Halakhah su Deuteronomio 26:12

That He prohibited us from eating tevel - and that is [produce] from which the priestly tithe and the [other] tithes have not been separated. And that is His saying, "And they shall not desecrate the consecrated items of the Children of Israel which they will set apart" (Leviticus 22:15). And one who transgresses this negative commandment - that he ate tevel - is liable for death at the hands of the Heavens. And the hint to this is surely His saying, "and they shall not desecrate"; and saying with the priestly tithe, "and the consecrated things of the Children of Israel, you must not desecrate" (Numbers 18:32). And it is learned [from the use of the same word,] desecrate with the priestly tithe, [the eating of] which is an iniquity [punished by] death, as we have explained. And the language of the Gemara, Sanhedrin (Sanhedrin 83a), is, "From where [do we know that] one who eats tevel is punished with death? As it is stated, 'They shall not desecrate the consecrated items of the Children of Israel' - that they are to give the Lord in the future." And that is from [the continuation of the verse], "which they will set apart." And after this verse, He said, "And so cause them to bear the iniquity of the guilt" (Leviticus 22:16). And in the Gemara in Makkot (Makkot 16b), they said, "One might have thought that one is liable for eating only tevel from which no gifts were taken at all; [but if] the great priestly tithe was separated from it, but the priestly tithe of the tithe was not separated from it, or if the priestly tithe of the tithe was separated but not the first tithe, or if the first tithe was separated but not the second tithe, or [even] if only poor man’s tithe [was not separated] - from where [do we know it]? [Hence] we learn to say, 'You may not eat within your gates' (Deuteronomy 12:17); and there it states, 'and they shall eat within your gates and be satisfied' (Deuteronomy 26:12). Just as there, it is [referring to] poor man’s tithe, here too, it is [referring to] poor man’s tithe - and the [Torah] said, 'You may not.'" However this is [talking about] lashes. And the iniquity [punished with] death is only with the great priestly tithe and the priestly tithe from the tithe. For one who eats the first tithe, before the priestly tithe from the tithe has been separated, is liable for death. And that is His saying to the Levites, when He commanded to separate the tithe from the tithe, "and the consecrated things of the Children of Israel, you must not desecrate so that you not die." As this is the prohibition about eating the tithe while it is tevel. Hence one is liable for death because of it, as is explained in Demai. And also understood from this is that one who eats tevel before the great priestly tithe and the priestly tithe from the tithe were separated from it, is liable for death; and its prohibition is from, "and the consecrated things of the Children of Israel, you must not desecrate" - as I have explained in this commandment. But one who eats tevel after the separation of the great priestly tithe, but before the separation of all the [other] tithes, is liable for lashes; and its prohibition is from, "You may not eat within your gates." And hold on to this and do not err about it. And the regulations of this commandment - meaning tevel - have already been explained in [various] places in Demai and in Terumot. (See Parashat Emor; Mishneh Torah, Forbidden Foods 10.)

To leave over the corner of the field: To leave over a corner from the produce, as it is stated (Leviticus 19:10), "to the poor and to the stranger shall you leave them," after it mentioned, "you shall not finish the corner of your field" (Leviticus 19:9). And the understanding of stranger [here] is a righteous convert (see Sifra Kedoshim 3:4). And so [too], any "stranger" stated in [the context of] gifts to the poor - as behold, it is written about the second tithe (Deuteronomy 26:12), "to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow." And that is certainly the righteous convert - when undifferentiated - as its witnesses (the orphan and the widow) are by its side. And the same is the case for all of the gifts to the poor. And nonetheless they, may their memory be blessed, said (Gittin 59b) that we do not prevent them from the poor of the idolaters, due to the ways of peace. And the content of the corner, is that a person leaves a little of his produce at the end of his field at the time that he reaps. And there is no measure to this remnant by Torah writ, but the Sages gave a measurement to the thing (Mishnah Peah 1:2), and it is one in sixty parts.

