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Laws of Religion

Laws of Judaism Concerning Food

 

14.  Offerings of Food

from the Biblical Books of Moses (Torah)

and the Code of Maimonides (Mishneh Torah)

 

 

Offerings of Food

From the Biblical Books of Moses (Torah)

 

Contents

 

Explanatory note

 

Levites and priests

 

Heave offerings and tithes

 

First four years’ fruit

 

First products

 

(Editor’s note: The discussion below focuses on tithes and heave offerings of food given to the priests and Levites for their use and the prohibitions against eating food until such offerings are removed from it. Other offerings of food, whether burnt offerings, sin offerings, guilt offerings or peace offerings, are not discussed. Sacrifices and food rules associated with specific religious festivals or holidays or specified only for Nazirites are also omitted.

 

The many rules and commandments of the Torah were given by the Lord during the Exodus from Egypt, before the Israelites settled in Canaan, which became the Land of Israel. Therefore, many of the commandments refer to the Tent of Meeting or Tabernacle of Congregation rather than to the Temple in Jerusalem. However, such commandments are taken to apply, after the settlement in the Land of Israel, to the Temple in Jerusalem.[1])

 

 

Levites and priests (Torah).  Many offerings and sacrifices, including food and money, were designated to be given to the Lord. Some of these were to be given to the Levites and others were designated for Aaron and his sons – the priests.

 

The Levites are one of the tribes of Israel. They have not been given any land to inherit, so the Lord designated them to receive certain sacrifices such as the tithes of the Israelites.[2] However, the landed Israelite tribes were to give the Levites forty-eight cities to live in, including six cities designated as cities of refuge for anyone who killed another person inadvertently.[3] The Levites are free to move to the Lord's chosen place (in Jerusalem) to serve there and partake equally of food with the Levites who are already there.[4]

 

Aaron, the brother of Moses, was a Levite[5] whose male descendants were designated by God as the priests in charge of the Tabernacle of Congregation (or Tent of Meeting) as the Israelites wandered from Egypt to Canaan.[6] (As a result, they became the priests of the Temple in Jerusalem when that was established.) Aaron and his descendants, like other Levites, have no inherited land so the Lord gave them many of the sacrifices.[7] Much of the meat and fruit and grain offered as sacrifices was designated for the benefit of Aaron and his descendants.[8] However, unclean^* animals were not to be presented as sacrificial offerings to the Lord.[9] This reflects the story in which Noah, before the great flood, brought both clean and unclean animals and birds of each type on the ark, as God instructed him to do.[10] After the flood, Noah made a burnt offering only of clean animals to the Lord, who then decided not to ever again destroy all the living things on earth.[11]

 

If a descendent of Aaron (priest) was made impure^* by leprosy, by a bodily discharge, by a corpse, by an emission of semen or by touching a creeping thing that makes a person impure, then he could only eat the holy offerings if he first washed his body and waited until sunset.[12]

 

The other Levites (those who were not the priestly descendants of Aaron) were the assistants of Aaron and his priestly male descendants in the rituals of sacrifice and worship and had special responsibilities in caring for the holy Tabernacle[13] (later the Temple in Jerusalem[14]). Since the Levites are assistants to Aaron and his descendants it is clear all the Levites are not priests, a point emphasized by Moses in rebuking the rebellious Levite, Korah.[15] However, in a number of passages in Deuteronomy the Levites are all said to be priests.[16]

 

 

Heave offerings and tithes (Torah).  It was required to tithe one tenth of the increase in seed that was produced each year in the fields.[17] The tithed grain, as well as the new wine, oil and firstborn of the flock were to be eaten by the Israelites at the place the Lord would later choose (in Jerusalem).[18] An alternative using money was specified if that place was too far away[19]

 

Every third year the tithe was to be given to the Levites, who do not have any land themselves, and also to the stranger, the fatherless and the widow.[20]

 

All of the tithes of the Israelites were to be given to the Levites for the work they did at the Tabernacle of Meeting.[21] Any tithe of grain or fruit could be redeemed (purchased back by the original owner) for one fifth more than its assessed value.[22]

 

The Levites were directed to turn over to Aaron the best one-tenth of the tithe offerings they received and Aaron (also meaning his priestly descendants) was directed to eat these offerings.[23]

 

