신명기 26:12의 인용 해설

One place where a pattern is more obvious is at the end of Devarim’s legal section, where we find three of its final eternal laws. Not only is its content interrelated, its format is particularly informative as well. And if we narrow our focus even further, to the last two laws, we encounter formulaic declarations that seem to carry much more meaning than the actual commandments with which these declarations are connected. Furthermore, this section takes us a long way toward understanding what Devarim is ultimately all about. In fact, the Torah’s final three laws – the eradication of Amalek, the obligation to bring the firstfruits (bikkurim), and the declaration concerning the disposal of one’s tithes (vidui ma’aser) in Devarim 25:17–18, 26:1–11 and 26:12–15, respectively – can be understood as a general summary of the entire Torah. More on this below.

אין פוחתין לעניים בגורן – when they distribute the Poor Man’s Tithe in the granary/threshing floor, they don’t give to each and every poor person less than this measure, as it is written (Deuteronomy 26:12): “that they may eat their full in your settlements,” give him according to his fullness/satisfaction.

This is the procedure in the first, second, fourth and fifth years of a seven-year sabbatical cycle. The rabbis interpreted Deuteronomy 14:28-29 and Deuteronomy 26:12-15 to refer to the poor tithe, which is separated in the third and sixth years of the cycle.