Torah Tithing

“Give to Elohim what is Elohim’s,” Mark 12:17.

By Brother Rabbi Dani’el Rendelman
Emet Ministries
ravemet@comcast.net

MEMBER OF BNAI YAHSHUA SYNAGOGUES WORLDWIDE

Within the Scriptures are some very specific instructions regarding the concept of “tithing.” We’ll find the first mention of this concept in the book of Beresheet. Many years ago, our father Abraham had a close encounter with an amazing visitor. From this meeting we can learn some powerful insights about living and about giving.

The scriptures say, “Malki-tzedek, king of Shalem, brought out bread and wine. He was a Cohen of El’Elyon, so he blessed him with these words: Blessed be Avram by El’Elyon, maker of heaven and earth, and blessed be El’Elyon who handed your enemies over to you.” Avram gave him a tenth of everything,” Beresheet 14:18-20.

Meeting the priest of Yahweh was an incredible event, yet what is most astonishing here are not the acts of Malki-tzedek, but the acts of Abraham.

In response to the time spent together, the Torah says that Avram gave him a “tithe” of everything. The word tithe is derived from the Hebrew term “ma’aser,” which means “a tenth portion.” According to Hebrews 7:4 Avram’s tithe included the gain or the spoil from the enemies he had just defeated. Many believe that Malki-tzedek taught the Torah to Avram and that is why he tithed to him. It is here, with the meeting of a patriarch and a priest, giving a tenth is first spoken of in the Scriptures. Sure, sacrifices and offerings have already occurred, yet this is the initial time a person tithes. With this account, the tithe is established as the heavenly principle for giving.

Thousands of years since that first ma’aser, the notion of tithing has become an accepted practice within the lives of many believers. However, it seems that over time we have lost the essence of the tithe. We have forgotten how to tithe. Through involvement into manmade religious systems, we have been mislead and misinformed about tithing. We are just like the old farmer, who once heard a sermon about YHWH owning everything. He sat in the congregation, listening to but not agreeing with the sermon. That afternoon he invited the preacher to dinner with him and his family. After dinner they walked outside, the farmer made a point of showing the preacher around his house, barns, tool shed, and pointed to his beautifully kept farm. Then he asked the preacher half jokingly, "Pastor, I worked all my life on this land. Do you mean to tell me that it’s not my land, that it’s the Creator's land?" The minister reflected for a moment and then quietly said to the farmer, "ask me that same question a hundred years from now."

The Tehillims say that the “earth is YHWH’s and the fullness thereof.” What this means is that everything in the world, from the oceans of the sea to the cars that we drive are His. Tithing isn’t paying a bill; it is giving back to the Creator what is already His. YHWH owns everything, a “cattle on a thousand hilltops,” and He doesn’t need our tithe. We need our tithe; we need to give it according to the pattern set by the Torah. And we need the obedience to distribute the tithe in the manner that the Torah addresses. Our tithe symbolically acts as the sacrifices commanded in the Torah. Without our tithing we cannot walk in the precepts of YHWH. Tithing is to our spiritual well being what food is to the body; it brings life and enables our spiritual life to flourish.

From the Land
The tithing commands spoken of in the Torah were to a culture of farmers who brought their gifts to the temple or tabernacle based on a seven-year cycle. The gifts given to the Tabernacle or Temple are a picture for us today. They represent how we are to give back to YHWH what is rightfully His. While we may not farm for a living, we do “work the land.” We may not live in and off the Land of Israel, yet in essence, we are from the Land Yisra’el. Man was created from the very dust from Land of Yisra’el. So, everything man produces is made from the land and our increase is to be tithed. The Torah is full of commands dealing with produce from the farm and when and how it is to be given. Let’s consult the Torah, our blueprint for living, to understand some basic principles on how to give unto YHWH.

The seven-year giving cycle commanded in the Torah is our example for how to tithe. Today, what we earn can simply be converted to equal the same portions indicated in the ancient words of the Torah. This way we can give ma’aser just like our ancestors did.

The concept of converting the produce of the land into money is spoken of in Leviticus 27:31 and in Deuteronomy. “You shall truly give ma’aser of all the increase of your zera that the field brings forth year by year. And you shall eat before YHWH your Elohim, in the place that He shall choose to place His Name there, the ma’aser of your corn, of your wine, and of your oil, and the bechorot of your herds and of your flocks; that you may learn to fear YHWH your Elohim always. And if the derech is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it; or if the place is too far from you, where YHWH your Elohim shall choose to set His Name, when YHWH your Elohim has blessed you: Then shall you turn it into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and shall go to the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose,” Devarim – Deuteronomy 14:22-25.

