If one forgets grain or fruit in the field, it is a mitzva to leave it for the poor, as the Torah states: “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to take it; it shall be for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands” (Devarim 24:19). The same law applies to fruit left on trees, as the Torah continues: “When you beat your olive tree, you shall not remove its glory after you; it shall be for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow” (Devarim 24:20).
The mitzva of shikḥa applies at two stages. First, if one forgets grain or fruit during the harvest or picking, he may not return to harvest or pick it. Second, if he forgets sheaves of grain or bundles of fruit while bringing them to the place where the field’s or orchard’s yield is gathered, he must leave them for the poor (MT, Laws of Gifts to the Poor 1:6).
If the forgotten grain or fruit comprised the large measure of two se’a – approximately 14.4 liters – it is not considered shikḥa and belongs to the landowner. The Torah speaks of “a sheaf in the field.” A sheaf is a small or medium bundle of grain, not a large quantity that has the status of a stack. This limit applies only when the forgotten produce was all in one place. If, however, sheaves or fruit were forgotten in several places throughout the field or orchard, each location is considered separately. Therefore, as long as each place contained less than two se’a, all of it must be left for the poor, even if the combined total is one hundred se’a or more (MT, Laws of Gifts to the Poor 5:18).[5]
If the forgotten sheaves or bundles were adjacent to one another, two adjacent sheaves or bundles still have the status of shikḥa. Three adjacent sheaves or bundles, however, are not shikḥa, even if the three together amount to less than two se’a. Similarly, if one forgot to pick two consecutive trees, they are shikḥa; if he forgot three or more consecutive trees, they are not shikḥa (MT, Laws of Gifts to the Poor 5:14–16). If one forgot a tree with a distinctive identity – for example, one that produced especially delicious fruit or stood in a distinctive location – it is not shikḥa, because the orchard owner remembers it even without seeing it (MT, Laws of Gifts to the Poor 5:23–24).
The mitzva of shikḥa is unique in that it comes to a person from Heaven, without his intending it. The Sages tell of a pious man who once forgot a sheaf in his field and was filled with joy. He told his son: “Go and offer on my behalf a bull as a burnt offering and a bull as a peace offering,” in gratitude for the mitzva that God had arranged for him (Tosefta, Pe’a 3:8). For most mitzvot, a person acts with awareness and intention. This mitzva is different: he fulfills it without awareness, because God brings it into his hands in order to bless him. As the verse states: “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to take it; it shall be for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands” (Devarim 24:19).
