Pesachim 56 - Things that the people of Jericho did

Jericho was often a place of discord. In our case, the people there did three things that they got away with, and three other things that the Sages took umbrage with. The people grafted palm trees even in the afternoon before Passover (Jericho was the city of palms, after all). They said the Shema prayer too quick and skipped some words. They would also harvest their grain before the day when all fresh grain products (chadash) became permitted for consumption. They got away with it because it was not such a big deal. For example, they could promise not to consume the harvested grain.

However, they got into trouble for the following. They would permit for personal use new branches that grew on trees dedicated to the Temple. True, one was not liable for a penalty for using these branches, but they nevertheless were prohibited for use. They would make it easy for the poor to come on Shabbat and collect fruit under the trees. The Sages forbade it so that the people would not start picking the fruit from the trees directly, which would be prohibited on Shabbat. Thirdly, Jericho's people were wont to leave over the pe'ah (corner of the field) from vegetables. The people thought that was an act of extra charity since vegetables do not have this law. However, it led to another problem. Since the pe'ah was not really required, one had to separate the tithe. The poor would assume that the tithe was already separated from the vegetables and eat this, thus inadvertently eating produce not tithed.

Art: The Apple Gatherers, Frederich Morgan, 1880