דיני מעשר ראשון ומעשר שני במגילת המקדש ובספר היובלים לאור השיח הקראי הקדום

The most important Karaite sages, such as Yefet ben ‘Elī and Ya‘qūb al-Qirqisānī, although they knew the Qumran literature and related literature such as the Book of Jubilees, refrained from adopting laws taken from them. However, as the principle of pluralism reigned in ancient Karaite commentaries on the Bible, these same sages did not hesitate to introduce material from the minority of sages who did tend to adopt laws from ancient Jewish sectarian literature. Karaite sources can therefore sometimes help to decipher sectarian controversies from the Second Temple Period. Such is the case concerning the laws of the first and second tithes. Concerning the first tithe, the minority among the Karaite sages, basing themselves on Gen 14:20; 28:22, claimed that this law had first been observed by Abraham and Jacob. From the tithes given by those patriarchs, they deduced that the first tithe should be given to the Levites from everything that earth produces, including its minerals. The Book of Jubilees, faithful to the principle that most commandments preceded the revelation of the Torah at Sinai, also claims that Abraham and Jacob were the first to set aside the first tithe; and according to Jubilees 32:2, this tithe encompassed everything the earth produces. According to the Temple Scroll, it seems that the Bible mentions only two tithes. 11QTa 43:2–17 deals with the laws of the second tithe. By studying the laws of the Karaites, who also argued for only two tithes, one may shed light on the laws concerning the second tithe in the Temple Scroll. 1. In Karaite law, the holiness of the second tithe is derived from the text of the viduy ma‘aser (Deut 26:13–15), and not Lev 27:30, which was considered to refer to the first tithe. 2. Karaite law specifies that one is to set aside for the second tithe only grain, wine, and oil (Deut 14:23; compare Temple Scroll 43:1-10). 3. The second tithe should be eaten only on holy days, with joy, according 11QTa 43:16) should thus be interpreted ) אונמה to Deut 14:26. The wordas “sorrow.” The passage means that one is not allowed to eat the second tithe in sorrow. 4. In Karaite discourse there are traces of references to the law of burning the surplus of the second tithe (see 11QTa 43:11).