it the spread of the limited economic unit that contained a clear Roman influence, the villa rustica, which was known in Sage sources as "Eir".

An important impetus for the development of the agricultural branch involved the existence of Roman military units that settled in Judea and the Galilee and were a significant consumer of the various agricultural products. Add to this the many taxes that were imposed on the agricultural public and that were paid in "eye" and "fruit" and we will understand how the farmer sought to improve his crops in order to deal with such difficulties.

From the revolt of Ben Kusva onward, the "city" with its rural-agricultural domain is consolidated into a cohesive and solid unit, where the "city" serves as a body that has an influence on the prices of produce and its exchange. Later in the second century AD and into the beginning of the third century, the Roman government encouraged the phenomenon of the "Bulvatin" who were rich in urban jobs, and they owned a lot of land in the same rural territory adjacent to the city, and it is clear that an important part of their income stemmed from the agricultural wealth, so they tried to develop it and introduce changes and innovations in it . What's more, during the period in question, the industry, which is partly an urban product, received a lot of momentum, such as the cultivation of industrial plants such as flax and more. At the same time, trade develops and expands, and with it a wide distribution of work tools and storage necessary for agricultural activities.

The combination of agriculture and urbanization resulted in the flourishing of urban centers such as Acre, Caesarea, Beit Shaarim, Beit Shan, Lod and more. Around the urban territory, agricultural settlements developed that engaged in agriculture and were called "towns" or "kiriot" in the Sage language. These created together with the large, central city a stable economic relationship.

During this period, there was a considerable development in the law of the "Sikrikon", when the Halacha saw the tenants who have been cultivating the land for generations, as a sort of private owners of the land. That is, the desire to persevere in ownership of the land and the encouragement of the Presidency and the members of the Sanhedrin to create such a type of landowners was at work here, in terms of a faithful approach to the principled approach of the Roman Empire since the days of Emperor Hadrian (138-117 AD), which was reflected in imperial legislation and the specification of orders, and this To encourage the creation of private owners on the lands, who will improve the value of the land and its crops.

In this spirit, we will understand the laws of the Sages on this matter, such as: "Take (buy) from the Gentiles fields (and) houses... and write and establish in the courts (in orderly legal law)" (Tosefta Moed Ketan, 1 XNUMX) even in the courts of foreigners with the presumption of bending the Halacha The stricter recognition in Gentile courts, teaches us how important the purchase was in the eyes of the Sanhedrin institutions.

This phenomenon is also reflected in the territories of the imperial lands, when from the second half of the second century CE onward we no longer find the "ticklers" who lived there, but because the ownership passes to a sort of Jewish owner. In this matter there is an interesting and instructive phenomenon of the handing over of many large areas on lease to the President Rabbi Yehuda from the Roman Empire, from which he supplies fruits and vegetables to the emperor's court.

All those cases focus on one point and that is the productivity of the economy. The intensive cultivation method spread and gained a reputation in all the agricultural settlements, as its purpose was to exploit everything possible on the land, and this received the encouragement of the Roman emperors on the one hand and the initiative of drafting various permits at the initiative of the President's House and the members of the Sanhedrin, and for that matter everything related to the issue of usury, seventh laws and more, when in this situation the need arose With a lot of money for the purchase of work tools, workers, agricultural equipment in the field of agricultural work in general and more. And the literature of the Sages seems to back up the above from the Midrash, with fantasizing stories about the size of the fruit, its quality, its quantity and more.
The same intense tendency undoubtedly affected the workers in the economy, so that the number of harris increased, and with them the hourly workers hired for seasonal work, and in general the phrase "expert workers" appears for the first time.

An interesting source refers to the agrarian-agricultural situation after Ben Khosva's rebellion as follows: "When did Forshin (perhaps "Horshin") from Bilin in the fields come from? Mestarad Rabia Shenia (the portion of the rain of the second season in Biz Chesvan of the eighth year). Rabbi Yossi said - what are the words supposed to be? While the years are getting better. Now that we have been fined (and in another wording: that they have been fulfilled) these years it has not even rained but only one rain, we have to go" (Tosefta Sheviyat 18:68). The source indicates a bleak agricultural situation, which reflects, if in a completely exaggerated dimension, the reference of the Roman historian Dio Cassius to the economic situation after the rebellion of Ben Khosba regarding the destruction of hundreds of settlements. The phrase "now that these years have been fined..." symbolizes knowing c. Alon from agricultural crises after the revolt (Alon, The Jews in the Land of Israel during the Mishnah and Talmud Period, XNUMX, p. XNUMX), which may strengthen the testimony of Rabbi Shimon ben Yakim who claims on behalf of Rabbi Yossi that "olives are not forgotten" and this is due to the difficult conditions. (XNUMX) The evil Hadrian came and destroyed the whole land" (Talmud Yerushalmi Pah, Chapter XNUMX, XNUMX, p. XNUMX).