To not eat tevel: To not eat tevel - whether an Israelite or a priest - and that is a thing that tithes and priestly tithes have not been taken away from it, as it is stated (Leviticus 22:15), "And they shall not profane the consecrated things of the Children of Israel that they shall raise to the Lord." And the received (traditional) explanation comes about this (Sanhedrin 83a) that the verse is speaking about tevel. And the content of the verse is to say that they should not profane the consecrated things in their still being mixed with the non-sacred. And that is [why] the expression is [in] future tense - meaning to say that it has not yet been raised. And so [too], is it in the Gemara Sanhedrin 83a, "From where [do we know] about the one who eats tevel that he is [punishable by] death? As it is stated, 'And they shall not profane the consecrated things of the Children of Israel that they shall raise to the Lord' - the verse is speaking about those that will be raised in the future; such that we learn [a comparison of] 'profane' [and] 'profane' from priestly tithe," about which it is written (Numbers 18:32), "and the consecrated things of the Children of Israel you shall not profane and not die." And [the latter] is with the death penalty - as we wrote above (Sefer HaChinukh 280), from that which is written (Leviticus 22:9), "and die for it, since they profaned it," and adjacent to it, "And any foreigner shall not eat the holy." And they, may their memory be blessed, also said about this matter in the Gemara Makkot 16b, "Perhaps one is only liable for eating tevel from which no [gifts] were taken at all; but if the great priestly tithe was taken from [the produce], but not the tithe of the tithe, or the first tithe or the second tithe, or even if only the poor tithe [was not separated]; from where [is it derived] that there is a liability in the thing? [Hence] we learn to say, 'You may not eat in your gates' (Deuteronomy 12:17), and later it states, 'and they shall eat within your gates and be satisfied' (Deuteronomy 26:12). Just as there, it is poor tithe, here too, it is poor tithe - and the [Torah] states, 'You may not.'"

