Tithe

The following is a series of letters concerning... the tithe.. what do we do Now??

 

----- Original Message ----- 
Wrom: DJBLVLMHAALPTC  To: <karaites@
Sent: Wednesday, May 01, 2002 1:36 AM
Subject: [karaites] Question of tithe 

 I have a question concerning the tithe. There has been an ongoing discussion  on this subject on another list. How is tithing done in Israel? Since there is no Temple and no Levitical   priesthood, is the tithe abolished?  Also was the tithe always the fruit of the  ground or livestock? Was the tithe never money as we know money? 

 I will deeply appreciate your input. 
 YahChannah 

Wrom: XLYRWTQTIPWIGYOKSTTZRCLBDXRQBGJSNBOHMKHJYFMYXOEAIJJPHSCRTNHGSWZIDREXCAXZOWCONEUQZAAFXISHJEXXIMQZUIVOTQNQEMSFDULHPQQWOYIYZUNNYCGPKYLEJGDGVCJVTLBXFGGMEPYOQKEDOTWFAOBUZXUWLSZLKBRNVWWCUFPEGAUTFJMVRESKPNKMBIPBARHDMNNSKVFVWRKJVZCMHVIBGDADRZFSQHYUCDDJBLVLMHAALPTCXLYRWTQT To: karaites@
Subject: Re: [karaites] Question of tithe 
Date: Wed, 01 May 2002 20:34:26 +0200 

Yahchannah, 
Coin money was not invented until the 7th century  BCE and paper money even later than this, so when the Torah was given the  concept of a currency did not exist as it does today.  People used silver and  gold as commodities along with sheep, grain, and cattle.  

The metals  were were not in the form of coins but were weighed out in a scale during  each purchase.  The ancient "Shekel" and "Kesita" are weights, not coins. 

Ancient Israel was an agrarian society.  Nearly the  entire population was involved in the production of agricultural produce  and animal husbandry and naturally these are the two things which the Torah  speaks of when it discusses the tithe. 

May YHWH be with you, 
Nehemia Gordon 

From:  "braddy33" <braddy33@y...>
Date:  Wed May 1, 2002  12:06 pm
Subject:  Re: Question of tithe

--- In karaites@y..., "YahChannah batAbba" <yahchannah@h...> wrote:
Dear YahChannah,

Hello how are you? It is good to be alive I praise YHWH always for
our God is Omnipotent.

On the issue concerning tithes I have never been affiliated with an
organization that I considered worthy of my hard working money.
However, I have done charity work and considering what I have to
offer there is not much of an income to where I could donate money. I
have done such things as work for free at an elderly center where the
elderly come and enjoy time together and have lunch. I have given
others items that they could use and I had some to spare. I really do
not understand completely what the consept is about. I have heard it
was 10% of your earnings. NOT SURE. Hopefully, someone on the forum
can clarify.

I find it hard to understand the concept of times today compared to
the days of the Hebrews.

May YHWH Bless You,
Carrie

YahChannah batAbba <yahchannah@hotmail.com> wrote: 

 Nehemia,  Thank you very much for this information. Could you and/or Hakham Rekhavi  elaborate further on this? 

What I would like to know  is the status of the tithe today. 

Do people tithe to their local Synagogue since there  is no Temple? Do they  tithe money, which is all many folks would have to tithe anyway?  Is the tithe still a requirement? 

How do people determine 'to whom' they  should tithe? 

As Carrie said, it is not easy to even  find a group whom you  are able to feel is doing such that you would feel  the tithe was being spent  as would please YHWH. 

By the way, thank you Carrie. I appreciate any further insight. 
YahChannah 

From:  "Meir Yosef Rekhavi" <Hakham-Rekhavi@k...>
Date:  Mon May 20, 2002  9:02 am
Subject:  Re: [karaites] Question of tithe

Dear Yahhanna,
Below is the section on Tithes from my Derekh Hammikra.

TITHES

The Lewi's Tithe.

And YHWH said to Aharon, in their land you shall not receive landed-inheritance and a portion there shall not be to you in their midst, I am your portion and your inheritance in the midst of the Children of Yisrael. And to the Children of Lewi [Levi], here; I give all the tithes in Yisrael for an inheritance in exchange for their service that they serve, the service of the Tent of Appointed-Times. For the tithes of the Children of Yisrael, which they donate
for YHWH (as) a contribution, I give to the Lewiyyim [Levites] for an
inheritance; therefore I said to them, in the midst the Children of Yisrael they shall not inherit landed-inheritance. (Num. 18:20-21, 24)


The Lewi's Tithe to the Kohen.

And YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, to the Lewiyyim [Levites] you shall speak and say to them, When you take from the Children of Yisrael the tithes which I have given to you from them as your inheritance you shall donate from it a contribution for YHWH, a tithe from a tithe. And it shall be considered to you(as) your contribution, like the grain of the threshing-floor and like the fullness of the wine-press. Thus also you shall donate the contribution for YHWH from all your tithes that you take from the Children of Yisrael and you shall give from them, the contribution of YHWH, to Aharon the Kohen [priest].
From all your gifts you shall donate every contribution of YHWH, from all its best-parts, its hallowed-part from it. And you shall say to them, When you donate the best-part from it, then it shall be considered to the Lewiyyim [Levites] like the produce of the threshing-floor and like the produce of the wine-press. And you shall eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is a wage for you in exchange of your service in the Tent of Appointed-Times. And you shall not take-up on yourself (any) sin, when you donate the best-part
from it and the hallowed-contributions of the Children of Yisrael you shall not profane, and you shall not die. (Num. 18:25-32)


The Second Tithe May Only be Eaten at the Chosen Place.

You are not allowed to eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or your new-wine or your fresh-oil, or the first-born of your cattle or of your flock, or any of your vow-offerings that you vow, or your freewill-offerings, or the contribution of your hand. But before YHWH your God you shall eat it, in the place that YHWH your God shall choose, you and your son and your daughter, and your servant and your maid, and the Lewi [Levite] that is within your gates, and you shall rejoice before YHWH your God, in all enterprises of your hand. Take heed of yourself, lest you abandon the Lewi [Levite], all your days upon your soil. (Deut. 12:17-19)

If the Chosen Place be too Far.

You shall tithe, tithe all the produce of your seed, that the field brings forth year (by) year. And you shall eat before YHWH your God, in the place that he shall choose to have his name dwell there, the tithe of your grain of your new-wine and of your fresh-oil, and the firstborn of your cattle and of your flocks, in order that you shall learn to revere YHWH your God all the days. And if the way shall be too great from you, so you are not able to carry it, because the place shall be too far from you, which YHWH your God shall choose to place his name there, because YHWH your God shall bless you. You shall give
in silver, and you shall bind the silver in your hand, and you shall go to the place that YHWH your God shall choose. And you shall give the silver for all that your soul/life force craves, for cattle and for flock and for wine and for intoxicant, and for all that your soul/life force shall ask you, and you shall eat there before YHWH your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. And the Lewi [Levite] that is within your gates you shall not abandon him, for he has no part and inheritance with you. (Deut. 14:22-27)


The Third Year Tithe.

At the end of three years you shall bring out all the tithes of your produce in that year and you shall set (it) down within your gates. And the Lewi [Levite] shall come, because there is not to him a portion and property with you and the sojourner and the orphan and the widow that are within your gates and they shall eat and they shall be satisfied, in order that YHWH your God will bless you in all the doings of your hand that you do. (Deut. 14:28-29)


Declaration for Removing Tithes in the Third Year.

When you shall complete tithing all the tithes of your produce, in the third year the year of the tithing, and have given to the Lewi [Levite] to the sojourner to the orphan and to the widow, and they shall eat within your gates and shall be satisfied. And you shall say before YHWH your God, “I have utterly removed the holy-things from the house, and also have given them to the Lewi [Levite] and to the sojourner to the orphan and to the widow, according to all your commandments that you have commanded me, I have not crossed over from your commandments, and I have not forgotten. I have not eaten from it in my sorrow, and I have not removed from it (while) in impurity, and I have not given from it to the dead, I have hearkened to the voice of YHWH my God, I have done according to all that you have commanded me. Look down from your holy habitation from the heavens, and bless your people Yisrael, and the soil that you have given to us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.” This day YHWH your God has commanded you to do these laws and judgements, and you shall keep and do them with all your heart and with all your soul/life force. YHWH you have declared this day, to be to you for a God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his laws and his commandments and his
judgements and to hearken to his voice. And YHWH has declared you this day, to be to him for a specially treasured people as he spoke to you, and to keep all his commandments. And to set you most-high above all nations that he has made, for praise and for a name and for glory, and for you to be a holy people to YHWH your God, as he has spoken. (Deut. 26:12-19)

Rules Concerning Tithes.

And all the tithe of the land from the seed of the land, from the fruit of the tree, it is for YHWH, holy to YHWH. And if a man shall redeem, redeem (anything) from his tithes, its fifth he shall add to it. And all the tithe of the herd and the flock, all that passes under the rod, the tenth-one shall be holy to YHWH. He shall not search between good and bad, and he shall not exchange it, and if he shall exchange it, exchange, it shall be and its exchange shall be holy, it shall not be redeemed. These are the commandments that YHWH commanded Moshe for the Children of Yisrael at Mount Sinai. (Lev. 27:30-34)


The Tora speaks of two tithes that were compulsory.

The First Tithe.

