[Avodah] maaser ani today

[Akiva Miller]

.
(This post is based on the seforim I have from when I was in Yerushalayim
in the late '70s. I hope that more modern seforim have come out since then,
with more up-to-date ideas.)

R' Mordechai Cohen asked:

> is there any loophole not to give maaser ani today from vaadai tevel?

As far as I'm aware, the only loopholes are if you can somehow deny the
"vadai" status. But if you are well-versed in the many conditions
that must be met for something to be truly Vadai Tevel, and this
produce meets all those conditions, then you're stuck.

Note also that this question also applies to Maaser Rishon. Even though
anyone may eat it after the Trumas Maaser has been separated, one still has
the chiyuv to give it to a Levi.

Rav Kalman Kahana writes in his Mitzvos Haaretz 11:3 (my translation): "The
chiyuv of giving Maaser Ani to an Ani exists even nowadays. Also, an Ani is
obligated to separate Maaser Ani and give it to another Ani." His mar'eh
mkomos are Rambam Matanos Aniyim 1:5, 6:10, and 6:14.

In his Mitzvos Tluyos Baaretz 4:6 (which is found in the back of some
editions of Kitzur Shulchan Aruch), he writes: "The chiyuv of giving Maaser
Ani to an Ani exists even today. But Safek Tevel has no mitzva of giving
Maaser Ani to an Ani. However, if someone has Vadai Tevel, and he is
uncertain whether to separate Maaser Sheni or Maaser Ani from it, and
because of this safek he separated two portions, he DOES have to give
Maaser Ani to an Ani." [[See my comments below*]]

> what does everyone in israel do?
> how do they do it

There is a certain procedure which Rav Kahana describes in Mitzvos Haaretz
11:5 for Maaser Ani. Rav Yechiel Michel Tukchinsky describes a similar
procedure in his Sefer Eretz Yisrael 2:6:8-9 for both Maasros. I will not
give the details here for fear that I might not explain it properly. But an
oversimplification might be that one arranges with a Levi or Ani in
advance, and *lends* him some money; then each time one maasers his crop,
he gives the maaser to the Levi/Ani in absentia, and then takes it back
from the Levi/Avi in exchange for a partial repayment of that loan.

[ * Comments: I find it odd that Rav Kahana specified that "because of this
safek he separated two portions". Maybe it's only in that case where he has
to give away the Maaser Ani, but NOT where he separated only one additional
maaser al tenai, stipulating that it is either Maaser Sheni or Maaser Ani
whichever applies.]

Akiva Miller
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/attachments/20230625/ce5e1798/attachment-0003.htm>