Introduction to the Laws of Things Grown in the Land of Israel
(Brachot 7:1 and Makkot 3:2)
We all know that Eretz Yisrael is Hashem's gift to the Jewish
People. But no matter where we are, and no matter how hard we work, we
have to remember that everything really belongs to Hashem.
Hashem gave us laws for what to do with produce (grain, fruits, vegetables) grown in Eretz Yisrael. Some of these laws have to do with giving away part of our crops.
After we finish the harvest, a certain amount of our produce has
to be given away.
First, we give 2% to a Kohen. This is called TERUMAH.
Then, we give 10% of what's left to a Levi. This is MA'ASER RISHON
(The Levi will then give his own terumah (In this case, 10%.) from this. That's TERUMAT MA'ASER.).Finally, we
take off an additional 10%. Some years this is MA'ASER ANNI and is given
to a poor person. Other years it is MA'ASER SHENI and must be eaten in
Yerushalyaim.
However,
if it's too hard to bring the food there, we can redeem it (buy it back) and
bring the money to Yerushalayim and spend it on food to eat there.
WHAT IF SOMEONE DOESN'T DO THIS????? CLICK HERE!