Poor man's tithe: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:33, 17 December 2019

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:The general rule is that the produce [that one sets aside for the Poor Tithe] should be enough to provide two meals<ref>[[Eruvin (Talmud)|Eruvin]] 29a</ref>

The Babylonian Talmud also records, in the context of a discussion of the [[Honor your father and your mother|commandment of honoring one's parents]]:

:Come, learn: two brothers; two partners; a father and son; a teacher and his student; can redeem ''ma'aser sheni'' one for the other and can feed one another ''ma'sar ani''. But if you say "from the son", this one will be found paying his obligation from the poor... Rabbi Yehudah says, "May a curse befall one who feeds his father out of Paupers' Tithe.”<ref>[https://www.sefaria.org.il/Kiddushin.32a.5?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en Kiddushin 32a]</ref>

indicating that while ''ma'sar ani'' technically could be used to feed one's poor father, one should not do so, 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 [[Honor your father and your mother|commandment of honoring one's parents]].<ref>Talmud of Babylonia: An American translation : Volume XXIV ed. Jacob Neusner - 1992 "... not been removed, from which poor tithe also had not been removed, is flogged."</ref>

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 one -fifth 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'sar kesafim'', has become a universal obligation in Jewish Lawpractice.

==In Orthodox Judaism==