About Rabbi Jack Abramowitz
Rabbi Jack Abramowitz served as Director of Programs for NCSY before becoming Associate Director of the Pepa and Rabbi Joseph Karasick Department of Synagogue Services. Rabbi Abramowitz holds degrees in Jewish studies, communications and Higher Education Administration. Among his accomplishments, he authored NCSY's Torah on One Foot series of educational pamphlets and created negiah.org, the first abstinence web site for Jewish teens. Rabbi Abramowitz is the author of The Shnayim Mikra Companion on Torah, The Nach Yomi Companion volumes 1 and 2 on the books of the Prophets and the Writings, and The Tzniyus Book.

Recent Posts

Taryag: A Mitzvah a Day

Questions? Contact us at taryag@ou.org

PARSHAT Re'eh
MITZVAH COUNTER
Mitzvos to date: 442
Positives:189
Negatives:253
That can be performed today:192
Plus those that can be performed only in Israel:20

442. Going Against the Grain: The prohibition against eating second tithe grain outside Jerusalem


In your cities you may not eat the tithe from your grain… (Deuteronomy 12:17)

In Mitzvah #473, we will fully discuss maaser sheini, the second tithe. Maaser sheini is taken after maaser rishon (the first tithe, hence the name) and it is only taken in four years of the seven-year Shemittah cycle. Unlike most tithes, which were to be given to a Levite (or, in one case, to the poor), maaser sheini was to be taken to Jerusalem, where it would be eaten by the owner and his family. Our mitzvah here specifies that second tithe of one's grain was not to be eaten outside of Jerusalem.

The reason for this mitzvah is what was said in Mitzvah #360, back in parshas Bechukosai, that Jerusalem is the spiritual heart of the nation. God therefore gave us many reasons to go there. The three annual pilgrimages, maaser beheima (the animal tithe) and maaser sheini are all mitzvos designed to encourage the people to take advantage of all Jerusalem has to offer.

This mitzvah only applies at a time when the maaser sheini is in effect. It is the topic of tractate Maaser Sheini in the Mishna; it is discussed in the Talmud in tractate Makkos (17a) and in Kerisos (5a). It is codified in the Mishneh Torah in the second chapter of Hilchos Maaser Sheini. This mitzvah is #141 of the 365 negative mitzvos in the Rambam’s Sefer HaMitzvos.



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