Over the past four lessons we have been establishing certain principles regarding time, prayer and offerings. Now we will G-d willing begin to see how these fit within the realm of Mah Ah Sayr {tithe / one tenth}. Many religions teach tithing. Judaism and Spirituality are not part of the religious scene. Both Judaism and Spirituality are systems of belief in what Ha Torah teaches or commands.
What I am about to say is so important. Study this and restudy this lesson on Avraham’s Tithe. Please do not allow yourself to become entangled in how other religions take passukim {verses} from Ha Tenach {the Torah - the Neviim /Prophets the Ketuvim / Writings} of Judaism and Spirituality, then attempt to apply them outside what Hashem Intended. Within Tenach their are 22 passukim that discuss tithing. All 22 of these passukim are directed to Judaism. Only one passuk out of 22 is directed both to Jews and Spiritualists. The verse that I make reference to is:
And blessed be G-d, the Most High, that has delivered your enemies into your hand. And he [Avram] gave to him [Malki Zedek] tithe from everything. Beresheit 14:20
What I am saying here is that verses like Malachi 3:8 and 10 apply ONLY to Judaism! Anyone who attempts to apply any passuk from Tenach aside from Bereisheit 14:20 are misrepresenting what our Creator Said and Intended.
Yet Beresheit 14:20 is quite rich in what it teaches Spiritualists about tithe.
1.) Homiletically according to the rules of Biblical hermeneutics, Beresheit14: 20 is the first place in Ha Torah where tithe is mentioned. Torah sages and biblical scholars understand the importance of the first mention rule established in hermeneutics.
Normally one uses the first chronological place that a word is used in Torah to establish its usage and meaning for later usages and understandings.
2.) The meaning of Mah Ah Sayr is both tithe and one tenth. Now one must wonder, Tithe from what? Ha Torah states, ...And he [Avram] gave to him [Malki Zedek] tithe from everything. Now some may attempt to argue that what Avram gave to Malki Zedek was from the spoils of war and not from his own personal wealth. That is not correct. Avram gave of his own gains. Notice that in Beresheit 14:24 Avram gives an accounting of what was taken. In his accounting he does not mention the Mah Ah Sayr. Avram excluded himself and his tithe to Mah Ah Sayr from this accounting.
3.) This is the only place where we read of Avram giving a tithe. Where did Avram receive the understanding of Mah Ah Sayr?
First, it is clear that Avram understood what Mah Ah Sayr was and to whom he was required to present it through his learning.
Second, Avram understood the concept of Mah Ah Sayr from within the precepts of his original operating system. In addition to these Avram was present at the Tower of Bavel. He did not participate in its construction even though he lived in the area. How do we know this? Beresheit 11:2 explains that all the inhabitants of earth had settled in the valley of Shinar. In pazsukim 8 and 9 Hashem, Creator of the Universe, Scatters humankind across the entire earth. This is significant because it shows where Avram as a child learned in greater depth about the original operating system. He had the opportunity to learn directly from Shem, the righteous son of Noach, and his very great, great grandfather. Shem died in 2158. Avram was born in 1948. The dispersion resulting from the confusing of languages was in 1996. This places Shem and Avram in the same vicinity at the exact same time. Avram also learned directly from Noach himself. Our sages teach that Avram hid from his father, Terach and from King Nimrod. Where did Avram hide? He hid in the house of study. What house of study? He hid in The school of Shem and Eiver. What did shem and Eiver teach? They taught Torah observances. This is where Avram learned of tithing. At the time he had little to give. Noach died in 2006 when Avram was 58 years of age. Avraham learned from Noach himself. The Midrash states this, {see page 107}. Also Sefer HaYasher states this {see Page 23}.
Dear one if you would like to order these books or any other books we ask that you to use the link on this page. B'nai Noach Torah Institute receives an offering for every order purchased through our link. Thank you!
Third, we cannot determine the amount of wealth Avram had prior to Beresheit 12:5, yet we do recognize he had wealth. Our sages teach that Avram amassed his wealth after the age of 52 which would have been the turn of the century. It would have been 2000. It was around this time that Avram journeyed to Charan. From Charan he journeyed to Eretz Canaan once prior to Beresheit 12:1 then returned to Charan. The point to this explanation is that Avram acquired his wealth after departing the area where Noach and Shem lived which again was approximately in the year 2000. From this account it seems apparent that Avram had not paid tithes to Noach or to his ruling son Shem. I say this because Ha Torah states, '...And he [Avram] gave to him [Malki Zedek] tithe from everything.' If Avram had paid tithes prior to this he would have given tithe ONLY on the untithed portion. Why? How can I say this? Remember that tithe is also ONLY one tenth. If Avram had given tithe before on certain items, then it would NOT have been Mah Ah Sayr, one tenth. It would have been more.
