Yevamot 86b (פו:) — the Talmud in English

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya says:

First tithe—he gives it

to a priest.

The Gemara raises a question concerning the statement of Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya:

Does this mean that he gives the tithe only

to a priest and not

to a

Levite?

But the verse explicitly says that it is to be given to the Levites!

And we answer:

Say

that this is what Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya says: The first tithe is given

also to a priest.

And the Gemara explains:

What is the reason of Rabbi Akiva,

who says that the first tithe is given only to Levites?

It is because

it is written [Numbers 18:26]:

“And to the Levites you shall speak, saying:

When you take from the Children of Israel

the tithe.”

Thus,

it is with regard to the Levites that

the verse

speaks,

the verse says.

And the Gemara continues to explain why Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya disagrees with him:

But the other one,

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya, who holds that the first tithe is given also to a priest, derives this from the fact that although the verse speaks of Levites, priests are included among them as well,

in accordance with the statement of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi.

For Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: In twenty-four places priests are called “Levites,” and this is one of them: “The Levitical priests

the sons of Zadok.”

And Zadok was a priest, yet the verse calls his sons “Levites.”

And Rabbi Akiva,

who holds that the first tithe is given only to Levites, maintains:

Here,

with regard to the tithe,

you cannot say

that the verse calls priests “Levites,” and therefore the tithe should be given to them as well.

Since

it is written

with regard to the tithe:

“And you shall eat it—

in every place.”

The verse teaches that the tithe is given only to

one who can eat it in every place,

even in an impure place such as a cemetery.

A priest is excluded, for he cannot eat it in a cemetery,

because he is commanded not to become impure.

But the other one,

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya, will explain the phrase “And you shall eat it in every place” as follows:

In every place he wishes,

he may eat it.

The verse “And you shall eat it in every place” teaches two matters:

The first is

that it does not require

that the first tithe be eaten within a

wall.

That is, it need not be eaten specifically within the walls of Jerusalem.

And

the second is that if

he eats it—

the first tithe while it is impure—

with bodily impurity,

he is not flogged

for doing so.

Indeed, not only is he not flogged; it is likewise permitted from the outset to eat it while bodily impure.

The Gemara relates an incident involving

a certain garden,

a particular garden, from which

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya used to take

who was a priest—

the first tithe

from it, from its owner.

The owner of the garden would give him the first tithe from what grew in the garden. Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya would take the tithe, in accordance with his view that the first tithe is given also to a priest.

Rabbi Akiva went and moved its entrance toward the cemetery [he went and transferred the entrance of the garden in the direction of the cemetery], so that Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya the priest would be unable to enter it to take the tithe.

This was in accordance with his view that the tithe is given only to a Levite. He said

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya

about this:

Akiva with his sack—

and I, by my life!

Ezra penalized the Levites, so that they would lose their right to take the tithe, for the reason that will be explained in the ensuing discussion.

The nature of the penalty depends on the dispute between Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya and Rabbi Akiva: whether according to Torah law the tithe is given only to Levites, or whether according to Torah law it is given both to Levites and to priests.

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya’s view is that according to the fundamental law the tithe is given to both groups. Therefore, in his view, Ezra penalized the Levites by decreeing that the tithe should not be given to them, but only to priests.

According to Rabbi Akiva, however, the fundamental law is that the tithe is given only to Levites, and Ezra penalized them by granting the right to receive the tithe, in addition to the Levites, also to priests [or also to the poor; the amoraim disagree about this below].

What is the source of the penalty in the Writings? The early authorities disagree about this.

Some maintain that it is derived from what is stated in the Book of Nehemiah, chapter 10: “And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites tithe.”

The verse says as follows: When the Levites come to divide the tithe at the threshing floors, the priests shall come with them as well.

Other early authorities cite the verse in Malachi: “Bring all the tithe to the storehouse.” The storehouse was the chamber that Ezra established for depositing the priestly gift.

Since Malachi commanded that the tithe be placed there, this proves that it belongs to the priests.

And it is established for us that “Malachi” is Ezra.

The priest with the Levites, since poor priests were more common, because they did not engage in work but in the service of the Temple, and they also had no land, since they did not receive a portion in the Land. It was stated: Why did they penalize

in the days of Ezra the

Levites with regard to the tithe?

Rashi wrote: This is not cited above [on the dispute between Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya and Rabbi Akiva], for the reason here is not because of a fine, but because the kohanim are also called Levites, as we said. Rather, it is stated in several places in the Talmud "after Ezra fined them". And in tractate Sotah it was taught: Yohanan the High Priest abolished the confession (the declaration) of the tithe. And he said: Because they do not separate it (the first tithe) as prescribed, the Merciful One said that He would give it to the Levites, and we give it to the kohanim. Tosafot objected: Why did he abolish the confession of the tithe according to Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya, who holds that by Torah law one can give it to the kohanim — and this would not be against the ordinance?! And they answered: In any case, since they were commanded to give it to the Levites "for it is your recompense instead of your work", when they take it away from the Levites and give it wholly to the kohanim, this is not like the command. See in "Chazon Ish" where he expounded at length this matter, and the Rambam's view, and how we practice in our time, both regarding the giving and regarding the confession. The Ritva raised the difficulty: Since according to Rabbi Akiva by Torah law the tithe is given only to the Levi, how was it possible for Ezra to fine them, for then there would be no act of giving whatsoever?! He answered that since this matter is of monetary nature — the court can declare ownerless property ownerless! The Sages took the tithe away from the Levites and placed it in the hands of the kohanim [or the poor, as follows], and they set them up as agents of the Levites.