In addition, one of every ten animals of a person's herd or flock was to be dedicated to the Lord; it could not be redeemed.[24] However, no bull or sheep with a blemish or any bad quality could be sacrificed to the Lord.[25]

 

It was forbidden to eat the tithes of grain or wine or oil, or the firstborn of the flock, or what had been vowed, or any free-will offering or heave offering within one's gates. It was required to take these to the place chosen by the Lord and share them with one's family and also with the Levites.[26]

 

 

First four years’ fruit (Torah).  The Lord tells the Israelites that when they come into the land (the Land of Israel, which the Lord has given them) and plant trees, they cannot eat the fruit from those trees for the first three years. The fruit in the fourth year is holy and used to praise God. Only in the fifth year can the Israelites begin eating the fruit.[27]

 

 

First products (Torah).  The first products of the land and juices (each year) were to be given to the Lord.[28]

 

It was required to bring the first products grown in the land the Lord gave the Israelites (the Land of Israel) to the house of the Lord (the Temple in Jerusalem).[29] Similarly, the Israelites were expected to offer as a sacrifice the cake made from the first dough in the land given to them by the Lord.[30]

 

Every firstborn animal,[31] or male animal,[32] of the Israelites was to be sacrificed to the Lord. More specifically, the firstborn,[33] or firstborn male,[34] offspring of domestic animals, if unblemished, was to be sacrificed to the Lord and eaten at the place that he would later specify. Alternatively, all firstborn animals of Israel belong to Aaron.[35] However, the requirements concerning cattle were modified by an instruction that the cattle of the Levites were to be offered in place of the cattle of all the (other) Israelites.[36]

 

Firstborn offspring of a cow, sheep or goat could not be redeemed.[37] The firstborn of an unclean^* animal was to be redeemed from Aaron[38] (representing the Temple priests) for one fifth more than its assessed value or sold for its assessed value.[39]

 

One passage states that the Levites are to be given the first fruit of harvested grain, wine and oil as well as the first fleece from the sheep.[40]

 

Offerings of Food

Jewish Law (Halakha) from the Code of Maimonides (Mishneh Torah)

    

Contents

 

Heave offerings and tithes

 

Heave offerings

 

First tithe

 

Second tithe

 

Fourth year’s fruit

 

First products

 

Dough offerings

 

 

Heave offerings and tithes (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah).  One-fiftieth of the crops and fruits produced each year was required to be given to the priests; this is the great heave offering.[41] The Sages, based on the Oral Law^** said that the actual amount given could vary from one part in forty to one part in sixty, depending upon how generous the giver was.[42] However, since today heave offering is burned because of ritual impurity^*, the smallest amount should be used for the heave offering.[43]

 

The first tithe, which is one-tenth of what remains after separation of the great heave offering, is for the Levites, though common Israelites (non-Levites) are permitted to eat of the first tithe.[44] In most years, the owner is then to consume one-tenth of the remainder in Jerusalem as the second tithe.[45] However, in years three and six of the seven year Sabbatical cycle, instead of taking out the usual second tithe, it is required to take out a tithe for the poor.[46]

 

The Levites who received the first tithe were required to then give one-tenth of it, called the heave offering of the tithe, to the priests.[47]

 

It is forbidden to eat food from which tithes or heave offerings must be, but have not yet been, taken. (Such forbidden food is called tebel). Eating a quantity of such food from which the great heave offering or the heave offering of the tithe has not been taken was punishable by death at the hand of heaven if the amount eaten was equal to the size of an olive.[48] Maimonides says that death at the hand of heaven includes the punishment of flogging.[49] The prohibition in the Torah against eating food from which tithes or heave offerings have not been removed is not applicable in our time but the prohibition by the Scribes against eating such food is still in force.[50] Because today this prohibition is based on the Scribal authority of the Oral Law^** rather than on the Written Law of the Torah, death at the hand of heaven is, in our times, no longer the appropriate punishment; the punishment is now a flogging for disobedience.[51]

 

Heave offerings and tithes, according to the Torah, are to be given only within the Land of Israel, though the rules concerning them apply at all times, even today when the Temple in Jerusalem does not exist. However, the prophets and Sages have expanded the applicability of the rules concerning heave offerings and tithes to include lands around Israel – Babylonia, Egypt, Ammon and Moab.[52]

 

 

