דברים שיש להם שיעור

The well-known mishnah at the beginning of tractate Pe'ah lists five items 4 which do not have a fixed quantity'. The plain meaning of this statement is that no fixed and no minimum quantities are required for the fulfillment of these commandments. This understanding ap-parently contradicts the next mishnah which states as follow: 'One should not set aside for "pe'ah" less than one sixtieth'. Modern commentators argue that the two mishnayot exhibit historical development in the halakhah. The first mishnah represents an earlier stage, while the later developed halakhah represented in the second mishnah sets a formal minimum for pe'ah. This accords with the accepted scholarly hypothesis that the halakhah became increas-ingly detailed over time. It is therefore surprising that four of the five items listed in mishnah Pe'ah have specific quantities according to Qumranic halakhah. This suggests the possibility of a new explanation for the seeming contradiction between the first two mishnayot of tractate Pe'ah. This paper surveys the relevant passages from the scrolls concerning the laws of pe'ah, first fruits, char-ity and the study of Torah, with special attention paid to the quantity required for each of them, and compares them to Rabbinic traditions. It then proceeds to examine the tension between the perceived need for exact instructions to enable the believer to fulfill God's commandments (a need that led the Rabbis to set a minimum standard for pe'ah), and the Rabbis' concern that the minimum requirements could come to be perceived as the unique standard. This tension, it is suggested, underlies the apparent contradiction between the two mishnayot at the beginning of tractate Pe'ah.