Avot310

1:
Our mishnah continues the series based on the number seven. In many printed editions the division between our present mishnah and the next is palpably wrong even to a cursory glance. We have followed the division of the text according to that offered by Rambam in his Mishnah Commentary, because it makes much greater sense.

2:
At first glance our present mishnah seems to offer nothing but a series of disasters which are presented as the result of certain misdemeanours by the people of Israel. It seems impossible to find any logical sequence in this tale of woe. All the classical commentators seem to accept this situation and they make do with explaining – often gratuitously – the text itself. Clearly such an approach leave much to be desired.

3:
It seems to me that the best way of understanding our present mishnah is to understand it in a different manner. I believe that it will yield sense if we look upon it as the answer to questions. Certain disasters seem to occur often in the history of mankind, and certainly in the history of Israel. Clearly, the traditional interpretation of disasters must be that we (collective Israel) have sinned and a punishment is being visited upon us. (In the generations coming after the holocaust that was visited upon us in mid 20th century this interpretation becomes less and less tenable; but that is a different matter and is unconnected with the elucidation of our present mishnah.) Our mishnah, I believe, asks what are the sins that bring about these recurrent disasters?

4:
There is one place in the Torah which does indeed give a long list of threatened disasters. It can be found towards the end of the book of Leviticus, in chapter 26. A long passage in that chapter expatiates on the blessings that will follow from collective observance of God's commandments and the disasters that will ensue after disobedience. The threatened disasters are known collectively as the tokheĥah. Some of those verses are relevant to our present mishnah. I here present the source [Leviticus 26:16-34] in as brief a manner as possible.

5:
It seems to me that our present mishnah can best be understood by linking its various elements with the various threats that are the subject matter of the biblical passage.

6:
On many previous occasions over the years we have explained in considerable detail the tithing system of ancient Israel. (See, for example, Peah 044, paragraph 3.) The tithe produce (or its monetary equivalent) was used to sustain the priesthood and the Levites who were to dedicate themselves entirely to the functioning of the Bet Mikdash; it was used to provide relief for the poverty-stricken; and it was used to bolster the economy of Jerusalem. (The whole of Tractate Pe'ah is dedicated to this topic.) We can be certain that our ancient counterparts were no less unenthusiastic about parting with their hard-earned wealth than we are today. Thus, many people avoided paying their tithes altogether. This resulted in many priests knocking on doors, as it were, to get their tithes.

7:
Our mishnah says that when some people pay their tithes and others don't the punishment is defined in the tokheĥah. Since God's retribution is seen as middah keneged middah (measure for measure) it follows that when some are tithing and some are not some must suffer punishment and some not. When the rains do not come at the expected time

However, when the whole nation refuses to pay tithes there is a complete drought and the threat of the Torah becomes realised:

To be continued.