Heave offerings (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah).  The Torah requires heave offerings only when all Israelites are in the Land of Israel.  This occurred in the past only during the time of the first settlement of Israel and will, according to Maimonides, occur again after the third settlement. (Editor’s note: The ending of first settlement began with the Assyrian conquest in the 8^th century B.C. and was completed with the Babylonian exile in the 6^th century B.C. Maimonides’ reference to the third settlement means the repopulation of the Land of Israel by all Jews at the time of the coming of the Messiah.[53] He is not referring to the third settlement of Palestine/Israel by many, but not all, Jews which occurred in the 20^th century). At other times, including our own, heave offerings are required only by Scribal rulings based on the Oral Law^**. Maimonides says that it seems to him that tithes are, like heave offerings, required at the present time only by the authority of the Scribes.[54]

 

Heave offerings, including heave offerings of the tithe, are to be given to the priests (meaning those who trace their descent through their male ancestors back to Aaron, the brother of Moses) whether the offering is ritually pure or impure^*.[55] The heave offering may be consumed by a priest of any age or by the wife, Canaanite bondsman (non-Jewish slave) or cattle of a priest.[56] A woman of priestly descent who is married to a commoner is forbidden from consuming heave offering, as is a woman of priestly descent who has had sexual intercourse with a man forbidden to her,[57] though her having sexual intercourse with an animal does not result in any such restriction.[58] Heave offering must be consumed within the Land of Israel.[59]

 

A heave offering may be eaten if it is ritually pure. Otherwise, it may be used for some other benefit, such as burning for fuel.[60] Today heave offering is burned because of ritually impurity.[61]

 

Only priests who are in a state of ritual purity may eat a heave offering. Commoners (non-priests) or ritually impure persons, including (based on the Torah at Leviticus 22:4) lepers and those who have a bodily discharge who eat a pure heave offering, are subject to death at the hand of heaven, which, in practice, entails a flogging.[62] A ritually impure person must wait until after sunset to eat a heave offering.[63]

 

 

First tithe (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah).  The first tithe, unlike a heave offering, may be consumed by a person, even a commoner, who is in a ritually impure^* state.[64] When an animal was offered at the Temple as tithe, its blood was spread on the altar, sacrificial portions salted and burned, and the remainder eaten by the animal’s owner.[65] The commandment to tithe grain applies at all times, whether or not the Temple in Jerusalem exists.[66] The tithing of one out of every ten animals of one’s herd or flock is, by ruling of the Sages based on the Oral Law^**, applicable only when the Temple in Jerusalem exists.[67] Therefore, there is no such tithing in our time (since the Temple was destroyed in the year 70 A.D.), but it will be resumed then the Messiah arrives and the Temple is rebuilt.[68]

 

 

Second tithe (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah).  The second tithe is to be eaten in Jerusalem only when the Temple is standing.[69] Eating second tithe anywhere other than Jerusalem is punishable by flogging – either a flogging for violating the Torah or a flogging for disobedience for transgressing Scribal rulings based on the Oral Law^**, depending upon the circumstances.[70] Flogging is also the punishment for eating second tithe in Jerusalem while a person or the second tithe is impure^*; a ritually impure person eating second tithe outside of Jerusalem is liable to a flogging for disobedience.[71] Similarly, flogging – either for violation of the Torah or flogging for disobedience for violation of Scribal law, depending on the circumstance – is incurred if a person consumes second tithe when in mourning.[72]

 

Since the second tithe cannot be eaten at all at the present time when the Temple in Jerusalem is not standing, it is now considered pious to redeem the second tithe with money.[73] Second tithe may be redeemed only with silver coins[74] that are of current usage[75] in the location where the redemption takes place.[76] The redemption money must be spent in Jerusalem.[77] The second tithe must be appraised precisely[78] at its wholesale value.[79] A man,[80] but not a woman,[81] who redeems his own second tithe must pay one-fifth more than its appraised value.

