Sanctifying Food Through Tithing

בפסוק עשר תעשר כו' ואכלת לפני ה"א כו' למען תלמד ליראה כו'

On the pasuk "Aser te'aser — You shall surely tithe... and you shall eat before Hashem your God... so that you may learn to fear..." (Devarim 14:22-23).

The Sfas Emes opens with the pasuk of tithing, which culminates in eating before Hashem in order to learn yiras Shamayim.

מו"ז ז"ל אמר ללמוד מכאן דאכילה בקדושה לפני ה' מתקן האדם להיות ירא שמים

My grandfather, his memory is for a blessing, said that one should learn from here that eating in kedushah before Hashem prepares a person to become a yerei Shamayim (one who fears Heaven).

He cites his grandfather: eating with kedushah before Hashem is itself the means by which a person is shaped into a yerei Shamayim.

וכמו כן סעודת שבת שנקרא סעודתא דמהימנותא לפי שמתקן הגוף להיות נמשך אחר הקדושה ודפח"ח

And so too the Shabbos meal, which is called "se'udasa d'mehemnusa" (the meal of faith), because it prepares the body to be drawn after kedushah — and these are words that are pleasant to the listener.

The same principle applies to the Shabbos meal, called the meal of faith, since it refines the body so it follows after kedushah.

וז"ש במד' רעה אמונה על הפרשת המעשרות וגם תורתך בתוך מעי ע"ש

And this is the meaning of what the Midrash says, "Re'eh emunah" ("Tend faithfulness") (Tehillim 37:3) with regard to the separation of ma'asros (tithes), and also "Your Torah is within my innards" (Tehillim 40:9); see there.

The Midrash links faithfulness and the Torah within a person to the mitzvah of tithing, tying inner refinement to ma'asros.

כי המעשרות הי' מתקן המאכל וניזון האדם בקדושה

For the ma'asros were a means of mending the food, so that a person would be nourished in kedushah.

Tithing mends the very food, so that a person eating it is nourished in a state of kedushah.

לכן נסמך עשר תעשר למאכלות אסורות שמקודם

Therefore "Aser te'aser" is placed adjacent to the laws of forbidden foods that precede it.

This explains why the Torah places tithing right after the laws of forbidden foods — both deal with sanctifying what we eat.

וזה רמז המעשר דאיתא עוה"ז נברא בה' ועוה"ב בי'

And this is the hint of the ma'aser (the tenth), as it is brought that this world was created with the letter hei, and the World to Come with the letter yud.

The tenth alludes to the letter yud, with which the World to Come was created, just as the hei is the letter of this world.

וכבר כתבנו במ"א כי זה האותות שנתן הקב"ה בבנ"י אות המילה ביו"ד לרמוז שהם בני עוה"ב

And we have already written elsewhere that these are the signs that the Holy One, Blessed is He, gave to Bnei Yisrael — the sign of milah (circumcision), with the letter yud, to hint that they are children of Olam Haba.

The yud of bris milah marks Bnei Yisrael as children of Olam Haba, an idea the Sfas Emes developed elsewhere.

ולפי שא"י בעוה"ז להתקדש לגמרי כמו בעוה"ב נתן לנו מצות לאחוז בהם בדרך הקודש

And since it is impossible in this world to become entirely sanctified as in the World to Come, He gave us mitzvos to grasp hold of, as a path of kedushah.

Since full sanctity like the next world is unattainable now, Hashem gave mitzvos as handholds to grasp the path of kedushah within this world.

וכן שבת שהיא מעין עוה"ב

And likewise Shabbos, which is a foretaste of Olam Haba.

Shabbos belongs to this same category, being a taste of the World to Come.

ובזוה"ק דיש לכל איש ישראל אות ברית מילה ושבת

And in the Zohar HaKadosh it is brought that every Jew has the sign of bris milah and the sign of Shabbos.

The Zohar teaches that each Jew carries two signs: bris milah and Shabbos.