From the laws of the commandment is that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Yevamot 85b), that this tithe that is of the Levites is completely non-sacred (chullin) and [so] permissible for any man to eat - whether a Levite or whether an Israelite - and even in impurity, as it is stated (Numbers 18:27), "This shall be accounted to you as your gift." [That is] to say that the tithe which is given as the tithe of Israel is for you "as the grain from the threshing floor or the flow from the vat." And they, may their memory be blessed, expounded [that] just like the threshing floor and the vat are non-sacred for all purposes, so too is the first tithe that had its tithe taken non-sacred for all purposes. [And] the explanation of 'that had its tithe taken' is meaning to say after the Levites skimmed a tithe from their tithe and gave it to the priests. That is what is called 'its tithe.' And every place that it is stated about the tithe, "holy" or "redemption" is only about the second tithe. And they said in Sifrei that all that is food for people and guarded and its growth is from the earth is liable for the tithe and the priestly tithe (terumah). And they [derive] it from that it is written about the priestly tithe (Deuteronomy 18:4), "The beginning of your grain, etc." As they, may their memory be blessed, expounded [that] just like grain, grapes and oil are food of people and its growth is from the earth and has owners, as it is stated, "your grain"; so too all that is similar to them are liable for the tithe and the priestly tithe. But even though vegetables are food of people, they are not liable for the tithe except rabbinically; as about the tithe it states (Deuteronomy 14:22), "all the produce of your seed," and vegetables are not called 'produce.' But from the words of the Gemara that we rely upon more, it appears that also in all [other] fruits besides grain, grapes and oil, is there no liability for the tithe, except rabbinically. And [according to this,] the verse that was brought [as a prooftext] in the Sifrei was only a memory device (asmakhta). This is the conclusion in the beginning of the chapter [entitled] Hasokher et HaPoalim (Bava Metzia 88a) concerning that which Rav Pappa answered that the fig tree stood in the garden, but its branches leaned into the courtyard. However, Rambam, may his memory be blessed, wrote the opposite of this, and like he found [it] in the Sifrei. And so [too] from the topic of the commandment is that which they said that we do not separate the tithe of the new crop for the old crop, and not from the old for the new, not from that which is liable for that which is exempt and not from that which is exempt for that which is liable. And if one separated the tithe [like this], it is not [considered] a tithe. But we do take the tithe from that which is not encircled (close to the produce for which one is liable), even though it is not like this with the priestly tithe, as we only separate the priestly tithe from what is encircled. And nonetheless, with other things the tithe and the priestly tithe are the same; such that anything about which we say regarding the priestly tithe, "we do not take the priestly tithe, but if one [took it], his priestly tithe is a [valid] priestly tithe - so [too,] with the tithe, if he separated it, his tithe is a [valid] tithe. And everything that is exempt from the priestly tithe is exempt for the tithe. And in the Order of Shoftim, we will write at greater length, with God's help, and you can see it there. And so [too] from the topic of the commandment is that which they, may their memory be blessed, said that a person is only obligated to separate the tithe from Torah writ if he finished [the work] on his fruit to eat them for himself, but one who finished them to sell them in the marketplace is exempted, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 14:22), "You shall surely tithe, etc. and you shall eat." And so [too,] one who buys [the produce] after its work has been completed - meaning to say it was put in the threshing floor by the seller - is exempt from Torah writ, but obligated from the words [of the Rabbis], as it is stated, "the produce of your seed," meaning to say that the work was finished in your domain. And the obligation of the tithe does not rest on the fruits until they reach the time of the tithe, as it is stated (Leviticus 27:30), "from the seed of the land, from the fruit of the tree"; meaning to say until it becomes a fruit. And from here, they, may their memory be blessed, learned that the time of the tithe is from when the fruits reach [when they could] be seeded and grow. Everything is according to what [the specific] fruit is. How is this? Figs, from when they become soft such that they are ready to eat; apples and citrons from when they turn round. And so [too,] with each and every fruit, they established its time for the tithe. That is to say until this time that is established for them, we can eat as much as we need, as they are not in the category of the tithe at all. But after this time, it can only be eaten casually, until their threshing floor designates them for the tithe. And after their threshing floor has designated them for the tithe, it is forbidden to eat from them, even casually. And what is their threshing floor with regard to the tithe? Produce from when it is flattened, meaning to say that he flattens its top with a shovel, in the way that people do when they make it into a heap. And in the Talmud Yerushalmi Ma'asrot 1:4, we have found further that if his intention is not to flatten [it], it is a threshing floor for [the designation of] the tithe from when he sets up a pile from his produce. As the verse made it dependent on the threshing floor, and even without flattening, when his intention is not to flatten [it]. And even if he makes a threshing floor of it inside his house; even there, the threshing floor creates the designation for the tithe. And that which Rav Oshaya said, "A man may be crafty about his produce and bring it in with its chaff," so as to exempt it from the tithe - and it is a set law, as we say in Tractate Berakhot 31a - that is speaking when he did not set up a pile inside his house, and so [too,] that he did not flatten it, but rather that he pounded it and winnowed it, little by little without flattening, and put it into the storehouse, little by little. This is what appears in this matter; and in this way, all of the discussions go up in one 'stalk, healthy and well' (are all in agreement). And they, may their memory be blessed, said that the season of squash and watermelon and pumpkin is from when they are rubbed, meaning from when the thin hair that is upon them is removed; and the season of a basket of fruit is from when he covers the fruit inside of it with leaves and fronds. And so [too,] with each and every fruit, they established the time of its threshing floor, according to what it is - everything like it comes in Tractate Maasrot (Mishna Maasrot 1:5). And I have also seen about the topic of designating the tithe by Torah writ that the opinion of some of the commentators is that there is never designation for the tithe from any angle until there is seeing the face of the house (that the produce enter the home), and also that the house be fit for it, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 26:13), "I have cleared out the consecrated from the house." And that is when he brought it in through the gate, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 26:12), "and they shall eat in your gates and they shall be satiated." But if he brought them in through the roofs or the enclosures, they are exempt from the tithe and the priestly tithe. And so did Rambam, may his memory be blessed, write (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Tithes 4:2), "It appears to me that we do not administer lashes from Torah writ for the eating of unseparated produce until they are designated by his bringing them into his house. But if it is designated with the other things that designate for the tithe, we do not administer lashes, besides [rabbinic] lashes of rebellion." [This] and the rest of its details are elucidated in Tractate Maasrot (see Tur, Yoreh Deah 338).

From the laws of the commandment are that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Gifts to the Poor 6:7, 10) that the owner of a field through which poor people passed must give everyone of them tithe enough to satiate him, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 26:12), "and they shall eat in your gates and be satiated." And how much is enough to satiate him? From wheat, he should [give] no less than half a kav; from barley, no less than a kav; spelt, no less than a kav and a half; fig-cakes no less than the weight of twenty-five sela; wine, no less than half a log; oil, [no less] than a quarter log; a quarter of a kav of rice; a litra weight of vegetables; three kav of carobs; ten nuts; five peaches; two pomegranates; and one etrog (citron). If he had a little [produce] and the poor are many, he places it in front of them and they divide it among themselves. And there is no right for the owners to benefit [by choosing who receives] the favor [for] the second tithe that is divided on the threshing floor. [If] a man and a woman come to take, we give to the woman first and afterwards to the man. [These] and the rest of its details are elucidated in Tractates Peah, Maaserot, Demai and in [various] places in [the Order,] Zeraim, and in Makhshirim and Yadayim. And with God's help, I will write in which place it is practiced and at what time, in the Order of Shoftim (Sefer HaChinukh 507).