“Contemporary Implication of an Ancient Ritual”
(updated and revised from Kee Tavo 5765-2005)

 

by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald

 

In our message for parashat Kee Tavo for 2022/5782, we studied and analyzed the extraordinary confession that was recited by the ancient Israelites when they redeemed their tithes in Jerusalem.

Jewish farmers, in those days, were taxed about 21 percent. Each year of the seven year sabbatical cycle, farmers were required to give (Deuteronomy 18:4-5), תְּרוּמָה–Terumah, a heave offering, from the produce of the field (biblically, grain, wine and oil) directly to the priests. The rabbis set the rate of Terumah at about 2 percent. In each year of the sabbatical cycle, with the exception of the seventh year, every Jewish farmer gave the Levite, מַעֲשֵׂר רִאשׁוֹן–Maaser Rishon, 1/10th (10%) of the field produce. In the first, second, fourth and fifth year of the cycle the farmer was required to redeem an additional ten percent of the remaining produce (9%) in Jerusalem, known as מַעֲשֵׂר שֵׁנִי–Maaser Sheni. In the third and sixth years of the Sabbatical cycle, the farmer gave that tithe, מַעְשַׂר עָנִי–Maaser Ani, to the poor.

On the afternoon on the final day of Passover of the fourth and seventh year of the sabbatical cycle, the farmer came to the Temple in Jerusalem and recited his oral confession (Deuteronomy 26:13-15). He declared that during the previous three years he had faithfully discharged his duties and obligations concerning all offerings, tithes and donations that were required of him.

As part of the confession, the farmer also asserted that he had not taken of Maaser Sheni while in a state of אֲנִינוּת–Aninut, a state of intense mourning that occurs between the death and burial of one of his seven closest relatives. He declared, furthermore, that he was not ritually defiled while eating the Maaser Sheni, nor did he partake of the food when it was טָמֵא–Tamei (impure), though he himself was ritually clean.

The Ibn Ezra explains that the confession was more like a wish for G-d to acknowledge that the farmer had discharged his duty conscientiously and punctiliously. Each farmer then asked G-d to bless his labors with success, and the soil with fruitfulness.

The Abarbanel in a lengthy explanation, states that the confession that was recited while redeeming the tithes was a way for the farmer to prove his sincerity. He notes that, in general, farmers were eager to bring their donations to the Temple because the public nature of the gift would enhance their stature in the presence of all those gathered in the Temple. But in the case of Maaser Ani, the tithe for the poor, the farmer might be reluctant and uncharitable in his heart, since it was distributed only at the gates where the poor people gathered, without witnesses or publicity. The Jew, therefore, confessed aloud that he has given his gifts with total purity of motivation, and in the hope that his confession may lead him to adopt a more positive attitude toward charity.

The Abarbanel concludes that there are significant implications that may be learned from the various elements that are included in the farmer’s confession.

In Deuteronomy 26:14, the donor states that he has not performed any forbidden actions with the produce: לֹא אָכַלְתִּי בְאֹנִי מִמֶּנּוּ, וְלֹא בִעַרְתִּי מִמֶּנּוּ בְּטָמֵא, וְלֹא נָתַתִּי מִמֶּנּוּ לְמֵת, “I have not eaten of it in my intense mourning, I did not consume it in a state of ritual contamination, and I did not give of it to the needs of the dead.”

The declaration continues with the farmer stating that he has listened to the voice of G-d and has acted according to everything that G-d commanded him. He begs G-d to look down from His holy abode, from heaven, and to bless the people of Israel and the ground that G-d gave them, that He swore to their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.

It is from this declaration, that the Abarbanel deduces three implications from the confession.

  1. לֹא אָכַלְתִּי בְאֹנִי מִמֶּנּוּ, “I have not eaten of it in my intense mourning”: The Abarbanel plays on the different meanings of the word אֹנִי “oni,” when spelled with an “aleph” which means grief, and עֹנִי “oni,” when spelled with an “ayin” which means poverty. He argues that the intent of this confession was as follows: “Although there were times when I myself needed charity, I nevertheless gave a tithe of the little that I then had to others who were more needy than myself, and did not personally keep any.”
  2. וְלֹא בִעַרְתִּי מִמֶּנּוּ בְּטָמֵא, I did not consume it in a state of contamination: “I did not eat it when it was ritually impure.” What the farmer is, in effect, stating, is that he gave an honest and pure portion, the full measure of pure wheat, not impure wheat mixed with much chaff.
  1. וְלֹא נָתַתִּי מִמֶּנּו, לְמֵת, “I did not give of it for the needs of the dead.” The Abarbanel explains that when some people are asked about their charity, they proudly declare that they have given charity to the poor, and might even name a family whom no one recognizes. In this confession, the Jew is asked to state that he has been honest in his gifts to the poor and did not pretend to give to persons who in truth don’t exist.

Although the people of Israel today no longer have a Temple, and few are engaged in agriculture, many of the principles that may be gleaned from the declaration concerning the tithes could very well apply in contemporary times, especially with respect to charitable giving. Every Jew who gives charity must bear in mind not to give charity in grief (oni), but with joy and with an open hand. We need to acknowledge that the poor person may be doing more for us than we are doing for him/her, by giving us an opportunity to be charitable, to raise our ethical spirits and elevate our souls.

The fact that the ancient farmer had to give his charity in a state of ritual purity, implies that we, today, need to give wholeheartedly, to give graciously, to give sufficiently, so that the poor will have with what to live and, hopefully, build for the future.

Finally, when we give, we need to take our charity seriously, to make certain that we are giving to truly deserving people, to look for, and seek out, people who are genuinely in need, especially those who may be too proud to ask for help. While we need to discourage the charlatans from collecting, we need to realize that they too are in need, and that if they are prepared to so demean themselves by begging for charity even though they really are not in need, they obviously are in need.

Like the Israelites of old, we must be able to stand before the Divine Presence and declare: “G-d, we give with an open heart and an open hand!”

Tzedakah, charity, is not just kindness, it is the right thing to do.

Being that we are presently in the special month of Elul, and that Tzedakah is one of the three ways that an individual can remove the stains of the past, and any resulting negative decrees, it behooves us all to focus on the importance of charitable giving during this auspicious time.

May you be blessed.