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Maaser Ani
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Maaser Ani, or the "Poor tithe", reflects an obligation to set aside one tenth of produce grown in the third and sixth years of the seven-year Shemita (Sabbatical year) agricultural cycle for the poor, in the days of the Temple in Jerusalem.
Orthodox Judaism still regards tithe obligations as residing in produce grown in the Land of Israel. Contemporary practice is to set aside terumah, separate ma'aser rishon, separate terumat ma'aser, then redeem ma'aser sheni with a coin (on years that do not coincide with ma'aser ani).
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Encyclopedia
Maaser Ani, or the "Poor tithe", reflects an obligation to set aside one tenth of produce grown in the third and sixth years of the seven-year Shemita (Sabbatical year) agricultural cycle for the poor, in the days of the Temple in Jerusalem.
Orthodox Judaism still regards tithe obligations as residing in produce grown in the Land of Israel. Contemporary practice is to set aside terumah, separate ma'aser rishon, separate terumat ma'aser, then redeem ma'aser sheni with a coin (on years that do not coincide with ma'aser ani). The coin can be a minimal amount capable of purchasing food and need not be the value of the produce. When the value of the coin is "filled", the coin can be redeemed on a coin of higher value or discarded in a way that prevents its future use. Terumah and terumat maaser must be discarded in a manner consistent with their sanctity.
Orthodox Judaism regards it as meritorious to discharge one's Maaser Ani obligation additionally by giving a portion of one's income, ideally a tenth, to charity.
In the Hebrew Bible
Maaser Ani is discussed in the Book of Deuteronomy:
- At the end of three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall lay it up inside your gates; And the Levite, because he has no part nor inheritance with you, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are inside your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.” (Deuteronomy 14:28.)
The medieval commentator Rashi also interprets Deuteronomy 26:12 as referring to the Maaser Ani:
- When you have finished tithing all the tithes of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give [them] to the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, so that they can eat to satiety in your cities. (Deuteronomy 26:12)
In the Talmud
The Babylonian Talmud states in Eruvin 29a:
“The general rule is that the produce [that one sets aside for the Poor Tithe] should be enough to provide two meals”
The Babylonian Talmud also records:
- Come learn, two brothers, two partners, a father and son, a teacher and his student can redeem maaser sheni one for the other and can feed one another maaser ani. But if you say - from the son - this one will be found paying his obligation from the poor . . . R' Yehudah says, "May a curse befall one who feeds his father out of Paupers' Tithe:” (Kiddushin 32a)
indicating that while the poor man's tithe technically could be used to feed one's father, one should not feed his poor father maaser ani, so as not to embarrass one's father. The son should try his best to care for his father out of his other property. The exchange is recorded in the context of a discussion of the mitzvah of honoring one's parents.
The Jerusalem Talmud Gemara to Tractate Pe'ah 1:1(which does not have a Gemara in the Babylonian Talmud) discusses the maximum amount of one's income/money one can give to the poor and determines that one should not give more than 1/5 of his possessions so he does not become poor himself. This Gemara and a discussion in Sifrei are quoted extensively by later Jewish sages who discussed an ancient custom of tithing 10% of one's income for charity. This tithe, known as ma'aser kesafim, has become a universal obligation in Jewish Law.
See also
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