1) The first tithe was given every year to the Tribe of Lewi for the services they rendered in the Temple and for teaching the Tora, as it is written, "And to the Children of Lewi [Levi], here; I give all the tithes in Yisrael for an inheritance in exchange for their service that they serve, the service of the Tent of Appointed-Times." (Num. 18:21)


2) This first tithe was given to the Lewiyyim on account of the fact that they were responsible for the spiritual well being of the people and they were not allowed to own land, as it is written, "And YHWH said to Aharon, in their land you shall not receive landed-inheritance and a portion there shall not be to you in their midst, I am your portion and your inheritance in the midst of the Children of Yisrael." (Num. 18:20)

3) In conclusion to the first tithe it can i) only be given to members of the Tribe of Lewi for fulfilling their duties. ii) Only given at the time of the Temple. iii) The first tithe is only applicable to the Land of Yisrael.


The Second Tithe.

1) The second tithe was also yearly as it is written, "You shall tithe, tithe all the produce of your seed, that the field brings forth year (by) year." (Deut. 14:22)

2) It was to be eaten in Yerushalem; "You are not allowed to eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or your new-wine or your fresh-oil, or the first-born of your cattle or of your flock, or any of your vow-offerings that you vow, or your freewill-offerings, or the contribution of your hand. But before YHWH your God you shall eat it." (Deut. 12:18-19)

3) Unlike the first tithe, which was a general tithe solely for the Tribe of Lewi, the second tithe was for the person donating the tithe, his own family, his servants, and for the Lewi who lived within the town of the person donating the tithe, as it is written, "in the place that YHWH your God shall choose, you and your son and your daughter, and your servant and your maid, and the Lewi [Levite] that is within your gates, and you shall rejoice before YHWH your God, in all enterprises of your hand. Take heed of yourself, lest you abandon the
Lewi [Levite], all your days upon your soil." (Deut. 12:18-19)


4) If Yerushalem was too far to take the produce to, the produce can be sold locally and the proceeds used to purchase food in Yerushalem so that it can be eaten there, as it is written, "And if the way shall be too great from you, so you are not able to carry it, because the place shall be too far from you, which YHWH your God shall choose to place his name there, because YHWH your God shall bless you. You shall give in silver, and you shall bind the silver in your hand, and you shall go to the place that YHWH your God shall choose. And you shall give the silver for all that your soul/life force craves, for cattle
and for flock and for wine and for intoxicant, and for all that your soul/life force shall ask you, and you shall eat there before YHWH your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. And the Lewi [Levite] that is within your gates you shall not abandon him, for he has no part and inheritance with you." (Deut. 14:24-27)

5) Every third year the second tithe was eaten locally and not at Jerusalem, as it is written, "At the end of three years you shall bring out all the tithes of your produce in that year and you shall set (it) down within your gates." (Deut. 14:28)

6) The third year tithe was again donated to the local Lewi, but the donator and his family were not allowed to participate in this tithe. Instead, a part from the Lewi, this tithe went to the poor and the sojourner, as it is written, "And the Lewi [Levite] shall come, because there is not to him a portion and property with you and the sojourner and the orphan and the widow that are within your gates and they shall eat and they shall be satisfied, in order that YHWH your God will bless you in all the doings of your hand that you do."
(Deut. 14:29)

7) The third year tithe was obviously not collected during the Sabbatical Year, neither were the other tithes. There were therefore two three-year tithes for the period between each Sabbatical Year.

8) In conclusion to the second tithe it can i) only be eaten in Yerushalem ii) If Yerushalem was too far to the produce can be sold locally and the proceeds used to purchase food in Yerushalem. iii) It was for the person donating the tithe, his own family, his servants, and for the Lewi who lived within the town of the person donating. iv) Every third year this tithe was eaten locally and not at Yerushalem v) Again donated to the local Lewi, but the donator and his family were not allowed to participate in this tithe. Instead, a part from the
Lewi, this tithe went to the poor and the sojourner. vi) As with the first tithe, the second tithe is only applicable to the Land of Yisrael.


In the Middle Ages various Jewish communities enacted a tax that was based upon the Biblical principle of the Tithe. This Medieval Tithe went towards helping the poor of the community, maintaining the Beth Hakkeneseth and sexton, maintaining teachers, school house and Rabbis of the community.

I hope the above has helped you.
Hakham Meir Y. Rekhavi
Tenu'a Mikraith 'Olamith
World Karaite Movement (R.A)

 

From:  "YahChannah batAbba" <yahchannah@h...>
Date:  Tue May 21, 2002  7:24 am
Subject:  Re: [karaites] Question of tithe

Hakham Rekhavi,
Thank you for this information. It is indeed enlightening but one question still remains. To whom is the tithe paid to today? Since there is no Temple and thus no Levites serving there, to whom do you pay your tithe, now?

