The Tithes They Are a-Changin’: Tithing in Jewish Law, Part II

(15) Yohanan the high priest stopped [the recitation] of the confession of the tithes. He also abolished the “wakers” and the “strikers.” Until his days the hammer used to beat in Jerusalem. And in his days one did not have to ask about demai.

(10) At minhah on the last festival day they would make the confession. How was the confession made? “I have cleared out the holy portion from the house” (Deuteronomy 26) - this refers to maaser sheni, the second tithe and the fruit of plants in their fourth year. “I have given them to the Levite” -this refers to the tithe of the levites. “And also I have given them” - this refers to standard terumah and the terumah of tithes. “To the stranger, to the orphans, and to the widow” - this refers to ma'aser ani, the tithe of the poor, gleanings, forgotten sheaves, and the corners of the field, even though these are not required for the confession. “Out of the house” - this refers to hallah.

(11) “According to all Your commandments which You have commanded me,” - thus, if he took out ma'aser sheni before the first tithe he cannot make the confession. “I have not transgressed any of Your commandments” - I have not set apart [tithes] from one kind for a different kind, nor from plucked [produce] for [produce still] joined [to the soil], nor from new [produce] for old [produce], nor from old [produce] for new. “Neither have I forgotten” - I have not forgotten to bless You, nor to make mention of You name over it.

(12) “I have not eaten from it in my mourning” - thus, if he had eaten it in his mourning (aninut), he cannot make the confession. “Neither have I removed any of it when unclean” - thus, if he had removed it in uncleanness he cannot make the confession. “And I have not given any of it to the dead” - I have not used any of it for a coffin or shrouds for the dead, and I have not given any of it to other mourners. “I have listened to the voice of the Lord my God” - I have brought it to the chosen house. “I have done just as you commanded me” - I have rejoiced and made others rejoice.

(13) “Look down from Your holy abode, from heaven” - We have done what You decreed upon us, You too do what You have promised us. “Look down from Your holy abode, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel” - with sons and daughters. “And the land which You have given us” -with dew and rain and with offspring of cattle. “As You swore to our ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey” - that You may give a good taste to the produce.

(1) When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you as a heritage, and you possess it and settle in it, (2) you shall take some of every first fruit of the soil, which you harvest from the land that the LORD your God is giving you, put it in a basket and go to the place where the LORD your God will choose to establish His name. (3) You shall go to the priest in charge at that time and say to him, “I acknowledge this day before the LORD your God that I have entered the land that the LORD swore to our fathers to assign us.” (4) The priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down in front of the altar of the LORD your God. (5) You shall then recite as follows before the LORD your God: “My father was a fugitive Aramean. He went down to Egypt with meager numbers and sojourned there; but there he became a great and very populous nation. (6) The Egyptians dealt harshly with us and oppressed us; they imposed heavy labor upon us. (7) We cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our plea and saw our plight, our misery, and our oppression. (8) The LORD freed us from Egypt by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm and awesome power, and by signs and portents. (9) He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. (10) Wherefore I now bring the first fruits of the soil which You, O LORD, have given me.” You shall leave it before the LORD your God and bow low before the LORD your God. (11) And you shall enjoy, together with the Levite and the stranger in your midst, all the bounty that the LORD your God has bestowed upon you and your household.

(12) When you have set aside in full the tenth part of your yield—in the third year, the year of the tithe—and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat their fill in your settlements, (13) you shall declare before the LORD your God: “I have cleared out the holy portion from the house; and I have also given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, just as You commanded me; I have neither transgressed nor neglected any of Your commandments: (14) I have not eaten of it while in mourning, I have not cleared out any of it while I was unclean, and I have not deposited any of it with the dead. I have obeyed the LORD my God; I have done just as You commanded me. (15) Look down from Your holy abode, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the soil You have given us, a land flowing with milk and honey, as You swore to our ancestors.”

(15) Yohanan the high priest stopped [the recitation] of the confession of the tithes. He also abolished the “wakers” and the “strikers.” Until his days the hammer used to beat in Jerusalem. And in his days one did not have to ask about demai.

(1) Yohanan the High Priest – who served in the High Priesthood after Shimon HaTzaddik/the Righteous ( see Mishnah Avot, Chapter 1, Mishnah 2 – who was one of the last of the Men of the Great Assembly).

(2) stopped the confession – Since Ezra fined the Levites in that he would not give to them the [First] Tithe, for when he went up [to the Land of Israel] from the Diaspora and the sons of Levi did not go up with him, he commanded that they should give the [First] Tithe to the Kohanim. So Yohanan the Kohen Gadol/High Priest abolished the Confession (see Deuteronomy 26:13-15), since he was unable to say [the words] (Deuteronomy 26:13): “[I have cleared out the consecrated portion from the house;] and I have given it to the Levite, [the stranger, the father, and the widow, just as You commanded me...].

(3) abolished the "wakers" – for the Levites would recite on each day on the platform/Dukhan (Psalms 44:24): “Rouse Yourself; why do You sleep, O LORD? [Awaken, do not reject us forever!].” He said (to them): Is there sleep before God? Therefore, he stood and abolished them.

(4) and the "strikers" – for they would wound the sacrificial calf between its horns in order that blood would fall into its eyes in order that he would not see and it would be easy to invert it and slaughter it. He stood and abolished it (i.e., this practice), for it appeared as a like having a blemish (making it unfit for the altar, for priestly service, etc.) and they established for them rings in the ground to draw the neck of the animal into it (by the use of a rope passing through it, drawing the animal’s head down- See Mishnah Middot, Chapter 3, Mishnah 5). [The word] "נוקפים" – striking – and an example of this: A person does not strike his finger from below (Talmud Hullin 7b).

(5) the hammer was heard in Jerusalem – those who engrave copper and iron would strike it with a hammer to do work that cannot be postponed without irretrievable loss which is permissible during Hol HaMoed [Intermediate Days] of the Festival [of Passover and Sukkot]. And he stood and abolished them because the thing grows too loud and there is a despising of the Festival.

(6) in his days one did not have to ask about demai – for he said to the people of his generation: just as the Great Priest’s Due (2% that went to a Kohen) has the punishment of the death penalty [for non-compliance with this regulation], so too the Terumat Ma’aser/the ten percent that the Levite gave to the Kohen and eatables forbidden pending the separation of sacred gifts carry the death penalty [for non-compliance]. And he ordained that they should take out from that which was doubtfully-tithed only the tithe of the tithe that the Levite owes to the Kohen and Second Tithe, and they should not remove from it First Tithe or the Poor Tithe (in years three and six), for they can say to the Levite or to the poor that he brought proof that it is eatables forbidden pending the separation of sacred gifts and they should take [them]. And from this ordinance onward, he whomever purchases produce from the market would not ask if they were properly prepared or not, but he can immediate separate from them the Priest’s Due, the tithe of the tithe that the Levite gives to the Kohen and Second Tithe and eat the remainder. For all who purchase produce from an am ha-aretz are considered doubtfully tithed.