Rabbi Yonatan and the Elders disagree about this.

One says:

The reason was

that they did not ascend

together with the rest of the Babylonian exiles

in the days of Ezra,

as will be explained below in the Gemara.

And one says: So that priests could rely on it [on the tithe]

during

the days of their impurity,

when they were prohibited from eating teruma; therefore, the tithe was given to them.

The Gemara asks:

Granted, according to the one who says

that they penalized the Levites because

they did not ascend

in the days of Ezra, it is understandable that

for this reason he penalized

the Levites.

But according to the one who says: So that priests could rely on it during the days of their impurity—

is it the case that

because

the

priests

needed the tithe,

he penalized

Ezra

the Levites?!

Rather,

the Gemara retracts this explanation and offers another:

Everyone

—both Rabbi Yonatan and the Elders—agrees that the reason for

the penalty

imposed on the Levites, by taking the tithe away from them, was

that they did not ascend in the days of Ezra.

And here, they disagree about this,

Rabbi Yonatan and the Elders:

One Sage holds: The penalty

imposed by Ezra was to give the tithe, in addition to the Levites, also

to the poor.

But wealthy priests do not receive it.

And one Sage holds: The penalty was to give the tithe—in addition to the Levites—also to priests, whether poor or wealthy, since

priests during the days of their impurity are poor

people.

The Gemara raises a difficulty against the view that the penalty was for the priests, based on the incident mentioned earlier in the Gemara, involving the garden from which Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya would take the tithe:

Granted, according to the one who says: The penalty was for the poor, for this reason—

when Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya, who was a wealthy priest, took from the tithe,

Rabbi Akiva moved the entrance

of the garden from which he would take the tithe

toward the cemetery,

so that he would not take it, since according to Rabbi Akiva Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya was acting unlawfully.

But according to the one who says

that after Ezra’s penalty the tithe was given

to priests,

even if they were wealthy—

it is difficult:

Why did he move

Rabbi Akiva

the entrance toward the cemetery,

when Rabbi Akiva lived after Ezra’s penalty?

And we answer:

This is what he said to him,

Rabbi Akiva said to Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya:

If you have come by virtue of the penalty [if you have come to take the tithe by virtue of Ezra’s penalty],

then indeed

you have

a right to the tithe!

But

if

you have come by virtue of the division,

if you come to take it according to the fundamental law, by virtue of the distribution—

you do not have a right to it.

Since Rabbi Akiva knew that according to the fundamental law Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya was acting in this manner, he therefore prevented him from taking the tithe [later authorities].

The Gemara explained above that the reason for Ezra’s penalty was that the Levites did not ascend in his days.

The Gemara now explains the source for the fact that the Levites did not ascend:

And from where do we know that they did not ascend in the days of Ezra [where do we know that the Levites did not ascend from Babylonia to Eretz Yisrael in the days of Ezra]?

We explain: From this,

as

it is written: “And I gathered them

[those who ascended with Ezra from Babylonia]

to the river that flows toward

Ahava

[near the river that flows to a place called Ahava, according to the Metzudot].

And we encamped there

[that is, we remained encamped there]

for three days. And I examined the people

[I paid attention in order to understand the people who had gathered with me],

and the priests.

But among the sons of Levi—

I found none there.”

Thus, priests ascended, but Levites did not.

Rav Ḥisda said: At first,

before the Levites ceased ascending,

they would appoint officers

[enforcers and supervisors to carry out the words of the judges]

only from among the Levites, as it is stated: “And the officers, the Levites, are before you.”

But

now—

they appoint officers only from among Israelites,

as it is stated: “And officers, many

[that is, Israelites, who are more numerous than the Levites]

at your head.”

Mishna:

This Mishna follows the view of Rabbi Meir, who holds that the first tithe is prohibited for consumption by non-members of the designated group.

1.

An Israelite woman who married a priest—

she may eat teruma.

And even if

her

priest husband

dies,

and she

has a son from him—

she may eat teruma

on account of the son.

As it is stated: “And those born in his household [of the priest]—they shall eat of his bread.” And we interpret it: “They shall enable others to eat of his bread.”

And if she then

marries a Levite [who is considered a non-member with regard to teruma], while her son from the priest is still alive, she

may eat

only

the first tithe

because of her husband

.

But she may not eat teruma, because once she married a non-member, she became a non-member again, and she may not eat on account of her son from the priest.

And even if

her

Levite husband

dies,

and she

has a son from him—

she may eat the first tithe

on account of her son from the Levite.

And if she then, having a son from the priest and a son from the Levite,

marries an Israelite—

she may eat neither teruma nor the first tithe.

For her marriage to a non-member disqualifies her from teruma and from the first tithe that she would otherwise eat on account of her sons.

And if

her

non-member husband

dies,

and she

has a son from him—

she may eat neither teruma nor the first tithe,

even after his death.

For the son she has from the Israelite disqualifies her from eating teruma on account of her son from the priest, and disqualifies her from eating the first tithe on account of her son from the Levite.

And if afterward

her Israelite son dies, while

her son from the Levite is still alive—

she may eat the first tithe

on account of her son from the Levite.

But she may not eat teruma on account of her son from the priest who is still alive, because her son from the Levite disqualifies her.

And if

even

her

son from the Levite dies—

she may eat teruma

by virtue of her son from the priest.

And if

even

her

son from the priest dies—

she may eat neither teruma nor the first tithe,

for she is an Israelite woman.