The Tithe
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| Commandment
270 Sh’mot 23:19 19The choicest first fruit of your land shall you bring to the House of HASHEM, your God; you shall not cook a kid in the milk of its mother.
Torah
of the Terumah Gedolah Commandment 252 Commandment 275 Commandment 260
B’midbar 18:24 Commandment 261 Commandment 253 Commandment 249 Commandment 269 Commandment 272
Commandment 273 |
I remember a few years ago, meeting a man who told me very earnestly that if I was paying a 10% tithe, I was paying three times too much. I remember also that he was a very literal person, that he grew produce for the express purpose of paying tithe — through vegetables. This shows how some people can be very confused about something the Bible takes for granted.
The Tithe is an example of textural proof of Agrapha, or "Not Written". Whenever the Torah states, "You shall do this..." and does not explicitly say what "This" is, it constitutes proof of Agrapha (Oral Torah). I'm sure that Moshe explained to the people very carefully what the Tithe was, and how they should endeavor to keep it. However, this was not written down (because it was of Moshe and not of God:
| Timothy Shanee 3:16-17 16All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. |
Agrapha is the Greek word for the Oral Torah.
The Church has determined that the verse in
| D’varim 14:22 22You shall tithe the entire crop of your planting, the produce of the field, year by year. |
is the key to understanding the Tithe. Many have objected to this, disagreeing with this interpretation. Probably for financial reasons.
| D’varim 14:22 22You shall tithe the entire crop of your planting, the produce of the field, year by year. |
This works only for agrarian societies. Shall we then not tithe because I teach guitar for a living, and because I'm not a shepherd/cattleman/farmer/vineyard owner? These were often the professions of the very wealthy. What about Carpenters? Shall we assume Yeshua never tithed? He was literally "A (wood) cutter and son of a (wood) cutter", the Yisra'el equivalent in those days as "Sanitation Engineer". He was not rich, contrary to some teachings I've heard. The "Produce of your seed" in my case covers the "Seed" I "produce", which is cash (American dollars, shekelim in Hebrew). I tithe (or try to), and I've noticed that instead of being short in money, I'm slowly prospering (This is the HASHEM 's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes). This is the First Tithe, payable weekly. If all you make is fifty cents, tithe five cents. The question is not wealth, but rather, obedience to God's word. Paying your synagogue in groceries could work if the country you live in obeyed the Torah, and appointed free land for houses of worship. But they don't, so there's building budgets, mortgages, rent, utilities like sewage, water, light, heat and electricity, phone, vehicles and maintenance, the Rabbi's housing costs and food, computer payments, Cantor's cable bill for the cartoon network, etc.
So it is Scriptural to pay a full tenth of your income in tithe to your synagogue.
| Vayikra 27:30 30Any tithe of the land, of the seed of the land, and of the fruit of the tree, belongs to HASHEM ; it is holy to HASHEM . |
This commandment teaches us that the tenth of the produce we pay in the First Tithe was not ours to begin with anyway. Withholding this Tithe from HASHEM can be seen as stealing from HASHEM .
| B’midbar 18:26 25HASHEM spoke to Moses, saying, 26To the Levi shall you speak and you shall say to them ‘When you accept from the Children of Israel the tithe that I have given you from them as your heritage, you shall raise up from it a gift to HASHEM , a tithe from the tithe. |
Thus the rabbi also has to tithe, to the synagogue at this point, since the Levitical system-Kohen'im is not in place at the present time.
| D’varim 14:28-29 28At the end of three years you shall take out every tithe of your crop in that year and set it down within your cities. 29Then the Levi can come – for he has no portion or inheritance with you – and the proselyte, the orphan, and the widow who are in your cities, so they may eat and be satisfied, in order that HASHEM, your God, will bless you in all your handiwork that you may undertake. |
This commandment is the Second Tithe. Every third and sixth year of the seven-year cycle one pays an extra tithe to:
the Levi
Why the Levi? It is assumed that the Torah would be kept, and the Levi would not be working for a living as a consequence. Why the Stranger? It was understood in those days that a convert would have left home, family and job to live in Yisra'el, and convert to Judaism. They would be mistrusted at first, and would not have ancestral lands to help them. They would be alone, and pretty close to homeless. Why the Orphan and the widow? You have to ask? All that remains is the third tithe, which was the money you saved for your travel to Jerusalem during the High Holy Days, to travel there. live there, and return. The first and second tithe should be kept, even today. It may be too much for most people to do both tithes on the 3rd and 6th years, but it's a lot harder on the poor when you don't. I'd advise praying about it.
The Third tithe you can probably forget, unless you'd like to keep the commandments and visit Yisra'el at least once. That tour package is literally for most people cheaper than the holy day tithe! But as always, pray about it, and don't take my word for it.
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Web Author: Azayel ben Hillel
Date Last Changed:
Sunday, July 12, 2009
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