Rambam - 1 Chapter a Day

I.e., in addition to leket, peret, ollelot, shichichah, and peah (Radbaz).

See Hilchot Terumot 5:4-5.

One fiftieth is the average amount separated. As explained in Hilchot Terumot, ch. 3, there is no prescribed amount of terumah required according to Scriptural Law. And even according to Rabbinic Law, there are varying amounts.

It is called the great terumah in comparison to terumat ma’aser which is only one hundredth of the crop.

I.e., the tithe is one tenth of the remainder after terumah has been separated and not one tenth of the original sum.

Although Ezra penalized the Levites for not making aliyah and ordained that the tithes should be given to the priests and not to them, that ordinance applied only in that generation and not for all time (Hilchot Ma’aser 1 :4).

In a state ofritual purity.

I.e., the order is significant. It is undesirable to separate them in a different order.

More than two tithes are never separated. Thus in the years that the second tithe is separated, the tithe for the poor is not separated. And in the years that the tithe for the poor is separated, the second tithe is not separated.

Although the verse mentions Levites, the intent is that he should collect the initial tithe (Rashi on the verse; Siftei Cohen, Yoreh De ‘ah 331 :39). The tithe given afterwards, by contrast, is not necessarily given to the Levites, but to the poor, as the verse continues.

As stated at the conclusion of the previous chapter, none of the agricultural obligations apply with regard to ownerless produce. All of the produce of the Sabbatical year is ownerless by Divine decree (Bava Metzia 39a).

Here the meaning of the term Diaspora is limited applying only to those lands mentioned by the Rambam here. Crops from all other parts of the Diaspora are not obligated in any of the agricultural laws that apply to the produce of Eretz Yisrael.

See Hi/chat Shemitah 4:25-27.

Pe’at HaShulchan 23:27 explains that the Rambam is speaking about the portions of Ammon and Moav that were not conquered by the Jewish people upon their entry into Eretz Yisrael and thus never became part of the Holy Land. There were, by contrast, certain portions of Ammon and Moab that were conquered by Sichon. After he was vanquished by the Jewish people, that land became part of Eretz Yisrael. They are bound by the same laws that apply in Eretz Yisrael. Although this interpretation is accepted by most authorities, it appears to contradict the Rambam’s own statements in his Commentary to the Mishnah (Yedayim 4:3).

The Rambam’s source (Yedayim, loc. cit.) mentions the separation of the tithe for the poor, but not the separation of the first tithe. Since the tithe for the poor is never separated unless the first tithe is separated, the Rambam concluded that ·it should also be separated at this time (Radbaz).

See Hilchot Terumot 1:1.

Our Sages also ordained that terumah and the tithes be separated there for the reasons stated by the Rambam (ibid.). Since it is distant from Eretz Yisrael, the poor of Eretz Yisrael would not gain any significant advantage by having the tithe for the poor separated in that year.

It is governed by all the ritual restrictions applying to the great terumah.

In contrast to the tithe for the poor distributed from one’s home, as mentioned in Halachot 10, 12.

See the following halachah for a definition of this term.

Sefer HaMitzvot (positive commandment 130) and Sefer HaChinuch (mitzvah 474) include this commandment as one of the 613 mitzvot of the Torah.

A kab is approximately 1382 cc according to Shiurei Torah and 2400 cc according to Chazon Ish. This quantity will enable him to produce a quantity of food appropriate for a meal.

Significantly, Pe’ah 8:5, the Rambam’s source mentions a kab and a half. The commentaries question why the Rambam does not state that figure.

Since the figs are collected in a mass, a measure of weight is given, rather than of volume (Radbaz).

A total of 91 grams in contemporary measure.

A log is approximately 345 cc according to Shiurei Torah and 600 cc according to Chazon Ish.

In this and the following instances, the Rambam mentions a measure appropriate to sell and purchase with the proceeds, food for two meals.

In his Commentary to the Mishnah (Pe’ah 8:6), the Rambam explains that the poor should divided it equally among themselves.

For the verse requiring that it be separated (Deuteronomy 14:28) states: “And you shall set it down in your gates” and does not mention “giving” it (Nedarim 84b).

For a second verse concerning the tithe to the poor (Deuteronomy 26:12) speaks of “giv[ing] it to the Levites, the strangers, to the orphan,... “(Chu/in 131 a, b).

He must, however, give an olive-sized portion, because Deuteronomy, lac. cit., speaks of”giv[ing]” and the term “giving” implies giving a significant amount. K’ritot 6b states that anything less than an olive-sized portion is not significant.

The Radbaz states that certainly this law applies if the man and the woman approach the person apportioning his tithes in his fields. The Rambam LeAm, however, cites authorities who rule otherwise.

For it is more embarrassing for a woman to beg than for a man (Yevamot 100a).

A poor person who owns a field may not take the tithe of the poor from his field for himself (Gittin 12a). Nevertheless, despite the fact that these individuals are very close to him, he is permitted to give them his tithes.

This is an extension of the principle stated in the previous halachah.

In return for a certain share of the produce as the Rambam proceeds to explain.

In his Commentary to the Mishnah (Pe’ah 5:5), the Rambam explains the difference between the two instances. In the first instance, the harvester has a right to the entire field even before he begins the harvest. Hence he is not considered as poor. In the second instance, since he does not own anything until the harvest is completed, he is considered as poor.

The rationale is not necessarily that he is no longer poor, but that since he has a share in the harvest, he cannot take a portion for himself as stated in Halachah 10 (Radbaz).

If, however, one owns the land and the other, the produce, they are both forbidden to acquire the presents for the poor.

I.e., once he has acquired it through a kinyan, a formal process of acquisition, it is his regardless of whether he paid for it or not.

I.e., a poor person who receives it may not use it to pay a debt he owes, for it was given to him for his own personal expenses alone.

I.e., one person may not give another the tithe of the poor as a loan, because the recipient gave him a loan on a previous occasion.

To be given to a mourner in exchange for food that he once gave (Radbaz).

So that he will know to use it only for his personal use, not to do a favor in return for it, and not to take it to the Diaspora.

Since we are obligated to redeem captives, using the tithe for the poor for this purpose is equivalent to using it to pay a debt (Siflei Cohen 331:166).

Wedding gifts; see Hilchot Zechiyah UMatanah, chap. 7.

I.e., that is not considered as an affront to his dignity.

I.e., in a city that belongs to you, for it is part of your land.