The Denver Jewish news., 1921-06-08
The 1.-THE ('.Ma' Aser'')
In Jewish Tradition
A SOCIAL AS WELL As RELIC
IONS INSTITUTION OBSERVED
BY RICH AND POOR,
(By Keren Hayeso,l. J

my
The 1.-THE is national levy. which
Inns been kept up by the Jewish people
thruout the whole periot Of its ex-
istence. .t>iA0H
When we speak of the Ala 'aser tra-
ditiOn In our past we should go back
to prehistoric times. to the primitive
patriarchal figure with whom the AL
mighty made the first Co,.dant con-
corning Eretz Israel. ard who was
the first immigrant Jew to enter the
country. Abraham gave ''tithe Of
everything to Melchizedex. King OF
Jerusalem. The .'tithe of everything
is here mentioned for the first time
In the Bible not ar something new hut
as if 10 were already an ancient prac-
tice. traditional even in that early
period.
a Later we meet the father OF our
twelve tribes. Jacob, VINO vowed: III
God will be with me 4. no thnt
come back to my fathers house In
peace. of all that Thou shalt
give me / will surely give tenth
unto Thee" (Gen. %, v. 81, 2o).
Thus the Ala'aser appears in our
history primarily as nm ancient tradi-
tfon which later developed Into a law
in the Torah and which Is frequently
emphasized as follows:
And all the 1.-THE Of the land.
whether of the seed Of the land. or Of
the fruit Of the tree-is the Lords;
1t is holy unto the Lord. And all the
tithe of the herd or the flock. what
soever passeth under the rod. the
tenth shall be holy unto the Lord"
(I4ev. %. v. 3O-S2).
Thou shalt surely tithc all the In
crease Of thy seed. that which Is
brought forth In the field year by
year" (Deut. II v. 22).
"At the end Of every three years.
even In the same yeai, thou shslt
bring forth all the tithe Of thine In
crease. Ind shalt lay It up within the
satrE: And -tizr Lcvite. because he
hath no portion nor inheAtahcs WIZ
thee, and the stranger and the fath-
crIess. and the widows that are with
in thy gates. shall come and shall
cat and be satisfied; that the Lord
thy God may bless thee In all the
work by thy hand which thou doest."
fDeut. IA v. %. 20).
Here the Ma'aser appears as not
only religious but social institu-
tion.
4 These laws did not stand alone;
they developed in our literature and
in Jewish social life Among the three
kinds OF Ma'aser established by the
Talmud. one was specially called the
Poor Mans Ma'aser."
The Ma'aser, which was great and
important principle in Palestine. as
sumed a different form in Exile. Jew
ish economic life in Eretx Israel was
never based upon money. commerce or
industry, but upon agriculture and
cattle breeding. For this reason. the
Ma'aser given in those days consisted
of grain. fruit and the 1.-THE Of flocxs
and herds. In the Diaspora there
could be no question of such Ma'aser
I'm kind. for there we have neither
fields nor herds. But the Ma'aser re-
mained in the form Of Ma'aser OF
Money.
In the long black night Of the Mid
die Ages, with its Crusades and In
auisitions, Jewish communities In
every country established the Ma'aser.
Every Jew, rich or poor, paid tenth
of his capital and income to the CON-
munaI Treasury for public purposes.
such as maintenance Of its institu-
tions. support of the poor, etc.
The Importance of the Ma'aser be-
came so imperative that many com
munities enforced the tax under pen
atty of accommodation. Even In the
case of recalcitrant communities. our
sages of the time tell us that the pay
mcut of Maaser could be initiated by
n single person who had the right to
compel the majority to enforce 1t. 1T
there are ten Jews in town. says
Rnbbi Gershon, called "The Light OF
the E,xile"-cach individual has the
right to compel the remainder to pay
the Ma'ascr under the penalty OF ex-
communication" This is the only case
in the history of Jewish law where
minority consisting of even an In
lividual) was given the power to inn
pose its will on the majority.
In many German towns 1t was GUS
tomary for every Jew to give one
half of his Ma'aser to the communal
treasury, and to divide, at his own
discretion. the other half amongst the
needy. The usual manner Of giving
Aa'aser was as follows: First each
Jew gave Ma'aser of his capital. that
is nne.tenth of all he possessed; after.