Through this system, our donations allow us modern-day Israelites to correctly tithe to Yahweh. This falls in line with the specific command not to change the set Torah tithing method described in the Torah, Exodus 22:28. We will call this concept of converting the Temple gifts into monetary donations Torah Tithing.

Torah tithing is very different than what most believers are accustomed. First of all, tithing is from the net and not the gross. Tithing is only done from what is harvested, which does not include that which goes to pay taxes and government fees. In Devarim 14:22 it says, “You shalt truly tithe all the increase of your seed, that the field brings forth year by year.” From the increase or profit of the seed, we are to give.

The government deducts from our net income what is necessary to operate our society and provide assistance to those less fortunate. Similarly, we are told in Leviticus 19:10 and Devarim 24:21 to leave the produce located in the corners of their fields for the poor. In the King James Version this is called “gleaning” the fields. Because Israel as a people has failed to fulfill its mandate of taking care of the poor, the various governments around the world have stepped in with programs like welfare and social security. Our taxes support our society, and therefore we should “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s,” Mattitiyahu - Matthew 22:21. (This does not cover money deducted from our pay for insurance, savings or etc, which should be tithed.)

Also with Torah tithing the entire donation does NOT all go to the worship center or synagogue. The believer is to split up the tithe to various “funds.” These accounts are symbolic of the yearly ma’aser(tithing) cycle set up in the Torah. As the ancient Israelites did not give their entire tenth to the Temple, nor should we. Instead, through dividing the tithe in the Scriptural manner we will always have the necessary resources for celebrating the feast days, helping the needy, paying the Torah teacher, and supplying the needs of the local synagogue.

Modern Day Example
Again, Torah Tithing is based upon seven years of agriculture. And again, since we aren’t tithing produce but money, we will simply convert the yearly cycle to percentages of a dollar that equal those years spoken about in the Torah. To illustrate how to Torah Tithe let’s use a tithe of $100 as an example. We’ve made $1000 after taxes so we should tithe ten percent of our net, which is $100.

First, a portion of the entire tithe amount is be set aside for Torah Teacher, functioning in the office of the priests. A tithe of the tithes, went to the Cohanim (priests) during Temple Times and should today. “And YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, Speak to the Lewiym, and say to them, When you take from the children of Yisrael the ma’aser which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall offer up a terumah,” Bamidbar – Numbers 18:25,26. AlsoseeLeviticus 27:30. This is called the Masserot or the first tithe. It was given to the Levites who would then give it to the Cohen HaGadol, apparently to be distributed to the Aharonic priests. Numbers 18:23-32. Ten percent of the tithe is given to those who perform the ministry. So, from our $100 tithe, ten dollars is given directly to the Torah Teacher.

During the third and sixth years of tithing the tithe was given as tzedekah. Tzedekah is the ancient term for “righteousness,” that in modern Hebrew signifies gifts or deeds to poor for charity. “At the end of three years you shall bring forth all the ma’aser of your increase the same year, and shall lay it up within your gates: And the Lewi, (because he has no part nor inheritance with you,) and the ger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that YHWH your Elohim may bless you in all the work of your hands which you do,” Devarim 14:28-29. This is the Creator’s welfare system; the prescribed way that the needs are met of those less fortunate. As Yisra’el does Torah Tithing there is always money for those in poverty.

Today, this tzedekah money is given directly to the poor or less fortunate. Each individual or family should distribute this money to a charity, fund, or person who is impoverished. One great way to fulfil this mitzvot is to use a designated container for this cause, called a “Tzedekah Box.” For thousands of years Judaism has utilized the tzedekah box as a centerpiece of the home, where the family could donate money on special occasions, feast days, or whenever. A rabbi once called the tzedekah box the only “kosher piggy-bank.” Clearly, this tradition has great benefit and aids the believer to tithe appropriately. (Be careful though to use discernment when deciding to whom these gifts of tzedekah are given to.) Our tzedekah portion of the tithe is symbolic of the two years of increase from the Land, which represent about twenty percent of our tithes. So, from our example $20 would be placed in the tzedekah box.

The Torah speaks that the first, second, fourth, and fifth years of tithing was to be eaten in Jerusalem only. The produce from the land was simply converted to money and used to pay for the annual pilgrimage festivals and temple activities (see Devarim 14:22). This money was saved up until it was needed. From these four years of tithing, we learn to give half of our tithe to the local place of worship and use twenty percent of our tithe to pay for the celebration of the feast days.

