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Tithes in the Mishnah (Maaseroth)

The following section is quoted from the Danby translation of the Mishnah.

Maaseroth9 (Tithes)

1. 1. A general rule have they laid down about Tithes: whatsoever is used for food and is kept watch over and grows from the soil10 is liable to Tithes...

10 Cf. Peah 1:4.

...Yet another general rule have they laid down: whatsoever is used for food either in its earlier or in its later condition [of ripeness], though it is suffered to remain ungathered to provide the more food, is liable [to Tithes] whether [gathered] in its earlier or its later condition [of ripeness]; but whatsoever is not used for food in its earlier condition but only in its later condition, is not liable to Tithes until it is become fit for food.

2. When do fruits become liable to Tithes? Figs—after their earliest ripening;1 grapes and wild grapes—after their stones become visible; sumach and mulberries—after they become red (and all red fruits [are liable] after they become red); pomegranates—after they soften; dates— after they begin to swell; peaches—after they begin to show red veins; walnuts—after their cells take shape. R. Judah says: Walnuts and almonds —after their kernel-skins take shape.

3. Carobs—after they form dark spots (and all black fruits [are liable] after they form dark spots); pears, pippins,2 quinces and medlars3—after their surface becomes smooth (and all white fruits [are liable] after their surface becomes smooth); fenugreek—when its seeds are fit to be sown; grain and olives—after they have reached a third of their growth.

4. Among vegetables, cucumbers, gourds, water-melons, musk-melons, apples, and citrons are liable whether gathered in their earlier or later con­dition [of ripeness]. R. Simeon declares citrons exempt in their earlier condition. When a man4 is liable to give Tithes from bitter almonds5 he is exempt from giving Tithes from sweet almonds, and when he is liable to give Tithes from sweet almonds he is exempt from giving Tithes from bitter almonds.

5. When is their tithing season? Cucumbers and gourds—after their fringe is lost, or, if they have not lost their fringe, after they have been stacked; water-melons—after they have become smooth, or, if they have not become smooth, when they are stored away to dry; vegetables that are [usually] tied in bundles [become liable] after they have been tied in bundles, or, if they are not tied up in bundles, after a vessel has been filled with them, or, if a vessel is not to be filled with them, after they have been collected in the manner needful. [Produce that is packed up in] a basket [is liable to Tithes] after it has been covered, or, if it is not to be covered, after a vessel is filled with it, or, if a vessel is not to be filled with it, after it has been collected in the manner needful. This applies when a man brings the produced market; but if he brings it to his own house he may make a chance meal from the produce [without tithing it] until he reaches his house.

6. Dried split-pomegranates, raisins, and carobs [are liable to Tithes] after they are stacked; and onions—after they are stripped, or, if they are not stripped, after they are stacked; grain [is liable] after the pile is smoothed off, or, if the pile is not smoothed off, after it has been stacked; pulse [is liable] after it has been sifted, or, if it is not sifted, after the pile has been smoothed off. Even after the pile has been smoothed off one may remove unground fragments or what is fallen by the sides, or what remains unhusked,6 and eat thereof [without tithing].

7. Wine [is liable to Tithes] after it has been skimmed; but even after...

1 So soon as their tips become white.
2 See Kil. 1:4.
3 Variant: hawthorn-berries.
4 Hull. 1:6.
5  Which are gathered at an earlier stage, while sweet almonds are left to a later stage.
6  See Maas. 5:4.

...it has been skimmed one may still collect some from the upper wine-press or the duct and drink thereof [without tithing]. Oil [is liable] after it has dripped down into the trough; but even after it has dripped down one may still take of the oil from the olive-truss1 or from between the pressing-stone and the boards of the olive-press [without tithing] and put it on a cake or dish, but not in a pot or kettle while the contents are boiling.2 R. Judah says: He may put it in aught save that which contains vinegar or fish-brine.3

8. A cake of figs [is liable to Tithes] after its surface has been smoothed off. It may be smoothed off with [the juice of] untithed figs or grapes. R. Judah forbids this. If it is smoothed off with grape juice it is not ren­dered susceptible to uncleanness ;4 but R. Judah declares it susceptible. Dried figs [are liable] after they have been stamped down; and [if they are to be put into] a store-jar [they are liable] after they have been pressed together. If, after they have been stamped down into a jar or pressed into a store-jar,, the jar is broken or the store-jar breached, none may make a chance meal from them [without tithing].  R. Jose permits it.

