In its concern for the poor, the Torah commanded field owners who forgot sheaves of produce in their fields to leave the sheaves for orphans and widows instead of returning to retrieve them. It is written, “When you have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go again to retrieve it. It shall be for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow” (Deuteronomy 24:19). Sometimes the Talmudic sages interpret the Scripture literally, and so they leave from the phrase in the field that the sheaf must be resting literally in the field. If it is forgotten but not resting literally in the field, the orphans and widows have no right to take it under the laws of forgotten produce. A sage, R’ Jeremiah, asked: what is the rule if the sheaf is not actually resting on the ground of the field, for example, if the wind scattered it and while it was in the air it was left behind, or if the sheaves were resting atop other sheaves, atop rocks, or atop pillars, and were then forgotten? What are the issues under debate? On one hand the sheaves were not forgotten literally in the field, but on the other hand, the air above the field may be considered part of the field.
(Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sotah 45a)