The most affected area was the area of ​​the battles in Judea, and as a result the Galilee became the economic-agricultural hinterland of the country. The same traditions regarding the destruction of Tor Malka, Beitar and more are related to this. From the evidence we will learn about the agrarian nature of the rebellion when its flames broke out in agricultural settlements, and in the process a socio-economic and political basis of the rebellion was revealed in the form of the struggle of the rural people in the cities. From this we can understand the tradition about 66 boulat (rural settlements with a quasi-urban character) that were ruled by a king, when the meaning of that move is nothing more than a challenge and rebellion against the Roman rule as it happened during the Great Rebellion, and it is no wonder that they were destroyed because of this. Beyond the reflection of the tension between the city and the village of Olana, this testimony, like many other testimonies, explains well the Sage's position against Ben Kusva's rebellion, because the phenomenon of kingship in relation to the failed rebellion, namely the great rebellion between 73 and XNUMX AD, will be fulfilled in the rebellion of Ben Kusva who wanted to reign And failed, even so, in the confrontation between rural Beitar and urban Jerusalem.

In the same testimonies about "towns that were torn" from Judea after the rebellion of Ben Kusva are tightly bound up with traditions about "property of captives", "netushin" and "ratushin" (my article published in the magazine "Zion", 217, year 237, p. 236 and onward under the name "Hellenistic-Roman cradle customs reflected in the literature of the Sages" as well as Rabbinical evidence of the TRICOMIA in Palestine, JQR, Lxvi, PP. 15-XNUMX) and they can be paralleled to the Roman legal/agrarian terminology Agri Captivi which if a court allows other to the property, even though their owners may still be alive. And this evidence is joined by traditions about the "destruction of Judah" such as: "There is no mixing grain with grain and pulses at the same time... When Judah was destroyed (after the rebellion), it was quickly rebuilt, they began to mix grain with grain and pulses with pulses" (Tosefta Teromot XNUMX:XNUMX).

From the rebellion of Ben Kusva onward, we are witnessing the ever-widening phenomenon of foreign involvement in the agricultural sectors and its territories in the economy of the Land of Israel. The position of the members of the Sanhedrin on this matter was apparently contradictory: on the one hand, Jews were encouraged to purchase units from the bags of foreigners and on the other hand, at the very same time, they sought to foster integrated bilateral relations between Jews and foreigners in the fields of agriculture. Rabbi Yehuda testifies to "a stock (large agricultural farm) of Israel and gentile laborers working in it... (and vice versa)" (Tosefta Hala 3:XNUMX). Elsewhere in the Sage literature, the members of the Sanhedrin allow "to do... with the Gentiles both in the vineyard and in the seed cages" (Talmud Yerushalmi Arala chapter XNUMX mgXNUMX p. XNUMX) and there is no fear of the impurity of foreigners. More than that, the sages permitted, both out of choice and for economic-rehabilitation reasons after the condemned rebellion, joint work between Jews and foreigners even in the production of wine and oil.

This situation led the sages of the Sanhedrin to sit down and discuss the principle issue of the impurity of foreigners, when the tendency was to align with reality, regarding "there is no passing of a decree on the public if the majority of the public cannot abide by it", and on the other hand it was clear to the members of the Sanhedrin that continued insistence could alienate them from the public.
The members of the Sanhedrin sat down and worked night and day and issued a rather revolutionary instruction which says that the impurity of foreigners is no longer a prohibition from Daoriyata (from the Bible) but from Darbanan. It would be the granting of legitimacy to the members of the Sanhedrin to decide what is the impurity of foreigners, what are its circumstances, where it can be permitted and eased and where it is aggravated and more of this kind. This move allowed Jewish farmers to work alongside foreigners and even employ them.

The city in the ancient Land of Israel was, in a sense, an almost autonomous unit (sufficient for itself and its goods), and from this a very interesting relationship developed between the urban city and its rural, peripheral territory, as appears, for example, from the Midrash (Beresheet Rabbah, Ch. 5): "And every gathering food etc. - He eats (purchases, develops) a field in the city whose surroundings (its rural territory) he gave within it (the god or in the government - man). Rabbi Yehuda says: He gave what is within the boundaries (in the territory) of Tiberias in (XNUMX) Tiberias, and what is within the boundaries of Tiberias in Tiberias (incidentally speaking of the two capitals of the Galilee), because each land and land (=city + territory, and in other places this composition is called a "state") from a position its fruits. Rabbi Nehemiah says: If he (the farmer) gives them dirt and cuttings, things that are always - fruits... Hada said (as it is said) that the blessing is given in treasures (in reservoirs, warehouses)".

