Tithes in Judaism

The tithe (Hebrew: מעשר; ma'aser) is specifically mentioned in the Books of Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

[3] The Returnees from the Babylonian exile who had resettled the country were a Jewish minority, and who, although they were not obligated to tithe their produce, put themselves under a voluntary bind to do so, and which practice became obligatory upon all.

[5] The obligation of separating the respected portions and giving them to the designated parties (priests, Levites and Israelites) applies to six years out of the seven-year cycle.

With respect to the Second Tithe, it was permitted to redeem their value in money for a later time when the owner is able to buy therewith fruits in Jerusalem and to eat them there, within the walls of the city.

[18] After harvesting, wheat is tithed once the grain has been separated from the husks and has been gathered together into a heap by the winnowing fork, or put within a granary.

The first obligation that was incumbent upon an Israelite or Jew was to separate from his harvested grain, such as wheat, barley, or spelt, wine (including unpressed grapes) and oil (including unpressed olives) the one-fiftieth portion of these products[23] (or one-fortieth, if he were a man of generosity; and one-sixtieth if he were stingy) and to give the same to a Kohen, a priest of Aaron's lineage, who, in turn, would eat such fruits in a state of ritual cleanness, in accordance with a biblical command, "...and let him not eat of the holy things, until he bathes his flesh in water.

[24] The tractate Terumot of the Mishnah and of the Jerusalem Talmud formulates the Jewish religious law for this gift, specifying two kinds of terumot given to the priest: the regular offering, known also as the terumah gedolah ("great heave-offering"), which the Israelites were required to give to the priest from the produce of their fields, and the terumat ma'aser ("tithe of the heave-offering"), the gift that the Levites were required to put aside for the priests from the tithe which ordinary Israelites had been required to give to them.

The general practice after the Temple's destruction was to separate the terumah from all fruits and vegetables by removing even a small amount, and to immediately discard it by burial or some other means of disposal (since it can no longer be eaten in the current state of ritual uncleanness, and those doing so would make themselves liable to extirpation).

[30] Their function in society was that of temple functionaries, teachers and trusted civil servants who supervised the weights and scales and witnessed agreements.

[33] Then, the Bible required the owner of the redeemed coins to spend the tithe "to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish".

It requires that one tenth of produce grown in the third and sixth years of the seven-year sabbatical cycle be given to the Levites and the poor.

Demai (Mishnaic Hebrew: דמאי) is a halakhic term meaning "dubious", referring to agricultural produce, the owner of which was not trusted with regard to the correct separation of the tithes assigned to the Levites, although the terumah (the part designated to priests) was believed to have been separated from such fruits.

[47] Some fruits and vegetables are exempt from tithing altogether, such as when a gentile grew a crop on land that he purchased or owned in Israel, and made all necessary "final preparations" (גמר מלאכה‎) for the selling of such produce in the marketplace.

Ma'aser kesafim is a tithe that Jews give to charity (tzedakah), something that is done on a voluntary basis, as this practice has not been regulated in Jewish codes of law.