What is maaser?

Where it comes from

• The first vow

  Jacob, leaving home with nothing, promised that of everything he was given he would give a tenth back. (Genesis 28:22)

• The tithes

  The Torah commanded tithes from the harvest of the Land of Israel. Giving a tenth of money carries the same idea into every kind of income, wherever we live.

• An invitation

  The Sages read the words "aser te'aser" as "give a tenth, so that you will be enriched", and the prophet Malachi has God say "test Me in this". (Taanis 9a, Malachi 3:10)

Giving a tenth is not counted among the commandments of the Torah the way the harvest tithes were. It is a long-standing, very widely kept practice, and the Shulchan Aruch names a tenth as the ordinary measure.

How much

1. A tenthThe ordinary measure, and where most people begin.
2. Up to a fifthThe finest way to do it, for those who can.
3. No more than a fifthThe Sages advise against giving away more than that, so that you do not end up in need yourself. (Kesubos 50a)

The Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Deah 249:1) describes the range this way: a fifth is the finest, a tenth is the middle way, and less than a tenth is a grudging hand. That is how the law describes it. It is not a verdict on anybody.

On what you keep

The widespread practice is to figure maaser on what you keep, after the taxes that are taken out. Money that was never yours to spend is not counted.

1. Comes in$10,000
2. Taxes taken out−$3,000
3. You keep$7,000
4. A tenth is$700

Not everybody figures it identically. A health premium, a retirement contribution and the expenses of running a business are not settled the same way by everyone. If one of them is a real amount for you, ask.

Where it goes

To people in need and to the places that do real good: feeding, teaching, healing, helping a family through a hard stretch. Keep it apart from your own spending, in a pushka or a separate account, so that it is there when you come to give.

Money you are obligated to pay anyway, such as your own children's tuition, is generally not what maaser is for. If you are unsure whether something counts, ask.

If money is tight

A tenth is not asked of somebody who is struggling to get by. Give what you can, even a little. The habit is the point, and it grows.

Doing it here

1. Work out your maaser from what you keep.
2. Set it as this month's maaser, and watch it fill as you give.
3. Put it in the pushka, or give it on the spot.