פירוש על במדבר 5:10

ואיש את קדשיו לו יהיו AND EVERY MAN’S HOLY THINGS SHALL BE HIS — Because the gifts due to the priests and the Levites are merely mentioned in the Torah (Deuteronomy 18:1—8) (without any statement as to how they are to come into possession of them), therefore one might think they may come and take them by force. On this account, it states here, ‘‘and every man’s holy things shall be his” — in some respect — thus it teaches us that the טובת הנאה, the gratification of using them in this respect as he wishes, belongs to the owner. — Many other Halachic rules have they (the Rabbis) deduced about it (this statement) in Sifrei Bamidbar 6:2. — An Agadic explanation of ואיש את קדשיו לו יהיו is the following: Whosoever retains the tithes and does not give them to the Levite, only the tithes will be his, i.e., his field will ultimately yield no more than a tithe of what it was accustomed to yield (so that his whole possession will not exceed the gifts he should have given to the priests and the Levites; cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Re'eh 10).

AND EVERY MAN’S HALLOWED THINGS SHALL BE HIS; WHATSOEVER ANY MAN GIVETH THE PRIEST, IT SHALL BE HIS. The correct interpretation of this verse is that Scripture is saying that all hallowed things of a man shall be his, meaning to say that all hallowed things about which He has not commanded that they be given to the priest, [such as the Second Tithe, fourth-year produce of trees and the tithe of the cattle] shall be the owners’ [entirely], and they may have benefit from [and eat] them, even though they are called “holy.” But whatsoever any man giveth the priest as I have commanded him, it shall be his [partially], for even in the hallowed things about which Scripture commanded that they be given to the priest, the owners have a certain right, for although they belong to the priest to whom the owner gives them, as his personal property [but the owners have the right in these hallowed things to choose to whom to give them]. Thus the Second Tithe and the fourth-year produce of trees about which Scripture stated that they be holy to the Eternal⁶⁵Leviticus 27:30 (speaking of the Second Tithe): 19:24 (in reference to fourth-year produce of trees). Both of these “holy” things do not have to be given to the priest, but are to be eaten by the owner in Jerusalem. belong to the owner as his personal property, and likewise the tithe of cattle.⁶⁶Ibid., 27:32. The tithe of cattle likewise did not have to be given to the priest, but belonged wholly to the owner, after the blood and fat of the animal were offered upon the altar (see “The Commandments,” Vol. I, pp. 90-91). But as for all other hallowed things concerning which He commanded in the section of Vayikach Korach⁶⁷Further, 16:1. The reference here is to the section on the gifts given to the priests (ibid., 18:8-32). that they should give them to the priest, they are to be given to him directly by the owners, and the priests cannot take them from them by force. From this we may deduce ourselves that the right of choosing to whom to give them [with the consequent satisfaction of so doing] is that of the owners. This is the correct interpretation in accordance with the plain meaning of the verse. It is also the opinion of Onkelos [who rendered the verse: “and every man’s hallowed ‘tithe’ shall be his,” thus in dicating that he understood the verse as referring to a tithe which is the owner’s, for instance the Second Tithe].⁶⁸Onkelos’ expression “hallowed tithe” may also refer to the First Tithe [given to the Levites] or the Poorman’s Tithe (see my Hebrew commentary, p. 212), in which case Ramban understands that Onkelos supports the explanation he mentioned: namely, that these tithes, although given away by the owner, are still partially “his” inasmuch as the choice to whom to give them and satisfaction of so chosing, is his. It is interpreted in a similar manner in the Sifre, where the Rabbis have said:⁶⁹Sifre Naso 6. “All hallowed things are included in the general verse stating, And every man’s hallowed things shall be his. Scripture took away all hallowed things and gave them to the priests, leaving only the thanks-offering, the peace-offering, and the Passover-offering, because they too belong to the owners” [and they are permitted to eat them]. However, this verse is not necessary at all for these matters [i.e., to teach us that the thanks-offering, peace-offering, and Passover-offering belong to their owners, since in each of these cases Scripture clearly states that the meat is eaten by the owners, hence the verse before us must refer, as indicated above, to the Second Tithe, and fourth-year produce of trees].⁷⁰The Sifre, however, mentioned “the thanks-offering etc.” incidentally because it discusses all the hallowed things which belong to the owners.

ואיש את קדשיו לו יהיו, however other kinds of “holy” gifts, namely ordinary tithes and trumot, may be given by the owner to whichever Levite or priest he chooses, not necessarily the priest officiating in the Temple at the time the gift is presented.