מילה ותפילין והם ב' יודין משם הוי' ושם אדנות

Milah and tefillin — these are two yudin, from the Name Havayah (the four-letter Name) and the Name Adnus.

Milah and tefillin correspond to two yudin drawn from the Name Havayah and the Name Adnus.

והם תיקון ברית הלשון והמעור

And these are the rectification of the covenant of the tongue and of the covenant of the flesh.

These two represent the mending of the covenant of speech (the tongue) and the covenant of the flesh.

ולכן כתי' עשר תעשר לרמוז על ב' הבריתות שניתקנו בכח המעשרות

And therefore it is written "Aser te'aser" (a doubled expression), to hint at the two covenants that are rectified through the power of the ma'asros.

The doubled phrase "aser te'aser" hints at these two covenants, both rectified through the power of the tithes.

ולכן הי' מצות וידוי אחר המעשרות כדכתי' בפ' כי תכלה לעשר כו' ואמרת לפני ה' כו' ביערתי כו'

And therefore the mitzvah of viduy (confession over the tithes) was placed after the ma'asros, as it is written in the parsha "When you finish tithing... and you shall say before Hashem... I have removed..." (Devarim 26:12-13).

Accordingly the confession over tithes follows the mitzvah of ma'asros, where a person speaks before Hashem after completing the tithing.

שנפתח פיו של איש ישראל

For the mouth of a Jew is opened.

Through the tithes the mouth of a Jew is opened to speak before Hashem — the covenant of the tongue.

וזה שרמזו במד' תנחומא שאמר איוב אם לא הפרשתי מעשרות תמו דברי איוב שלא אוכל להתוודות ע"ש

And this is what they hinted in the Midrash Tanchuma, that Iyov said: had I not separated ma'asros, "the words of Iyov are ended" (Iyov 31:40) — that I would not be able to confess; see there.

The Midrash brings Iyov, who tied his ability to confess to having separated his tithes, showing how ma'asros open the power of speech.

וכמו כן ניתקן ברית המעור שנתראו לפני ה' ג"ע בשנה כדכתי' יראה כל זכורך

And so too the covenant of the flesh is rectified, in that they would appear before Hashem three times a year, as it is written "All your males shall appear" (Shemos 23:17).

The covenant of the flesh is likewise rectified through appearing before Hashem at the three Regalim, as the males appear in the Beis HaMikdash.

ומעין זה יש בשבת כמ"ש במד' תנחומא בב' דברים מתחטאין בנ"י לפני המקום בזכות שבת ומעשרות ע"ש:

And there is something of this in Shabbos, as is stated in the Midrash Tanchuma: through two things Bnei Yisrael are made beloved before the Omnipresent — in the merit of Shabbos and ma'asros; see there.

Shabbos shares in this, for the Midrash says Bnei Yisrael are endeared to Hashem through the twin merits of Shabbos and ma'asros.

Summary: The Sfas Emes teaches that eating in kedushah before Hashem is the very process by which a person is prepared to become a yerei Shamayim, which is why the mitzvah of ma'asros culminates in eating before Hashem and learning to fear Him. Tithing mends the food itself so that a person is nourished in holiness, which is why it is placed beside the laws of forbidden foods, and the same idea animates the Shabbos meal, the se'udasa d'mehemnusa. The doubled language "aser te'aser" alludes to two covenants given to Bnei Yisrael — the covenant of the tongue and the covenant of the flesh — both of which are rectified through the power of the ma'asros. The covenant of the tongue is seen in the viduy ma'aser that opens the mouth of a Jew to speak before Hashem, and the covenant of the flesh in appearing before Him at the three Regalim. Like the yud of bris milah, these mitzvos let Bnei Yisrael, who are children of Olam Haba, grasp a path of kedushah even within this world, and Shabbos — a foretaste of the World to Come — shares in this same endearment before Hashem alongside ma'asros.