Hakham Nehemia, I would also ask this same question of you and thank you for your answer.

Shalom,
YahChannah

From: Ivan Labombarbe <labomb32@
Reply-To: karaites@ 
To: karaites@ 
Subject: Re: [karaites] Question of tithe 
Date: Sun, 5 May 2002 19:21:50 -0700 (PDT) 

Yahchannah, 
From my readings of the mikra, I find that Tithing or tenthing (giving a tenth of one's production) is not contingent upon the temple or the levites.  If you look at Gen. 28:22 you see that Jacob was going to give a tenth of what YHWH gave him for his journey. He does not say to whom is YHWH's representative but that it comes from YHWH and in whatever measure YHWH gave to Jacob, Jacob would return a tenth back. 

We know it is from the first fruits produced of the field, trees, the flock, herd, wine, and oil. (Duet. 14:22, Numbers 18:14, Numbers 18:17, Nehemiah 10:34-) 

It is the inhertitance given from YHWH to the Levities for their service. (Numbers 18:20-24) A tenth of all. (Genesis 14:20) It can also be turned into currency(gold or silver).  (Duet. 14:24-25) 

It is shared with the Levite. (Duet. 14:27) 

From these I would say that what we recieve is from YHWH whether it be agricultural or monetary.  If one uses a unit of exchange to agricultural products to silver and then exchange it back one there.  So since what we earn today is money and it is used to buy that which we need agriculturally then should not the firstfruit of what we earn be given to YHWH. The lack of the temple or levitical service.  Some would argue that this can not happen until the temple and sacrifices are reestablished.  YHWH gave the tenth to them but who do we give it to? YHWH. So whether the Levite and temple is there or not the tenth belongs to YHWH. 

What about today?  Tithing or tenthing would be used to support the work of restoring the temple and the levitical preisthood.  This can not happen until all of Israel is made to understand his word and follow it.  So my thought is that whatever is working towards the establishment of the true faith of Israel which will lead to the Temple and preisthood is where we should give our Tenth. Just my opinion. 

May YHWH restore his faith among his people, Ivan 

 -----Original Message----- 
From: YahChannah batAbba [mailto:yahchannah@hotmail.com] 
Sent: Monday, May 06, 2002 5:12 AM 
To: karaites@
Subject: Re: [karaites] Question of tithe 

Thank you Ivan. 
I agree with what you have said but have failed in my efforts with some to make this clear. Most say there is no where to give to. Of course if we wish to give there are always places of need but I do not see the tithe as a gift since it is not ours in the first place, it is YHWHs. Shalom YahChannah 

From:  Nehemia Gordon <karaite@n...>
Date:  Thu May 23, 2002  12:35 pm
Subject:  Fw: [karaites] Question of tithe

Ivan, Yahchannah,

In a previous e-mail I made reference to Jacob's vow to tithe/ tenth his earnings to YHWH. His condition was that if YHWH gives him food to eat and clothing on his back he will return one tenth of all he earns (Gen 28:20-22).

In the book of Malachi, YHWH places the following challenge before the faithful: "... return to me and I will return to you, says YHWH of Hosts... bring all the tithe to the treasury so that it may be food in my house and test me now with this, says YHWH of Hosts, whether I will open for you the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing which is more than sufficient." (Malachi 3:7-12)

The challenge YHWH is placing in Malachi is that if Israel brings their tithe to YHWH, he will reward them with riches. In the Land of Israel rain is equivalent to wealth, whereas lack of rain means death. 

This is just as true today as it was in ancient times. Israel has been suffering from a devastating drought since 1999 and now is faced with importing water from Turkey. In the meantime the agricultural sector has been devastated bringing on a recession. Of course, today most of us do not work in the agricultural sector so the blessing might come in a different form, just as for Jacob in came in the form of goats, not rain. This challenge is really unique. We are promised reward for all our good actions, but this reward might not come until the future judgment time (Ecc 3:17; Dan 12:2). 

In contrast, the reward for Israel paying its tithe is promised here and now! This is even laid out as a test for YHWH, in His own words, "test me now with this"!

May YHWH be with you,

Nehemia Gordon
World Karaite Movement (R.A.)

Hi Yachannah, 

You raised a very good question.  I think we all agree that a tithe of our prosperities should be given back to YHVH.  In the time of the Temple, this money was given to the Kohanim who devoted their lives to do holy work on behalf of the Children of Israel.  I think the answer is to give your tithe to a place that will use the money to praise YHVH on behalf of the Children of Israel.  As you can imagine I'm partial to the World Karaite Movement, who as you know, is a non for profit organization which is extremely devoted to educating and bringing people to follow YHVH. Please let us know if you still have unanswered questions about this. 
Devorah

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