In the Tannaic work of the Sifri (quoted by Tosafot, Ta’anit 9a), our Sages taught: “The Torah states, ‘You shall surely tithe.’ I may have thought that this applies to produce, however, since the Torah continues, ‘All the produce of your seed,’ this must come separating a tenth of one’s monetary earnings for Tzedakah as well.” Indeed, several Rishonim quote this as Halacha.
Nevertheless, Maharam of Rottenberg (in his responsa, Chapter 74) writes that donating a tenth of one’s earning is not an actual biblical obligation; rather, it is only based on a custom. Several great Acharonim, including Bayit Chadash (YD, Chapter 331) and Teshuva Me’Ahava (Chapter 87), concur.
Maran Ha’Bet Yosef discusses this concept in his Responsa Avkat Rochel (Chapter 3), where he writes: “There is no question that separating money from one’s earning (for Tzedakah) is a great deed, to the extent that our Sages expound the verse ‘You shall surely tithe’ to mean that one should tithe one’s money in order to become wealthy; indeed, it is permissible to test Hashem in this matter. One should try to distribute at least half or most of these funds to needy Torah scholars or relatives. Tithing one’s money and using it to support Torah study is the best form of Tzedakah.”
Although according to the Rama, donating a tenth of one’s earnings is an actual obligation, the Sephardic custom is not to treat this as a full-fledged obligation. Nevertheless, one who does not do so is considered stingy and is transgressing the very noble custom of tithing one’s earnings. It is therefore a tremendous Mitzvah to observe this custom, which has spread among Sephardic communities as well, as was this the custom of Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef zt”l.
Responsa Chavot Yair (Chapter 220) writes that one should designate Erev Rosh Hashanah, which is only a few weeks away, as the day to calculate one’s financial tithing dues, for our Sages taught (Betzah 16a) that Rosh Hashanah is the day our livelihood is decreed for the following year and it is therefore imperative that we take care of our Tzedakah dues before this time.
There are many laws and customs associated with this financial tithing, and we cannot cover them all in the context of this forum. If a question arises, one should reach out to a competent halachic authority to navigate these issues.
