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Oneg and Shabbat Services Schedule

In person Friday night services are held at 7:30pm – Light Oneg to follow.

Join us for Sabbath evening services, Friday at 7:30 p.m. in our sanctuary and through zoom

All zoom sessions are ID# 155 810 1107. Password “valdosta”

torah

B’HAR / B’HUKOTAI

In Bechukotai, we learn the law of מַעֲשַׂר שֵׁנִי –Ma’aser Shay’nee, the Second Tithe.

The Torah, in Leviticus 27:30, states: וְכָל מַעְשַׂר הָאָרֶץ מִזֶּרַע הָאָרֶץ מִפְּרִי הָעֵץ לַהשׁם, הוּא קֹדֶשׁ לַהשׁם, And any tithe of the seed of the land, of the fruit of the tree, belongs to God, it is holy to God. Rashi explains that this verse refers to the giving of “Ma’aser Shay’nee”–the Second Tithe.

After the Terumah Gedolah (the heave offering of the grain, wine and oil) is given to the Cohen, and the “First Tithe” is separated and given to the Levite, a second tithe–10% of the remaining crop of grain, oil and wine, is separated during the first, second, fourth, and fifth years of the seven-year Sabbatical cycle. The Second Tithe must be eaten in Jerusalem or redeemed for money, which is required to be used in Jerusalem to purchase either food or offerings. During the third and sixth years of the Sabbatical cycle, that second tithe was designated as מַעְשַׂר עָנִי—Ma’aser Ah’nee, the Tithe for the Poor, instead of being designated for Jerusalem.

In an agricultural society, like ancient Israel, it often meant living away from the center of religious and intellectual activity, far from Jerusalem. As a result of the Jewish community being dispersed, many Jews had no direct access to intensive Jewish educational facilities, which, of course, could have dire implications. To remedy this situation, the Torah commanded that the Second Tithe, as well as the tithe of the herd or the flock, and the fourth-year fruits of a new tree, must be brought to Jerusalem. These visits to Jerusalem made it likely that even farmers and members of their families who lived great distances from Jerusalem would spend significant amounts of time in Jerusalem, engaging in intensive study there and deriving much religious inspiration from their visits. They would then return to their communities and benefit their neighbors with their newly acquired Torah knowledge.

Clearly, Jerusalem was the religious citadel of the people of Israel and the seat of the most important religious and Jewish educational institutions. Because every Jew had to come to Jerusalem, not only on the three major pilgrim festivals each year, but also to redeem their second tithes and their new fruits, Jews not only spent considerable time in Jerusalem, but also expended significant amounts of money in the Holy City. Thus, in addition to exposing large numbers of Jews to the religious and educational environment of Jerusalem, the visits also provided significant economic resources for Jerusalem–economic contributions that also served to support Jewish education, and the clergy of Israel–the Cohanim, and the teachers.