396. You, Too: The obligation for the Levite to separate a tenth of his tithes

As mentioned in the previous mitzvah, the Leviim had to take a portion of their tithes and give it to the kohanim. This is called maaser min hamaaser (tithe from a tithe) or terumas maaser (the gift from the tithe). This is one-tenth of the tenth that was given to the Levite, with the result that it was 1/100 of the original crop.

The Torah instructs us, in verse 18:29, to take this tithe from the best part of the produce; to do otherwise constitutes an offense. This is called a lav haba miklal asei, a negative mitzvah (not to give terumas maaser from the lesser parts of a crop) derived from a positive mitzvah (to give terumas maaser from the best of the crop). Accordingly, it is not counted as a separate negative mitzvah.

The reason underlying this mitzvah is that the kohanim were the primary officiators in the Temple; the Leviim, while indispensible, were still “support staff” for the kohanim. When the Levites received tithes from the Israelites, they had to “pay it forward” to the kohanim. This was indicative of the Levites’ position on the organizational chart, but it also enabled them to participate in the mitzvah. Instead of just being takers, they were now also givers.

This mitzvah applies wherever the laws of tithes are in effect. In the Talmud, it is discussed in tractate Gittin on page 30b. It is codified in the Mishneh Torah in the third and fifth chapters of Hilchos Terumos. This mitzvah is #129 of the 248 positive mitzvos in the Rambam’s Sefer HaMitzvos and #13 of the 26 mitzvos that can be fulfilled in Israel according to the list of the Steipler Gaon