2. 1. If a man5 was passing through the street and said, 'Take ye of my figs', people may eat them and be exempt from Tithes;6 therefore if they bring them into their houses they must tithe them as if they were certainly untithed. [If he said], 'Take ye of my figs and take them into your houses', they may not make a chance meal from them; therefore if they bring them into their houses they need only tithe them as if they were demai-produce.7

2. If men were sitting in a doorway or shop and he said to them, 'Take ye of my figs', they may eat them and be exempt from Tithes, but the owner of the doorway or shop is liable [to Tithes]. R. Judah declares him exempt unless he turns away his face or changes his position.8

3. If a man brought up produce from Galilee to Judea or if he went up to Jerusalem, he may eat of it [without tithing] until he reaches his journey's end; and so, too, if he went back again. R. Meir says: [Only] until he reaches the place where he will spend the Sabbath. Pedlars that go around from town to town may make a [chance] meal [of untithed produce that they have received] until they come to the place where they will spend the night. R. Judah says: The first house [that he reaches in the town] is reckoned to be his house [in what concerns Tithes].

4. If Heave-offering had been given from produce before the work of storing it was finished, R. Eliezer forbids making a chance meal from it [without tithing]; but the Sages permit it save when it is a basket of figs. If Heave-offering had been given from a basket of figs [before the work of storing it was finished], R. Simeon permits [making a chance meal from it without tithing], but the Sages forbid it.

1 Uncertain. The same word occurs in Toh. 10:8; Maksh. 5:7 (a ship's bilge); Zab. 4:7. It is variously explained as a rope basket in which the olives are contained during the pressing process (Bert.), or the basket into which the pressed-out olives are thrown (Maim. and Tif. Yis.).
2  This would be to use the oil in cooking, breaking the rule that only a chance meal (i5) may be made of it.
3 Their tartness effects a change in the oil equivalent to cooking.
4 See Lev. ii34>38.   Maksh. 64.
5 An Am-haaretz, who is under suspicion of not giving tithes.
6  On the assumption that they have not yet been taken into the man's house.
7 See p. 20, n. 9. They need only give the Heave-offering of Tithe to the priest and they may keep the First and Second Tithe.
8  So, as it were, seeking a place where he is not ashamed to eat. Cf. the rule of R. Nehe miah below, 3:5.

5. If a man said to his fellow, 'Here is an issar1 for thee: give me five figs for it', he may not eat of them until he has tithed them.2 So R. Meir. But R. Judah says: If he [took and] ate them one by one he is exempt; but if he took several at a time he is liable to Tithes. R. Judah said: It once happened in a rose garden in Jerusalem that figs were sold three or four for an issar, and neither Heave-offering nor Tithe was ever given.

6. If a man said to his fellow, 'Here is an issar for thee in exchange for ten figs which I shall choose*, he may choose them and eat them singly [without tithing]; [or if he said,] 'for a cluster of grapes which I shall choose', he may pick them grape by grape and eat [without tithing]; [or if he said,] 'for a pomegranate which I shall choose', he may pick it seed by seed and eat [without tithing]; [or if he said,] 'for a water-melon which I shall choose', he may cut it and eat it slice by slice [without tithing]. But if he said, 'for these twenty figs', or 'for these two clusters', or 'for these two pomegranates', or 'for these two water-melons', he may eat them after his usual fashion and be exempt from Tithes, since he bought them in an unplucked condition.

7. If a man hired a labourer to help him harvest figs and he answered, 'On condition that I may eat of the figs', he may eat them [without tithing]; but if [he said,] 'On condition that I and my family may eat of them', or 'that my son may eat of them instead of my receiving a wage', he himself may eat and be exempt [from Tithes], but when his son eats he is liable to Tithes. [If he said,] 'On condition that I may eat of them during the fig-harvest and after the fig-harvest', during the fig-harvest he may eat of them and be exempt, but after the fig-harvest if he ate of them he is liable to Tithes since he did not eat of them after the fashion permitted by the Law.3 This is the general rule: if a man eats after the fashion permitted by the Law he is exempt from Tithes; but if not after the fashion per­mitted by the Law he is liable to Tithes.