4.) To whom was Avram required to give his tithe? This is one of the MOST IMPORTANT parts of understanding Spiritualist tithing. Avram gave his tithe to Malki Zedek {king of righteousness}. Our sages teach that this was Noach’s son Shem. Ha Torah teaches that originally the Adam {Adam and Chava} were the rulers of earth. As the original rulers, everything belonged to them. After the flood Noach was the rightful ruler of the earth until his death. However his great grandson Nimrod attempted to displace Noach , G-d Forbid. Much of the earth followed Nimrod and made him their king. According to Sefer Hayasher many brought gifts and paid homage to him as their king. Avram was not among them. {See page 20} Nimrod was the son of Kush who was the son of Cham who was the third son of Noach. Cham was the cursed son. Now the rightful recipient of tithe was Noach, then Shem. Avram understood this. He understood that the true king of earth was Shem since Noach had died. He understood that tithe was to be paid to the high priest. Now at this point we must stop to explain that the Spiritualist Kohein [priest} is quite different than the Jewish Kohen Godal. Noach was the priest of the entire earth. As priest he offered a sacrifice upon departing the Teva {Ark} after the flood. He was the G-d-Appointed / Chosen kohein. His son Shem was the rightful heir to his priesthood based upon Beresheit 9:25-27. Had the incident of Beresheit 9:22-24, Noach’s castration by Cham, not happened each son would have been a priest because they were tribal heads as were Hevel / Sheis and Kayin. As a result Noach passed the duties of Kohanim over to Shem and not to his other sons.
Avram understood that the tithe belonged to the Spiritualist Kohein Shem. It only belonged to him. After his death it would have belonged to his son Arpachshad yet it seems that Shem did not give his priesthood to his son or his grandson but to his great grandson Eiver who learned with him. In addition to this Avraham received the priesthood. He gave it to Yitzchok who in turn gave it to Yaakov who gave it to each of his twelve sons. Then Hashem removed the priesthood from each son after the incident with the golden calf and gave it to the descendants of Levi through the seed of Aharon forever. Now from this explanation it is evident that we do not know who else may have received the priesthood from Shem or his son Eiver. So today as a Spiritualist you may be confused or may not know with any certainty who should receive your Spiritualist tithe from the stand point of giving to a kohein. We will discuss this shortly. Yet there is an additional side to receiving tithe.
Remember the name Malki Zedek {king of righteousness}. Not only was Shem a kohein he was a leader. He was righteous. Shem was a leader of righteousness. So we can easily observe tithing even though we may not presently who our Spiritualist kohein is. Malki Zedek / Shem was the leader, the head teacher at The School of Shem and Eiver. ha Torah teaches that one is to honor their teacher like a king. Why? Hashem is our King. We honor Him. Our Torah teacher is a human represenative of the King of the Universe. Our Torah teacher feeds us the Creator's Commands. Our Torah teacher directs our observance of Ha Torah. Our Torah teacher judges us. Each of these positions are handed down to humankind from our Creator to our Jewish Teacher. Therefore we are to honor our teacher.
The the name Malki Zedek {king of righteousness} also means righteousness. The King of the Universe is Righteous. Our teacher is Commanded by Hashem to be righetous. Our teacher is commanded to follow in His Ways. Spiritualist teachers are normally Jewish. The Jewish Teacher / Rabbi / Moray received the commandments of Ha Torah from their who received the commandments from their teacher etc. The teacher's learning comes from a very long line of unbroken learning that reaches all the way back to Har Sinai to creation. Knowing these basic principles of Ha Torah teaches us who we are not to share our Spiritualist tithe with.
Giving tithe to the correct person is a serious issue. Avram was aware of this. That is why we read in Ha Torah, '...And he [Avram] gave to him [Malki Zedek] tithe from everything. We know that Avraham was a kohein. We know that Avraham received his priestly position from Shem and Eiver as a direct descendant from them. We know the same holds true for Yitzchok his son and for Yaakov his grandson and for B'nei Yisroel, Avraham's great grandchildren. Please remember that among Kal Yisroel the only Kohanim are descendants of from Levi through Aharon. However for B'nai Noach, the non-Jewish world the Jew is the Kohein. All Jews are Kohanim to the world.. How do we know this? Hashem Commands Moshe to speak these words to B'nei Yisroel. 'And you will be for Me a kingdom of kohanim {priests} and a holy nation..' Shemot 19.6 In addition the Novie Zachariah spoke of this prophecying, 'Thus says Hashem, Master of Legions: In the [coming] days it will happen that ten men from among all the languages of the nations [of the world] will take hold, they will take hold on the corner of a Jewish man’s [priestly garment], saying, ‘Let us go with you,[to worship] for we have heard [been taught] that G-d is with you.' Zechariah 8:23
Dear ones, there are those who use different means to steal tithe that does not belong to them or to their organization. There are some principles that we know for certain.
