In the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: ) is a

mitzvah In its primary meaning, the Hebrew language, Hebrew word (; , ''mīṣvā'' , plural ''mīṣvōt'' ; "commandment") refers to a commandment Divine law, from God to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law () in large part consists of disc ...

(biblical requirement) for the recipient Levite to give to the

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

a tenth (10%) of the

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...

of produce that the former received from the

Israelite Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

s. It applies only to agricultural produce grown in the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

. This "tithe of the tithes" is a derivative of the tithe offering (Hebrew: ) – a rabbinical Hebrew term based on the commandment in the Hebrew Bible to give a tithe of 10% to the Levites. The first term,

terumah A ''terumah'' (), the priestly dues or heave offering, is a type of offering in Judaism. The word is generally used for offerings to God, but can also refer to gifts to a human. The word ''terumah'' refers to various types of offerings, but mos ...

, means offering. The term ''tithe offering'', , is alluded to in the Hebrew Bible text under the words "a tithe (tenth) of the tithe" ().

Hebrew Bible

The term ''tithe'' (Hebrew: ) occurs ten times in the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; ) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (''Tanakh'') in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocaliz ...

of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

Greek: ) which occurs once only in Nehemiah .http://www.blueletterbible.org/search/translationResults.cfm?Criteria=tithe&t=KJV Strong's Concordance ''maaser'' This offering is to be distinguished from the "offering tribute" (Hebrew: ) which Moses gave to God in

Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

Rabbinical interpretation

The gift of was generally not given by the Israelite directly to the priest. Rather, it was given to a Levite, as the recipient of '' maaser rishon'' ('first tithe'; Hebrew: ), and then the Levite gave of ten percent of his gift directly to the ''kohen''. After the edict of Ezra, which directed to be given to the priest, it became the Kohen's responsibility to give one tenth of his gift to another priest of his choice. In the Hebrew Bible, the ('offering') was regarded as a kind of sacred ''

korban In Judaism, the (), also spelled or , is any of a variety of sacrificial offerings described and commanded in the Torah. The plural form is , , or . The term primarily refers to sacrificial offerings given from humans to God for the pur ...

'' (also 'offering'). It could be eaten only by Jewish priests and their families, had to be ritually pure, had to be eaten while in a state of ritual purity, and could not be taken out of the

In modern times

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Oral, as literally revelation, revealed by God in Ju ...

requires taking from produce grown in Israel, although in the absence of a Temple it is no longer given to the priests. In contemporary practice, most of the Terumah and various other biblical tithes (including

first tithe The first tithe () is a positive commandment in the Torah requiring the giving of one tenth of agricultural produce to charity, after the giving of the standard terumah, to the Levite (or Kohen). This tithe is required to be free of both monet ...

and

second tithe The second tithe (Hebrew: ''ma'aser sheni'' מעשר שני) is a tithe mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and practised within Orthodox Judaism. It is distinguished from the first tithe (Hebrew: ''ma'aser rishon'' מעשר ראשון), the third or ...

are first set aside. The 'second tithe' () is then redeemed upon a coin of nominal value (not generally equal to the value of the produce). The coin and the unredeemable portion of the produce are then discarded in a manner that prevents their use. The reason for discarding in such a manner is that taking these tithes are sacred and must be preserved in a state of "purity" (Hebrew: ) and eaten by a priest in a state of purity. In contemporary times, all people are considered to be defiled by a type of "impurity" (Hebrew: ) which can only be purified through the ritual of the red heifer (Hebrew: ). It has not been possible to perform this sacrifice since the destruction of the

Second Temple The Second Temple () was the Temple in Jerusalem that replaced Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC), Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. It was constructed around 516 BCE and later enhanced by Herod ...

. Since it is forbidden to defile '','' the produce must be discarded in a manner commensurate with its holiness.

References

External links

Yeshivat Ohr Yerushalayim website
{{Authority control Jewish agrarian laws Jewish sacrificial law Land of Israel laws in Judaism Positive Mitzvoth Tithes in Judaism Twenty-four kohanic gifts Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish law Hebrew words and phrases in the Hebrew Bible

Hebrew Bible

Rabbinical interpretation

In modern times

See also

References

External links