When Passover, Sukkot, or any of the Holy days approaches, we can be prepared to celebrate because we have saved up money in our ‘feast fund” account. We’ve saved twenty percent of our tithes for this cause. Twenty percent of our $100 example is $20. This twenty dollar bill is to be reserved for use during the appointed times of YHWH. Our holding of money for feast usage is called the Maaser Sheni and is vital to the keeping of Torah. The feast days and holy convocation cost money to celebrate properly. YHWH knows this. The Torah Tithing method provides the necessary money to keep the feasts.

The fifty-percent of the tithe that remains is given to the Temple to supply the needs of the house of worship. When the scriptures say in Malachi, “Bring the whole tithe to the storehouse” it is to the people during one of these years. From these several years of gifts we give half of our tithe to the local worship center. From our $100 tithe, fifty dollars is to be donated to the synagogue. (If we don’t have a local congregation to support, perhaps we could donate this money to a Torah teaching ministry in another town.)

To recap all of this, Dr. James Trimm has written, “There are actually two tithes in the Mosaic Covenant which were tied to the seven year cycle of the Land. The first tithe (Masserot) is due every year for the maintenance of the Levites (Lev. 27:30; Num. 18:21) who then gave a tenth of the tithe to the High Priest (apparently to be distributed to the Aharonic Priests (Numb. 18:23-32). The second tithe (Maaser Sheni) was converted to money and used to make a personal pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The "pilgrim" could spend this money however he liked on the pilgrimage but was expected to treat the Levites to a feast as well upon his arrival and any surplus was given to the Levites (Deut. 14:22-27). Every third year however the tither stayed home and used this second tithe to feed the needy and local Levites (Deut. 14:28-29). Thus the Mosaic-tithing schedule goes like this:

Year
1. First Tithe: Levites; Second Tithe: Pilgrimage and Levites
2. First Tithe: Levites; Second Tithe: Pilgrimage and Levites
3. First Tithe: Levites; Second Tithe: Feeds the needy and Levites
4. First Tithe: Levites; Second Tithe: Pilgrimage and Levites
5. First Tithe: Levites; Second Tithe: Pilgrimage and Levites
6. First Tithe: Levites; Second Tithe: Feeds the needy and Levites
7. The Sabbath of the land, only the First Tithe was paid on any volunteer crop and on other nonplanted produce.”

How to tithe today
In review, if we are tithing $100, then half of it (or $50) to the temple or sanctuary where we worship. We will then take a tenth of the ma’aser, or $10, and give it to the Cohen, priest or Torah teacher. $20 or twenty percent of the tithe goes to tzedekah box. The last $20 or last twenty percent is then placed in a “feast fund” to pay for the expenses of celebrating the festivals. (A reference diagram is provided below.)

The Torah even provides a blessing that is to be said when the tithe is separated and given: “Then say to Yahweh your Elohim: “I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them. I have not eaten any of the sacred portions while I was in mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor have I offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed Yahweh my Elohim; I have done everything you commanded me. Look down from heaven, your holy dwelling place, and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us as you promised on oath to our forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey,” Devarim 26:13-15.

This type of Torah Tithing is very similar to how the farmers in Eretz Yisra’el gave unto the Temple and the Tabernacle. It provides the money necessary for all facets of the faith. It works. And, it is conceivably what Avram was taught by Malki-tzedek. The Rabbis of Judaism believe that it was the teaching of Malki-tzedek that prompted Avram to give. But, perhaps Avram did not just give a basic ma’aser. Perhaps Avram actually gave a tenth of a tenth to Malki-tzedek – the EXACT prescribed amount to give to the Cohen or Torah teacher.

Maybe the tithe of Avram was to set an example for all of his children. Perchance what is being taught here is what Malki-tzedek taught Avram. As a response to the Torah teaching Avram gave a tithe. Our response should be the same. We ought to follow the precepts set in the Torah for ma’aser. As we do, we’ll have our needs met, minister to the poor, provide for the teacher, have the resources for the feast days, and help the local congregation operate.

Torah Reference	Converted Breakdown
Numbers 18:23-32 & Leviticus 27:30	10% of tithe to the Torah Teacher
Devarim 14:28-29	20% of tithe to Tzedekah
Devarim 14:22	20% of tithe to Feast Fund
Shemot 30:12 & Leviticus 27:30	50% of tithe to Temple