First, Spiritualist tithe does NOT belong to any preacher, religion or religious organization. How do we know this? There are only two belief established by the Creator. there is spirituality and their is Judaism. Both beliefs are 100% founded upon observe of Ha Torah. We know from Beresheit 4.26 that after the birth of Enosh {mortal, human} humankind began to call idold and religons by the Name of Hashem. Ha Torah notes this change in direction through the name of Enosh. The name Enosh points to a dissimulation of Adam's descendants from their origin of being Created through G-d's Spirit as Spiritual Humans to being humans without Spirituality. Dear ones just as it is possible for humankind to separate from evil representing holiness it is also possible for humankind to separate from righteousness represent our own form, a human form of religion. The latter is what happened after the birth of Enosh. Unfortunately much of humankind began separting from worshiping the Creator to mortal worship.
Second, Spiritualist tithe does not belong to anyone that teaches principles that differ from Torah.
Yet there is another principle. Notice that Ha Torah records, '...And he [Avram] gave to him [Malki Zedek] tithe from everything' This Mee Chol {from everything} includes time. Avraham gave 10% of his total time. One may give actual time or the value of actual time.
Avraham most likely gave in excess of his actual time directly to our Creator in prayer, study and kind deeds from the age of three until Beresheit 14. It is very unlikely that Avraham owed any tithe from his time. In next weeks lesson we will explain the principle of tithing time. Every human being is required to pay 10% of every days time to the Creator.
I am going to quote from several class discussions. At B'nai Noach Torah Institute there are hundreds of class discussions which are not open for public learning. They require becoming a classmate of B'nai Noach Torah Institute and learning from one of our teachers. When one is a classmate they learn directly from a teacher. The classmate and the teacher and other members of the class share many E-mail discussions.
First Class Discussion:
There are many needs in our world that our Creator intends for Spiritual chessed to fulfill. What I am saying is that our congregating should be mainly through acts of chessed. Spiritual chessed... Spiritual congregating should be to visit a lonely person. Share some of our Creator’s tithe time with that one. Share some of our Creator’s tithe time in hospitals or group homes or jails or prisons or in helping with town events or school plays or summer sports programs.
Shari, the issue is that real Spirituality is using some of our Creator’s tithe time to make this world a better place. Remember actions to those in need or to those needing a friend speak much louder than attending church. So as Spiritualists our congregating should be in the form of loving and sharing with others not attending church.
Second Class Discussion:
Rivkah please do not misunderstand what I am saying. I am not suggesting that you don’t already do many of these things. You do! What I am saying is a Spiritualist is not just a soccer mom. A Spiritualist mother is a soccer mom because Ha Torah teaches her to be good to her fellow and to tithe her time to good causes... In the same way we give money to righteous causes like giving to the beggar on the street... giving to the Red Cross... giving to purchase food for needy children and by raising money for children to go to camp. Rivkah we pay of our time and we pay of our money. We don't give because we owe. We pay to righteous causes, righteous Jews and righteous organizations like B'nai Noach Torah Institute. [Dear one it is a requirement for every classmate to pay tithes to B'nai Noach Torah Institute. We do not require our classmates to pay a specific amount. We only require that our classmates pay tithes to B'nai Noach Torah Institute.] The point is that we just don’t do things. We do things because Ha Torah teaches us to do them. We do them because we love and honor our Creator and Ha Torah. What I am trying to say is that when we do these things inside our mind we are making an affirmation to the Creator. Hashem I am doing this because... This affirmation connects our actions to the proclamation...
Mah Ah Sayr mystically points to the number shishi {six}. The Shishi is in reference to the six days of G-d's Creating the universe. The Shishi points to the six days we are to work and to pay tithes from that work. Mah Ah Sayr mystically represents that humankind is to Bih Yad {[to take} in [their] hand} Aw Chahz {to grip to take hold of} Aw Chooz {a percent} Bah Zaw Hawv {in gold}, Bah Day {in staves} Vih Ay Zohv {and hyssop} to Oh Deh {to thank [G-d]} and to enjoy their work...
I encourage you to do this. I encourage you to take in your hand to grip to take hold of a percent in gold, in staves and hyssop to thank [G-d]} and to enjoy your work... Please remember the part that you are to take in your hand belongs to G-d. The part that you are to grip to hold on to belongs to you! I encourage you to become a member of B'nai Noach Torah Institute. I encourage you to help support with our righteous outreach to Jews and to Spiritualists.
Dear one from this lesson you can see a few of the differences between observance of Ha Torah and worship of mortal religions...
Be well! Love G-d! Do Good! Be kind! Bless your fellow!
Dr. Akiva Gamliel Belk