 

 

Fourth year’s fruit (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah).  The rules on fourth year’s fruit (derived from Leviticus 19:24) apply at all times, whether the Temple in Jerusalem is standing or not, but only in the Land of Israel. Maimonides says that it appears to him that the fourth year’s fruit of a tree can be eaten without redemption outside the Land of Israel (because the rules concerning fourth year’s fruit do not apply there).[82] Fourth year’s fruit (within the Land of Israel), like second tithe, must be consumed only in Jerusalem.[83] It may, however, be redeemed with money, after its value is determined by three appraisers,[84] for one-fifth more than its value if a person is redeeming his own fourth year fruits.[85]

 

Only those trees whose fruit cannot be eaten for the first three years after planting (‘orlah, discussed on a previous page, Restrictions on Crops) are subject to the laws concerning fourth year’s fruits.[86] If a fruit tree is planted with the intention of using it as a border for a garden or for timber rather than for its fruit, then it is not subject to the three year prohibition. If it was planted with the intention of using it as a border for three years and for food thereafter, then its fruit may be eaten in the fourth year without regard to the fourth year’s fruit requirements because the tree was, in its first three years, exempt from the ‘orlah prohibition  against eating the fruit.[87]

 

 

First products (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah).  The first fruits of wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates[88] must be given to priests and eaten by them only in Jerusalem.[89] The bringing of first fruits only applies when the Temple is in existence (and thus has not been done since the year 70 A.D., when the Temple was destroyed). The Written Law of the Torah limits the rules concerning first fruits only to those from the Land of Israel, though Scribal rulings based on the Oral Law^** expanded the places that first fruits are to be brought from to include Syria and the cities of Sihon and Og.[90] According to Scribal law, the minimum amount to be given as first fruits is one-sixtieth of the crop.[91] Once an offering of first fruits has been in Jerusalem, a commoner (non-priest) who eats from it is to be punished by death at the hand of heaven[92] (which entails a flogging) and a priest who eats it outside of Jerusalem is liable to a flogging.[93]

 

The commandment to give to the priests firstborn clean^* animals that are males applies both inside and outside of the Land of Israel and also at all times, whether or not the Temple exists.[94] When a firstborn animal was offered at the Temple, its blood was spread on the altar, sacrificial portions salted and burned and the remainder eaten by the priest.[95]

 

 

Dough offerings (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah).  Dough offerings, according to the Written Law of the Torah, are only given and eaten within the Land of Israel.[96] The Torah requires that dough offerings be made only when all Israelites are in Israel (as with heave offerings discussed above), so it is only Scribal rulings, based on the Oral Law^**, that prescribes dough offerings in our time.[97] Scribal law also requires that dough offerings be made outside the Land of Israel and that these are to stay outside of Israel.[98] Two dough offerings are required outside the Land of Israel – one is a small amount to be burned and the other is one forty-eighth of the total, which is to be eaten.[99] The dough offering should be taken out when the flour and water are mixed.[100] Eating from the dough before the offering is taken is punishable by flogging either for rebellious conduct or as a consequence of the punishment of death at the hand of heaven, depending on the circumstances.[101]

 

________________

 

^* We use the words "clean" and "unclean" to refer to animal species that are permitted or forbidden for eating; other things or people are referred to as being "pure" or "impure" or, occasionally for more clarity, as "ritually pure" or "ritually impure." A separate section of this website is devoted solely to the issue of ritual purity in Judaism. More detailed information on ritual purity in relation to heave offering and other food offerings is contained in that section on the page on Ritual Impurity and Food.

 

^**The Oral Law and the Written Law are explained on the page Source Texts Used for Laws of Judaism

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Food Laws of Judaism, Table of Contents

 

Index – Food Laws of Judaism and Islam

Abbreviations used in footnotes:

Gen: The Biblical book of Genesis.

Exod: The Biblical book of Exodus.

Lev: The Biblical book of Leviticus.

Num: The Biblical Book of Numbers.

Deut: The Biblical Book of Deuteronomy.

 

MT:  The Mishneh Torah of Maimonides (Code of Maimonides). The names of the specific books and treatises within each book are given according to the Yale University Press translation and also the Moznaim/Touger Hebrew transliterations to facilitate locating the texts posted here.

F:  indicates page numbers in the Feldheim Publishers, Ltd., translation of Book 1 of the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides, the Book of Knowledge.

M:  indicates page numbers in the relevant volume of the Moznaim Publishing Corporation’s Touger translation. (Some of the books of Mishneh Torah are published in several volumes by Moznaim, so the Moznaim volume numbers do not correspond to the Book numbers of Maimonides’ work.)

Y:  indicates page numbers in the translation of the Yale University Press Judaica Series.

    

●  The sources cited are described on the page Source Texts Used for Laws of Judaism.