{"id":12133,"date":"2026-07-09T00:10:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T21:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=12133"},"modified":"2026-08-05T11:25:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T08:25:22","slug":"17-09-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-09-10\/","title":{"rendered":"10. Giving the Tithes to the Levi and the Poor in Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ma\u2019aser rishon<\/em>, given to the levi, and ma\u2019aser ani<\/em>, separated in the third and sixth years of the shemita<\/em> cycle, are the tithes that their recipients may eat even in the present era. Since they are \u1e25ullin<\/em>, non-sacred produce, they do not need to be eaten in a state of tahara<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Each of these tithes amounts to approximately nine percent of the total produce. Today, as we learned, only a minimal amount is separated for teruma gedola<\/em>, so the total quantity of produce remains essentially unchanged. One then separates ma\u2019aser rishon<\/em> for the levi. From that ma\u2019aser<\/em>, one-tenth is separated for the kohen as terumat ma\u2019aser<\/em>, leaving the levi with about nine percent of the total produce. In the third and sixth years, ma\u2019aser ani<\/em> is then separated from what remains after ma\u2019aser rishon<\/em>. Since ma\u2019aser rishon<\/em> has already removed ten percent, ninety percent of the original produce remains; one-tenth of that remainder is nine percent of the original total.<\/p>\n

The mitzva was originally fulfilled with the actual produce. After the owner finished gathering his produce from the field, he would separate terumot<\/em> and ma\u2019asrot<\/em>, and the kohen, levi, and poor person would come to receive their portions. If they did not come, the Sages ordained that the owner, or one of his workers, bring the produce to their homes, and the recipients would pay the customary delivery fee (see above, 7:5).<\/p>\n

In modern agricultural reality, however, distributing the actual produce is usually impractical. Farmers generally work on a large scale, with extensive fields and enormous yields. If they brought all of their tithe produce to one levi and one poor person, they would have nowhere to store it and would not know how to sell it. If farmers hired workers to distribute the tithe produce among many levi\u2019im and poor people in household-sized portions, the cost charged to the recipients for that distribution would exceed the value of the produce itself. The levi\u2019im and poor people would therefore prefer not to receive produce whose delivery costs more than it is worth.<\/p>\n

To fulfill the mitzva in the way it is meant to function, the owner should first separate the tithes for a levi and a poor person. He then buys the tithe produce from them and gives them its value in money. Ideally, this should be done through a formal act of acquisition: the ma\u2019aser rishon<\/em> enters the possession of a specific levi, and the ma\u2019aser ani<\/em> enters the possession of a specific poor person. The owner then buys the produce back from them, as explained in the note. Alternatively, this can be arranged in advance through makirei leviya<\/em> and makirei ani<\/em>, as explained in the next section.<\/p>\n

If no formal acquisition was made and no prior arrangement was in place, the owner should still give the levi and poor person the monetary value of the tithe produce. True, they did not authorize him in advance to convert the produce into money for them. Nevertheless, this is permitted because the produce would otherwise be wasted. By converting it into money and giving them its value, the owner is acting to preserve their property, similar to one who returns a lost object (\u1e24ullin<\/em> 134b; MT, Laws of Bikurim 9:16). [12]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

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[12]<\/a>. The mitzva is to give the actual produce designated as the tithe to the levi, and similarly to the poor person, rather than paying money in its place (Responsa Mahari Kurkus<\/em> in Avkat Rokhel<\/em> \u00a716; Peri \u1e24adash<\/em> YD 61:16; Ma\u1e25azik Berakha<\/em> 10 regarding priestly gifts). In the present reality, however, bringing the produce itself to the levi\u2019im and the poor is often impractical and may even undermine the purpose of the gift.<\/p>\n

In the past, when most of a person\u2019s labor was devoted to obtaining food, food was expensive relative to wages. It was therefore worthwhile for levi\u2019im to come to the fields and receive the tithe produce for their household needs. If they did not come, the produce would be brought to their homes, and the recipients would pay for delivery, because the cost of delivery was lower than the value of the produce.<\/p>\n

Today, the situation is very different. It is generally not worthwhile for a levi to travel to the fields in order to receive one type of produce for his household, nor is it worthwhile for him to pay to have it delivered. As modern agriculture has developed, the cost of producing food has dropped greatly. A family can now buy basic food for a month for an amount equal to roughly one-tenth of an average salary, and much of that price reflects transportation and marketing, not the food itself. As a result, delivering produce from the field to one person\u2019s home for household consumption often costs more than the produce is worth.<\/p>\n

Nor can one demand that the farmer give the entire tithe to one levi. The obligation is to give each recipient an amount suited to his needs, not an overwhelming quantity he cannot use. Even if the farmer did deliver all the tithe produce to one levi, the levi would have no practical way to store and market such a large amount. Since the produce would spoil if left in the field, the best way to preserve its value is to replace the produce with its monetary value and give that value to the recipients.<\/p>\n

Ideally, the tithe produce should first be legally transferred to a specific levi and a specific poor person. To do this, a third party performs an act of acquisition on their behalf. Although the levi and poor person do not know that the acquisition is being made for them, it is nonetheless effective, following the principle of zakhin le-adam she-lo be-fanav<\/em> \u2013 one may acquire something beneficial for another person even when that person is not present (Gittin<\/em> 30a).<\/p>\n

When there is a large amount of produce, it is often difficult to transfer ownership through hagbahah<\/em>, the usual act of physically lifting the item being acquired. In that case, the acquisition can be done through kinyan agav<\/em>: the produce is acquired together with a small piece of land or space that is rented for this purpose. The person acquiring for the levi and poor person pays one shekel to rent a defined space of one tefa\u1e25<\/em> by one tefa\u1e25<\/em> for one day, and through that rented space he acquires the tithe produce for them; see SA \u1e24M 202. In pressing circumstances, the acquisition may also be done through kinyan sudar<\/em>, a symbolic exchange. The person acquiring for the levi and poor person gives a garment or utensil to the owner of the produce, and through that exchange acquires the produce for them (Min\u1e25at Shlomo<\/em> 62:15).<\/p>\n

If no other person is present to acquire the produce on behalf of the levi and poor person, the owner may still replace the produce with its monetary value on the basis of hashavat aveda<\/em>, the mitzva of returning lost property. Since the produce would otherwise spoil, converting it into money preserves value that belongs to the recipients. This is the principle explained regarding priestly gifts in \u1e24ullin<\/em> 134b, MT, Laws of Bikurim 9:16, and SA 61:10. Radvaz (1:340) likewise defends the widespread practice of paying money instead of giving the actual gifts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ma\u2019aser rishon, given to the levi, and ma\u2019aser ani, separated in the third and sixth years of the shemita cycle, are the tithes that their recipients may eat even in the present era. Since they are \u1e25ullin, non-sacred produce, they do not need to be eaten in a state of tahara. Each of these tithes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[230],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-17-09"],"yoast_head":"\n10. 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