One who has properly cleared out all the ma’asrot from his possession has a mitzva to declare this before God at Minḥa on the final Yom Tov of Pesaḥ in the fourth and seventh years of the shemita cycle (Mishna, Ma’aser Sheni 5:10). As the Torah states: “When you finish tithing all the tithe of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe… you shall say before the Lord your God: ‘I have removed the sacred from the house, and I have also given it to the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, in accordance with all Your commandment that You commanded me. I have not transgressed Your commandments, and I have not forgotten. I have not eaten of it in my mourning, I have not removed any of it while impure, and I have not given any of it to the dead. I have listened to the voice of the Lord my God; I have done according to all that You commanded me. Look down from Your holy dwelling, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land that You have given us, as You swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey’” (Devarim 26:12–15).
From the fact that the Sages call this mitzva vidui ma’asrot, we learn that vidui is not confined to confession of sins. There is also a positive vidui for the fulfillment of mitzvot. At its root, vidui is a formal summary presented before God. The mitzva is to recite this vidui in the Temple, as it says: “You shall say before the Lord your God” (Devarim 26:13). However, one who did not have the privilege of going up on pilgrimage at the time of bi’ur should recite the vidui wherever he was. One who does not understand Hebrew may recite it in translation (MT, Laws of Ma’aser Sheni and Neta Reva’i 11:5–6).
Only one who observed the laws of terumot and ma’asrot properly throughout the three-year cycle is entitled to recite the vidui. Each phrase of the declaration refers to another aspect of proper observance. “I have removed the sacred from the house, and I have also given it to the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, in accordance with all Your commandment that You commanded me” indicates that all the required gifts were given, and that the order of separation was not changed. “I have not transgressed Your commandments” indicates that he did not separate from one species for another, from detached produce for attached produce, from attached produce for detached produce, from new produce for old, or from old produce for new. “I have not forgotten” indicates that he did not forget to recite the berakha before performing the mitzva.
The declaration continues: “I have not eaten of it in my mourning” – he did not eat ma’aser sheni while he was an onen. “I have not removed any of it while impure” – he did not cause it to become impure. “I have not given any of it to the dead” – he did not use the redemption money of ma’aser sheni for any other mitzva, even for the burial of the dead. “I have listened to the voice of the Lord my God” – he brought ma’aser sheni to the Temple. “I have done according to all that You commanded me” – he rejoiced with it and brought joy to others, as it says: “You shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given you and your household, you, the Levite, and the stranger in your midst” (Devarim 26:11; Mishna, Ma’aser Sheni 5:11–12; MT, Laws of Ma’aser Sheni and Neta Reva’i 11:15).
After a person has had the privilege of fulfilling the mitzva of terumot and ma’asrot in all its details and refinements, the Jewish people can be blessed in his merit. Yet without prayer, that blessing will not come. Therefore, the Torah commands him to pray and ask: “Look down from Your holy dwelling, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land that You have given us, as You swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
Today, vidui ma’asrot is not recited, since the Temple is destroyed and we cannot eat ma’aser sheni in purity in Jerusalem as the Torah requires. Some nevertheless observe a commemoration of the mitzva by reading from the Torah the full passage that contains the verses of the vidui.[9]