8. If a man was harvesting poor figs he may not eat of the good kind, and if he was harvesting the good kind he may not eat of the poor figs; but he may restrain himself until he comes to the place where are the good kind, and then eat. If a man agreed to exchange his fresh figs for his fellow's fresh figs, or his dried figs for the other's dried figs, or his dried figs for the other's fresh figs, he thereby becomes liable to Tithes. R. Judah says: If he agreed to exchange [his figs] for the other's fresh figs he becomes liable, but if for the other's dried figs he is exempt.

3. 1. If a man v/as taking figs through his courtyard to a place where they were to be dried his children and the members of his household may eat of them and be exempt [from Tithes]. Labourers that work with him may eat them free of Tithes if he is not answerable for their maintenance; but if he is answerable for their maintenance they may not eat thereof.

2. If a man sent out his labourers into the field and he was not answerable for their maintenance they may eat [of the figs] and be exempt [from Tithes]; but if he was answerable for their maintenance they may eat of the figs one at a time but not from what is collected in a basket or hamper or drying-place.

1. See App. II, A. If the denar or zuz is taken to be roughly equal to a shilling, the issar is worth a halfpenny.
2 The act of purchasing what is plucked determines its liability to tithes.
3  Deut. 23:25 

3. If a man hired a labourer to tend his olives, and he answered, 'On condition that I may eat of the olives', and he [took and] ate of them one at a time, he is exempt [from Tithes], but if he took several together he is liable to Tithes. [If he was hired] to weed out onions, and he answered, 'On condition that I may eat of the vegetables', he may pluck them a blade at a time and eat them, but if he took many together, he is liable to Tithes.

4. If a man found harvested figs1 on the road or even beside a field in which harvested figs [were spread out to be dried] (so, too, if a fig-tree overhangs the road and figs were found below it), they are permitted [as not coming] within the category of theft2 and they are exempt from Tithes; but olives and carobs [found in like condition] are liable [to Tithes]. If a man found dried figs at a time when men had already pressed their figs, he is liable to Tithes; but if they had not, he is not liable. If he found pieces of fig-cake he is liable [to Tithes], for it is manifest that they come from produce [whose harvesting is] complete. If carobs have not yet been stored on the roof he may take some down for the cattle and be exempt from Tithes, since he can put back what is left over.

5. What kind of courtyard renders [produce brought thither] liable to Tithes?3 R. Ishmael says: A courtyard in the Tyrian style in which watch is kept over the goods therein. R. Akiba says: Any courtyard which one [occupant] may open and another may shut [as they please] does not render [produce brought thither] liable to Tithes. R. Nehemiah says: Any court­yard in which a man is not ashamed to eat renders [produce brought thither] liable to Tithes. R. Jose says: Any courtyard into which any may enter and not be asked, 'Whom seekest thou?' does not render [produce] liable to Tithes. R. Judah says: If there were two courtyards one within the other, the inner one renders [produce brought thither] liable to Tithes, but the outer one does not render it liable.

6. Roofs do not render [produce brought thither] liable to Tithes even though they pertain to a courtyard which itself renders it liable. A doorway, portico, or balcony is reckoned as like to the courtyard: if this renders produce liable to Tithes, they also render it liable; if it does not, they do not.

7. Cone-shaped huts, watch-booths, and summer huts do not render [produce brought thither] liable [to Tithes]. A Genesareth hut,4 even though it has in it a handmill and poultry, does not render produce liable. A potter's [double] hut—the inner part renders [produce brought thither] liable to Tithes but not the outer part. R. Jose says: Whatsoever does not serve both as a summer and a winter dwelling, [produce brought there] is exempt from Tithes. The Sukkah5 used at the Feast renders [produce brought therein] liable to Tithes during the Feast according to R. Judah; but the Sages declare [produce brought thither] exempt.

8. If a fig-tree stood in the courtyard a man may eat figs from it one at a time and be exempt from Tithes; but if he took several together he is liable. R. Simeon says: [A man may have at the same time] one in his left hand, one in his right, and one in his mouth [and be exempt from Tithes]. If he climbed to the top of the tree he may fill his bosom and eat.

