Through ma’aser sheni, the mitzva of going up to Jerusalem for the pilgrimage festivals – Pesaḥ, Shavu’ot, and Sukkot – was woven into the regular rhythm of national life. Over the six working years of the shemita cycle, about six percent of a person’s total yield is designated for eating in Jerusalem, most naturally during the festival meals. These meals are meant to be shared with levi’im and the poor as well. The more blessing a person receives, the longer his family can remain in Jerusalem, in the shade of the Shekhina, and the more generously he can host levi’im and the poor at his table. If he has children capable of sustained Torah study, he can encourage them to stay in Jerusalem, study there, and be supported by the ma’aser sheni funds. This is the meaning of the Torah’s statement: “So that you will learn to fear the Lord your God” (Devarim 14:23). The Sages explain: “This teaches that the ma’aser brings a person to Torah study” (Sifrei, Re’eh §106; Tosafot, Bava Batra 21a, s.v. ki).
A person who cannot go up to Jerusalem for the nearby festivals may keep the ma’aser sheni money until a later festival, when he is able to go. Its use, however, may not be postponed indefinitely. The Torah therefore sets a time by which the ma’aser sheni must be finished; this is the time of bi’ur ma’asrot, as explained below, section 12.[7]
The mitzva of ma’aser behema is also meant to connect Israel to the Temple (see below, 19:9). Thus, when the Jewish people went up on pilgrimage, their festival meals were supplied by the produce of ma’aser sheni, the food bought with its redemption money, and the meat of the ma’aser behema offering. The more blessing a person had received, the more people he could bring into the joy of his meal. In this sense, ma’aser sheni and ma’aser behema functioned as a kind of sacred reserve fund, set aside for pilgrimage and an extended stay in Jerusalem.
The same additional tithe becomes ma’aser sheni in four years of the cycle and ma’aser ani in two. This teaches that holiness and concern for the poor are not separate ideals, but two parts of a single vision. Indeed, those who have ma’aser sheni or ma’aser behema have a special mitzva to include the poor in the joy of their meals (see Peninei Halakha: Mo’adim 1:11, note 6).
[7]. Ma’aser sheni amounts to about nine percent of the yield. However, since it is separated only in the first, second, fourth, and fifth years out of the six years of the shemita cycle in which terumot and ma’asrot are separated, it comes to about six percent overall. In the seventh year, the produce is ownerless, and terumot and ma’asrot are not separated. Spread across the full seven-year cycle, ma’aser sheni produce comes to 5.14 percent of the total yield.
A similar proportion emerges when we look at the pilgrimage festivals. If we count the days of the three festivals on which there is a mitzva to go up to Jerusalem, and add half a day before and half a day after each festival, the total is nineteen days – close to 5.2 percent of an average 365-day year. True, there is no ma’aser sheni for Shavu’ot of the shemita year or for Sukkot following the shemita year, so eleven days should be subtracted over the seven-year cycle. However, seven days may be added for arriving a day early to bring the Pesaḥ offering each year. Perhaps another half-day should be added after Shavu’ot for each of the six working years, since its isru ḥag has greater significance.
If we also take into account the mitzva of ma’aser behema, as well as the obligation of every male who goes up on pilgrimage to bring a ḥagiga offering and shelamei simḥa, then with respect to meat, the pilgrims had far more available to them during the festivals than during the rest of the year. In addition, since women are exempt from the obligation to go up on pilgrimage, and some therefore do not go, the food available to those who are in Jerusalem during the festivals is far more abundant than what people ordinarily eat during the year. This abundance is meant to allow them to include the poor and levi’im in their meals and to enable family members to extend their stay in Jerusalem.
It should be noted that, according to many authorities, the Torah obligation of terumot and ma’asrot applies only to grain, wine, and oil, while the Sages extended the obligation to all fruit, legumes, and vegetables. Others maintain that the obligation applies by Torah law to all these produce categories. Still others maintain that only with respect to ma’aser sheni does the obligation apply to all of them by Torah law (see below, 8:1, note 1).
