1:
The principle underlying our present mishnah is the same principle as we encountered in the previous mishnah, which is why our mishnah starts with the word 'similarly'.
2:
Tithes, as we have mentioned on several occasions, is a term used to indicate certain 'taxes' on produce that must be removed (in the manner described in the previous shiur) in order to make it permissible for consumption. For the sake of completeness let us briefly review the most important of these tithes.
3:
Ma'aser is a Hebrew term which indicates one tenth of the crop. Terumah is another and different donative. Terumah was given only to a priest (any priest) and essentially the amount given was dependent on the farmer's generosity. From what was left after Terumah had been removed from the crop (nowadays a negligible amount) the farmer had to remove ten percent as Ma'aser [tithe] for the Levite of his choice. From his tithe the Levite was required to deduct one tenth and give it to the priest of his choice. Additionally, there was a further tithe, called Ma'aser Sheni: in the first, second, fourth and fifth years of the Shemittah cycle a levy of ten percent of what remained of the produce had to be taken and consumed in Jerusalem or – as was more usual – it had to be 'redeemed' and its value taken and spent on food and drink in Jerusalem. (Thus the Second Tithe was geared up to boosting the economy of the capital.) However, this tithe was replaced in the third and sixth years of the cycle by the Indigent's Tithe, Ma'aser Ani: this was a levy of ten percent which had to be given to the destitute person of the owner's choice.
4:
The Mishnah [Ma'aserot 1:2-4] gives a complete list of the time in the life-cycle of each fruit and vegetable when it became liable to tithing, and the ancient farmers must have been expert in what must now appear to us to be rather occult knowledge. What is important for us to know in order to understand our present mishnah is that each item of produce had a certain stage at which it became liable to tithing; before that stage it was not liable to tithing.
5:
We can now say regarding tithes essentially what we said in the previous shiur regarding the 'poor' law: if the produce was dedicated to the Bet Mikdash before the stage at which it became liable to tithing and was also redeemed before the produce reached that stage then it becomes liable to tithing when that stage is reached because it does not belong to the Bet Mikdash at that critical stage. Similarly, if the produce were dedicated after it had reached that stage and subsequently redeemed it is liable to tithing even though there was a period when it belonged to the Bet Mikdash and therefore was not liable to tithing. The produce, when in secular hands, will only be 'excused' tithing if it were dedicated before it reached its tithing stage, reached that stage while still owned by the Bet Mikdash and was then subsequently redeemed.
6:
Our mishnah speaks of what we may term a 'completion' stage. We had occasion to mention this in the first chapter of this tractate. In Peah 012 I wrote:
If this 'act of completion' was performed by the Temple treasurer then the produce is exempt from tithes even if it was subsequently redeemed and reverted to a secular status.
We have thus concluded our last shiur for 5763. The festival of Rosh ha-Shanah begins tomorrow evening. (You might like to review
a shiur on this festival that I wrote several years ago.)
I take this opportunity to wish everybody a very happy new year.
Le-Shanah Tovah Tikatevu:
may all RMSG subscribers, we and our loved ones, our neighbours and friends, our compatriots and fellow-citizens – and all our fellow creatures – be inscribed for a happy, healthy, successful and peaceful New Year.
Our next shiur will be on Tuesday September 30th 2003, 4th Tishri 5764.