9. If a vine was planted in the courtyard a man may take a whole cluster...

1 Partly dried.
2. They do not count as private property.
3. What kind can be counted as coming within the category of a private house. See above, 1:5 (end).
4   The more substantially built and more permanently occupied hut in which watch was kept over fruit around the Sea of Galilee.
5 App. I. 43.

...and eat [without tithing]; so, too, with a pomegranate or a water-melon. So R. Tarfon. R. Akiba says: He should take the grapes one at a time from the cluster, or the seeds one at a time from the pomegranate, or consume the water-melon slice by slice.  If coriander was sown in the courtyard it may be plucked a leaf at a time and eaten [without tithing]; but if more is consumed together, it is liable to Tithes.  Savory, marjoram, and calamint, if grown in the courtyard and kept watch over, are liable to Tithes.

10. If a fig-tree stood in the courtyard and overhung a garden, a man [in the garden] may eat of it after his usual fashion and be exempt from Tithes; but if it stood in the garden and overhung the courtyard, a man [in the courtyard] may eat of it one fig at a time and be exempt, but if he ate more than one at a time, he is liable [to Tithes].   If it stood within the Land [of Israel] and overhung the country outside, or [if it stood] in the country outside and overhung the Land [of Israel], the matter1 is deter­mined according to the position of the root. And in what concerns houses in a walled city2 the matter is determined by the position of the root; but [in what concerns] cities of refuge,3 by the lie of the branches;4 and in what concerns Jerusalem,5 by the lie of the branches.

4. 1. If a man pickled, stewed, or salted [produce while he was yet] in the field,6 he is liable to Tithes; if he stored it in the ground he is exempt; if he seasoned it [and ate it while he was yet] in the field, he is exempt; if he bruised olives to rid them of their sour sap, he is exempt; if he squeezed them against his skin he is exempt; but if he squeezed them and dropped the oil into his hand he is liable. If he skimmed [wine] to put into a cooked dish he is exempt, but if to put it into a pot he is liable [to Tithes] since it may be deemed a small vat.

2. If children hid figs [in the field] for the Sabbath and forgot to tithe them [before the Sabbath], they may not be eaten after the Sabbath until they have been tithed.7 A basket of fruit intended for the Sabbath, the School of Shammai declare exempt [from Tithes], but the School of Hillel declare it liable.8 R. Judah says: Also if a man gathered a basketful to send to his fellow he may not eat there from until he has given tithe.

3.  If a man took olives out of the vat he may dip them in salt and eat
them one at a time, but if he salted them and set them down in front of
himself he is liable9 to Tithes. R. Eliezer says: [If an unclean person took
them] from a clean vat he is liable, but if from an unclean vat he is exempt,
since he can put back what is left over.

4.  Men may drink wine out of the winepress,10 whether mixed with hot
water or cold, and be exempt from Tithes.   So R. Meir.   R. Eliezer b.....

1   Its liability to Heave-offering and Tithes.
2   Lev. 25:29f. See Arak. 9:3ff. Whether the tree is included in the terms of the law depends on whether the root of the tree is within the specified bounds.
3   Deut. 19:2ff.  See Makk. 2:7.
4 If the tree was within the boundary and the foliage stretched outside, the fugitive is safe so soon as he reaches ground beneath the foliage.
5 In what concerns Second Tithe produce, which, once it enters Jerusalem, may not go out again (M. Sh. 3:5,7); or in what concerns the 'Lesser Holy Things' which may be consumed only within the walls of Jerusalem (Kel. 1:8).   See also Pes. 7:12.
6   Some texts omit 'in the field'. This and the following paragraphs give cases turning on the principle of i5, that produce is liable to Tithes once it can be reckoned completely harvested; otherwise only a 'casual meal' may be taken from it on the principle of Deut. 23:26.
7   The fact of their being set aside to be eaten on the Sabbath marks the end of their ingathering; therefore they are liable to Tithes.
8   They differ as to its liability if consumed before the Sabbath.
9   Since they cannot be put back.
I0   See Erub. 10:8.

...R. Zadok declares them liable. But the Sages say: If mixed with hot water he [that drinks thereof] is liable,1 but if with cold he is exempt.

