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The Rambam’s view · Bekhorot 53 · בכורות נ״ג
The Rambam on Animal Tithe and Consecration Today
How the Rambam codifies the cessation of animal tithing post-destruction and the persistent sanctity of misdirected offerings.
The Cessation of Tithes After the Destruction
The Mishnah establishes that the mitzvah of מעשר בהמה (animal tithe) applies both inside and outside the Land of Israel, and both in the presence of the Temple and after its destruction. The Gemara immediately asks: if the obligation endures outside Temple times, why do we not separate animal tithes in the present day?
Rabba resolves this by explaining that the Sages actively halted the practice due to concern that a mishap might occur. An unblemished tithe animal requires sacrificial slaughter in the Temple Courtyard; eating it unblemished outside the Temple incurs the severe penalty of כרת (spiritual excision).
אֲבָל חֲכָמִים אָסְרוּ לְעַשֵּׂר בְּהֵמָה בַּזְּמַן הַזֶּה וְתִקְּנוּ שֶׁאֵין מְעַשְּׂרִין אֶלָּא בִּפְנֵי הַבַּיִת גְּזֵרָה שֶׁמָּא יֹאכְלֵהוּ תָּמִיםNevertheless, our Sages forbade tithing animals in the present era and ordained that they should be tithed only when the Temple is standing. This is a decree, lest the consecrated animal be eaten when it is unblemished. (Mishneh Torah, Firstlings 6:2)
Post-Destruction Consecrations and Their Redress
To establish this rabbinic ban, the Gemara cites a baraita: one may not consecrate, valuate, or dedicate items in the present era. If a person transgresses and consecrates an animal today, it is shut behind a door until it starves and dies naturally to avert illicit use.
The Rambam codifies this baraita verbatim. Commentators note that this extreme destruction applies when one does not wish to redeem the animal. However, if one wishes, one retains permission to redeem it for minimal monetary value to remove the prohibition.
Exempting Sacrificial Animals from Tithes
The Mishnah rules that tithes apply to non-sacred animals but not to consecrated ones. The Gemara asks why a special verse is needed to teach that consecrated animals are exempt, suggesting it is obvious because they do not belong to the owner. The Talmud responds that the exemption addresses קדשים קלים (offerings of lesser sanctity) according to Rabbi Yosei HaGelili, who views them as private property.
The Lechem Mishneh notes that the Rambam adopts this exemption directly. By doing so, the Rambam implies that he rules like Rabbi Yosei HaGelili that offerings of lesser sanctity are considered private property. However, the Har HaMoriyah counters that this rule also applies to most holy offerings, because every animal inherently stands for tithing from birth.
Cross-Year Tithing and Species Boundaries
Between different animal types, cattle and flock never combine, but sheep and goats combine because Scripture categorizes both under the general term צאן (flock). Furthermore, one may not tithe animals born in one year with those born in another year.
The Rambam introduces a novel ruling: if one improperly tithed animals from one year for another, the tithing remains validly binding. The Lechem Mishneh questions this, noting that biblical derivations normally render invalid actions completely void. He resolves that because an opposing logical argument exists, the Rambam upholds the consecration strictly due to the stringency of holy offerings.
וְיֵרָאֶה לִי שֶׁאִם עִשֵּׂר בְּהֵמָה מִשָּׁנָה עַל שָׁנָה הֲרֵי זֶה מַעֲשֵׂר מִפְּנֵי חֻמְרַת הַקֳדָשִׁיםIt appears to me that if one tithed animals from one year for animals of another year, the tithing is binding because of the severity of consecrated animals. (Mishneh Torah, Firstlings 7:5)
Practical Halakha in the Present Day
In practice, the Sages exercised their power to passively uproot a Torah commandment, instructing that no one may tithe herds or flocks today. This stands in contrast to a בכור (firstborn animal), whose sanctity takes effect automatically from the womb without human agency.
If a person deliberately or mistakenly passes animals through a chute and designates the tenth today, the animal becomes fully consecrated as tithe. Because it cannot be sacrificed on an altar, the owner must guard it until it contracts a permanent blemish, after which it may be slaughtered and eaten.
Although animal tithing is prohibited today to prevent grave sacrificial errors, any animal improperly designated still absorbs binding sanctity and must be held until blemished.