The first tithe (Hebrew: מעשר ראשון, romanized: maʿśēr rîshôn) is a positive commandment in the Torah requiring the giving of one tenth of agricultural produce to charity, after the giving of the standard terumah, to the Levite (or Kohen). This tithe is required to be free of both monetary and servicial compensation.
Originally, during the First Temple period, the tithe was given to the Levite. Approximately at the beginning of the Second Temple construction, Ezra and his beth din implemented its giving to the kohanim.[1][2] However, this rule was nullified with the destruction of the Second Temple, and since then the tithe has been given to Levites once again.[3]
- ^ The Talmud Adin Steinsaltz 1992 "Yet if a priest has first tithe in his possession, he need not give it to a Levite. Ezra penalized the Levites of his generation because they did not return to Eretz Israel with him, and he decreed that first tithe should be given to ..."
- ^ Restoration: Old Testament, Jewish, and Christian perspectives p329 James M. Scott - 2001 "One says that the Levites were punished because they did not come up to the Land of Israel during Ezra's days. The other says that the first tithe was given to the priests, so that they would have food when they were in a state of ..."
- ^ "Laws of Ma'aser Rishon". en.toraland.org.il. The Institute for Torah and the Land of Israel.