5. If a man husked barley he may do so and eat thereof grain by grain; but if he husked [several grains] and put them in his hand he is liable to Tithes. If a man rubbed ripe ears of wheat he may sift them from one hand to the other and eat them [without tithing], but if he sifted them and collected the grains into his bosom, he is liable. If coriander was sown for the sake of the seed, the plant is exempt; but if it was sown for the sake of the plant, both seed and plant must be tithed. R. Eliezer says: From dill the seeds, plant, and pods must be tithed. But the Sages say: Both seeds and plant are tithed only in the case of pepperwort and eruca.

6.Rabban Gamaliel says: The stalks of fenugreek, of mustard, and of white beans are liable to Tithes.2 R. Eliezer says: From the caper, Tithes are taken from stalks, caperberries, and caper-flowers. R. Akiba says: Only the caperberries are tithed, because they [alone] count as fruit.

5. 1. If a man uprooted seedlings [already fit for food] from within his own domain and planted them [elsewhere] within his own domain, he is exempt;3 if he bought seedlings in their unplucked state he is exempt; if he picked them to send to his fellow he is exempt.4 R. Eleazar b. Azariah says: If their like were then being sold in the market they would be liable to Tithes.5

2. If a man uprooted turnips and radishes from within his own domain and planted them [elsewhere] within his own domain to serve as seed, he is liable to Tithes, since this would count as harvesting them. If onions [stored] in an upper room have put forth roots they become free from uncleanness that they may have contracted.6 If rubbish fell on them and they remained uncovered,7 it is as though they were planted in the field.

3. After produce has reached its tithing season none may sell it to one that is not trustworthy in what concerns Tithes,8 nor, in the Seventh Year, [may he give it] to one that is suspect in what concerns Seventh Year produce. If some [only] of the produce was already ripe [and liable to Tithes] he may remove what is ripe and sell the residue.

4. A man may not sell his straw or olive-peat or grape-residue9 to one that is not trustworthy in what concerns Tithes, for him to extract the juices therefrom. And if he extracted them he is liable to Tithes but exempt from Heave-offering, since when a man sets aside Heave-offering he has in mind 'the unground fragments, what falls to the sides and what remains in the husk'10

5. If a man bought a field of vegetables in Syria before the tithing season, he is liable to Tithes, but if after the tithing season, he is exempt and may continue to gather the crop himself after his usual fashion. R. Judah says: He may also hire labourers to help gather the crop. R. Simeon b. Gamaliel said: This11 applies if he had bought the land; but...

1   He may not put it back after it has been heated since this would spoil the rest.
2   As being fit for food
3   If he ate of them or even brought them into his house, since their growth is not complete.
4  It is as though he made a gift of unplucked produce.
s On the principle laid down in i1, of produce that is used as food in its earlier stage of ripeness.
6 According to the rule of Lev. u34' 38.
7 As to their leaves.
8   In fulfillment of the principle of Lev. 1914, not to put a stumbling-block before the 'blind'.
9   The squeezed-out olives and grapes, from which it is still possible to squeeze out inferior oil or wine.
10 Cf. Maas. i6.
11 That he is liable if he acquired the field before the time for Tithes.

...if he had not bought the land, although it was before the tithing season, he is exempt. Rabbi says: Howbeit he should give tithe according to the proportion [which the crop had grown after he acquired it].

6.   If a man made grape-skin wine1 putting in a certain measure of water, and he [afterward] found the like measure,2 he is exempt [from tithing it] (R. Judah declares him liable); but if he found more than the like measure he must give tithe therefore from other wine according to the proportion [of the increase in measure].

7.   If ant-holes have been present throughout a night near a heap of corn that was liable to Tithe, what is found in them is also liable, since it is manifest that the ants dragged away [the corn] throughout the night from produce completely harvested.

8.   Baalbek-garlic,3 Rikhpa onions, Cilician beans, and Egyptian lentils (R. Meir adds colocasia, and R. Jose wild lentils) are exempt from Tithes4 and may be bought from any one in the Seventh Year. The higher seed- pods of the arum, the seed of leeks, the seed of onions, and the seed of turnips and radishes and other seeds of garden produce which are not used as food, are exempt from Tithes and may be bought from any one in the Seventh Year; and even if the stock from which they were grown was Heave-offering, they may still be eaten [by non-priests].

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