The phenomenon of the city and its rural boundaries came in the Sage sources with different names and terms such as "towns", "carriages", "carriages", "villages" and "companies", which is accepted in the biblical language as "girls". Such a system - economic, social and even cultural and political - under the influence of the Roman economy, was sometimes called "pagi" or "puga". The Roman nomenclature for this matter is called "pagi vicinales" and I published an article about it at the time (JQR, LXV. PP.221FF: Pagi VICINALES IN ISRAEL). Those towns had a council (called "Boli" in the Greek-Hellenistic transliteration) and a kind of people's assembly. The editors were Jewish financial owners, with Roman consent and its approval-encouragement for economic and political reasons, and probably the ability of the Sanhedrin to influence those bodies was very limited, if at all.

The central city had a great influence on determining the prices of agricultural produce, as the Jerusalem Talmud says: "All the towns near Tiberias, because the gate of Tiberias was issued, Puskin (the price table)" (Jerusalem Talmud Baba Metzia Chapter XNUMX, XNUMX, p. XNUMX) and the Babylonian Talmud There is a debate among sages regarding linen vessels and scraps. And expressions such as "Litra of a bird", or "Sah of a bird", probably refer to the above issue.

In this context, the Babylonian Talmud declares that the foundation of wealth in the Land of Israel lies first and foremost in the branches of agriculture more than any other field of occupation. On this basis, we will understand Rabbi Yehuda the Hanasi's permission regarding the exemption of areas of various cities from the obligation of tithing, such as Beit Shean, Beit Govrin, etc., in order to encourage Jews to settle there, and on the other hand, the president encourages those with wealth (and the saying towards him was known as: "Rabbi honors the rich", or Because the president associates with entities rich in assets, such as the owners of a thousand towns and a thousand ships), and perhaps in terms of "capital and government", to invest their assets in the purchase of land and their development.
I won't bore the readers too much with the details, and this means that after the revolt of Ben Khosva, dozens of agricultural settlements can be named, mainly in the Galilee, on the basis of economic leverage.

An interesting subject in itself is the "King's Mountain" - an area located west of the mountains of Samaria and Judea and the southern coastal plain. The term originates from the Greek - "Gay Basilike" and the Latin - Praedium Caesaris, we were areas of Roman imperial lands/mansions that were handed over as absolute property to Roman soldiers and noblemen after the rebellion, and these were called in Sage sources by the name "mitzikim", and some of them included Jewish contractors (sub-lessees). The following source refers to them: "Rabbi Simon had fields (in another version: "planters of vineyards") on the Mount of the King and asked Rabbi Yochanan (what would happen to them). He said to him: Let them be ignorant and do not hire them to a Gentile. He (turned and) asked the Rival, and read (permitted) him. Rival's opinion: A place where there is no Israel is specified (it is permissible to rent as long as it is not sold)" (Talmud Yerushalmi Damai Chapter XNUMX, Kah, pp. XNUMX-XNUMX).

President Rabbi Yehuda, who had strong connections with the Roman government and had sharp economic senses, was a distinguished "conductor" (head tenant) of the imperial estates, such as Beit Shaarim, where, not without reason, he later determined its place and the place of the Sanhedrin meeting during his presidency. Also in his possession were leased imperial estates in Beit Govrin, in Hillel (probably today's Nahalel) Biblona (probably in "Gablona" we were in the Golan according to the Greek transliteration, and it is not a tiny area but two thousand dunams. His leased estates were also spread out in the area of ​​Bashan, Horan and Trakhon, when, when, As president of the Sanhedrin, he bent quite a few laws to improve his economic conduct, indeed capital and government as I have already commented in one of the previous chapters.

The subject of agricultural activity as well as other branches of the economy as I discussed in the previous chapters reflects a relatively liberal position of the members of the Sanhedrin towards this activity. This stemmed both from a purely economic point of view, both from a social aspect of the relationship between the Jewish public and the non-Jewish public, both from a political point of departure of a minority of conflicting tensions with the Roman government, and above all from the sense of survival of the Sanhedrin itself, since "there is no decree on the public Unless a majority of the public supports it." The Sanhedrin compromised with reality out of no choice, simply to survive.