Re'ei - 5th Portion

Join me as we learn Chumash for Thursday, the fifth Torah reading of Parshas Re'eh, chapter 14, verse 22. Yesterday we learned about the laws of kosher. Today the Torah tells us about the laws of tithing and charity. Why the two are juxtaposed together we'll soon see in Rashi. Aser ta'aser kol t'vu'ascha. One must tithe of all the seeds that he plants. Of all the produce of the seed that he planted. Hayotzei'ah asher asher that comes out of the field shanah shanah every single year, year by year. Rashi, leisev asher gedi aser ta'aser, mah in zeh eitzel zeh? What do the two have the correlation between the two? Omer Hakadosh Baruch Hu l'Yisrael, God said to the Jewish people, Al tigru mulil bashal gedim shel t'vu'ah she'heim ach she'heim b'mei im yisa'en. Over here God is telling like it's a metaphor. Meaning, when don't cause the wheat, like don't cause the kids, the the imma the premature wheat to grow to to come to fruition or that they should mature while they're still in their mother's stomach. Meaning, she'eim ainam atzei ma'aser ma'aser k'ro'ui because if you don't take off tithing properly, k'she'hu [snorts] samuch, therefore these bashal, what's going to happen is that when it's about to become ripened all your wheat an imatzei'u ru'ach kadim, I'll bring out a wind v'himishah defetan and it's going to knock them all out and you won't have anything to eat. Shenemar, "Lo tishal shofel ofnei kama." B'cheiliv b'churim so too it applies by b'churim. God's telling the Jewish people the same way you can't cook a kid in its mother's milk, don't make me get rid of the wheat prematurely. Because if you don't follow the laws of kosher and you and if you don't follow the laws of tithing, then right before the wheat becomes ripened a wind is going to come and knock everything out. Shanah shanah, we come from here we learn she'eim aser min acher kodash al yashin. What does it mean year by year that you cannot tithe from last year until this year or from this year until next year. Every year you have to do it properly. Verse 23. You need it before God your God in the place that he will choose the name put his to rest his name there. Master the gun car what are you going to bring? You're going to bring the tithing of the grain of your wine of your oil the first born of your cattle of your sheep so that you should learn. The year the fear God your God all the days always. You will eat some money that's talking about the second tithing that has to be eaten in Jerusalem. Should I go already learn the first tithing you have to give to the Levites a session also wherever they want. As it says in the verse over here in 31 you can eat it where you want. Therefore when we talking about here in this case he says you have to eat it in Jerusalem. My who's a different kind of tithing which this is tithing two. Which my session you would have to be eaten in in Jerusalem. However if the journey is too long for you. You are not going to be able to carry everything that you earned. Because it's going to be two place the place that God chose the God that chooses when God chooses to put his place his name there that location is going to be too far from you. The God will bless you. The God will bless you. Rashi give it a God will bless you there will be so much for you to carry losses. Verse 25. You will then exchange the the produce for money the and you will take the money you'll bind up the money in a in you'll bind it up into like a curchief go to the place that God has chosen to place his name there. Verse 26 When you come to the temple city, you will then purchase with the money anything whatever your heart desires. By bucker, cattle, by sheep, by wine, shaker, beer. Old wine or whatever your whole your your soul desires. God your God you will eat it there before before God your God you will rejoice at you and your family. Verse 26 cloud. If you look at the way the Torah puts it, the the Torah puts a general rule, a detail and then a general rule. So first you have anything your heart desires cloud. By bucker, by cattle, sheep, wine and old wine product that's a detail. Over whole show then whatever your soul wants closer cloud tells us a general rule again. As we know in the 13 principles of how we learn things in the Torah, my heart brought me for this just like the detail is clear that it tells us it's cattle, wine and old wine Vlad Vlad they thought it's that they all have to become from the earth meaning that they come from the earth they eat from the earth but royal my heart has to be edible. So too whatever you buy has to be something that comes from the earth and it's edible. Verse 27 the levy a share don't forget about the levy. The levy that's with you in your gateways and your homes. Lo says when you do not leave him alone and do not forsake him. He ain't going to realize remember he neither has a portion in the land and therefore he has an inheritance does not have an inheritance with you. You have to make sure that he enjoys as well. What does that mean don't don't forget about him? Literally my tradition don't forget you have to give him the tithe as well which is called my tradition. You also like a shaker to pay all this excludes when it comes to the other charities that have to be given which is the parts that fall off the leftover strands of wheat or the bundles or the corners of the wheat that have to go to the poor, the hefker, and anything that you make anybody shafu yishlachu mikol ben that he can collect like anybody else. The ain chayev ma'aser and you do not have to tithe from that. So, for example, when it comes to a Levi that's a poor person or an Israelite that's a poor person, they both collect equally from the corner of the field or from the leftovers. What we talk about over here is anything that's not part of the obligatory charities that have to be given, they then have to give the ma'aser rishon to the Levi. Ma'aser sheni you have to take to Jerusalem. Verse 28. At the end of every 3 years you will then take whatever part of the tithe of that crop in that year of that crop of that year place it outside the gates of your property. What are we talking about here? Verse 28. Miketze shalesh shanim. This is coming to tell us that what happens left all his wheat from 1 year to the 2nd year to the next year from the 7 years we count. The number of years goes every sabbatical year ends the 7-year cycle and starts again from 1 2 3. So, we're talking about over here 1 2 of the sabbatical year. And what happened was the person did not give it to the Levite or he didn't bring it to Jerusalem. She even bishlishis he has to make sure to get rid of it from his house in the 3rd year. Verse 29. U vo haLevi the Levi will come along in the 3rd and 6th year of each sabbatical year the Levite you have to give the first tithe to the Levite. So, therefore he does not have a portion in your inheritance with you. And the convert and the orphan the widow I shall be that's in your gateways. They will eat satiated all your work I shall that whatever you do. Over here what is this telling us? Bo ha Levi. The Levi The Levi comes along and he takes ma'aser rishon. Va'ger va'yatom. And they poor the the the convert, the widow, and the orphan. Vi'et l'ma'aser sheni d'losa take sure who shall oni shall shana zu. And they take also the poor person's tithe that you have to give, meaning twice do you have to give ma'aser sheni, which went to the place in Jerusalem to eat it there, and twice you had to give to the poor people. V'leitzcha chana at ma'aser shlaim k'darkha she'nizkak l'chul ma'aser sheni shali shana shishi. That means in the two years, not like the other two years that you used to go to Jerusalem and take all the food and spend how you want, these two years you have to give it to the poor people. V'akhlu v'savu d'shiyei tanam d'yeisva and you have to give them enough that they should be satiated. Mikan anu from here we learn in pechas l'oni b'geidin that we don't give an poor person less than a half a kav of wheat and a kav of barley, which that is the amount of at least two meals. Rashi include concludes. V'ata helekh l'Yerushalayim b'ma'aser shali shana rishona shniya shisha m'svada b'yado k'dichshana b'ma'aser rishona v'fudish k'sachal l'ma'aser. So then you have to go to Jerusalem, take the ma'aser sheni from the first and second year that you did not take, that you left in your house. You have to go and you have to confess and say, "I got rid of now all the holy food from my house." As we talk about later on in chapter 26. This concludes the fifth Torah reading of parsha Shmini.