Kilayim

Tractate Kilayim contains 9 chapters dealing with the prohibitions of mixed species, including fruits and vegetables, animals, and clothing. Like most tractates in the Order of Zeraim, this Mishnah does not have commentary in the Babylonian Talmud and appears only in the Mishnah.

The Rebbe's Explanations

Regarding the prohibition "You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together," the Rebbe investigates whether this prohibition is also derived from the laws of kilayim (forbidden mixtures), or if it stems from the prohibition against causing pain to animals. Apparently, this depends on whether the prohibition applies only to the mixture of a kosher animal with a non-kosher animal—as per Rambam's opinion—or not necessarily.

Additional Explanations on the Tractate

• Kilayim, Likkutei Sichos Volume 34, Parshat Ki Teitzei, Sicha 1, page 123.
• Laws of Kilayim. Likkutei Sichos Volume 28.

Explanations of the Tzemach Tzedek

• The Tzemach Tzedek, "Tractate Kilayim," Tzemach Tzedek on the Shas, Brooklyn, 5755 (1995), pages 38-44, on the HebrewBooks website