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Bible Encyclopedias
Ma'aserot
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
or Seventh masseket of the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Palestinian Gemara, in the Talmudic order of Zera'im. It deals with the tithes of agricultural produce due to the Levites (Numbers 18:21 ). In contradistinction to the tithe called "ma'aser sheni," which the owner must consume at Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 14:22 et seq. ), and to the triennial poor man's tithe (Deuteronomy 14:28 et seq. , 26:12 et seq. ), called "ma'aser 'ani," the tithe treated in this masseket is denominated "ma'aser Lewi" (the Levite's tithe) or "ma'aser rishon" (first tithe see Ma'as. Sh. 5:6,10). The latter name was formerly applied to this treatise (see Joshua ha-Levi, "Halikot 'Olam," 1:1 Frankel, "Darke ha-Mishnah," p. 257), which is so styled in the Erfurt manuscript of Tosefta (ed. Zuckermandel). The treatise is divided into five chapters (three in the Tosefta), and its contents, briefly stated, are as follows:
- Ch. i.: Whatever is edible, and is private property, and grows in the ground is subject to tithe. Plants that are edible while young as well as when full grown are subject to tithe before maturity (if any part of the crop is taken before maturity) but of plants that are not properly eatable before they reach a certain stage of ripeness one may eat, without separating the tithes, until they develop. The Mishnah then proceeds to designate the respective stages at which plants come under the general head of edibles and are consequently subject to tithe. As between picking for marketing and for domestic consumption a distinction is made: in the latter case one may use small quantities before bringing the mass under shelter (comp. 3:5).
Ch. ii.-iv.: Under what circumstances a
Ch. v.: Laws regarding cases in which one is required to pay tithes when he transplants vegetables laws regarding the sale of crops to one who is suspected of non-observance law regarding the paying of tithes in the case of vegetable fields purchased in Syria.
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Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Ma'aserot'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tje/m/maaserot.html. 1901.
