In the Jewish system of agricultural tithes, the second tithe (ma’aser sheni) applies to produce harvested in the first, second, fourth and fifth years of every sabbatical cycle. Second tithed produce is either brought to Jerusalem and eaten there in a state of ritual purity or redeemed, meaning it is sold and the money used to purchase food in Jerusalem — which is subsequently consumed in a state of ritual purity within the city limits. Consuming ma’aser sheni outside of Jerusalem is punishable by flogging, which explains why we find discussions about it in Tractate Makkot, including the following:

Rav Hanina and Rav Hoshaya sat, and a dilemma was raised before them: If the second tithe produce is at the entrance of Jerusalem, what is the law?

Before arriving in Jerusalem, ma’aser sheni produce can be redeemed but not eaten. Once the tithed produce enters the city, it must be eaten and can no longer be redeemed. But what about the boundary situation when the produce is at the gate? 

Perhaps an image of the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, or one of its gates, just popped into your mind. The current walls are thick and studded with the gates, like the Damascus Gate or the Jaffa Gate, that are actual buildings. But these walls post-date the rabbinic period by more than a millennium. In the Babylonian study hall where Rav Hanina and Rav Hoshaya sat, we find a discussion that suggests the walls and gates in their era were far less hefty:

It is obvious in a case where one is outside Jerusalem and his burden of second tithe produce is inside Jerusalem that the tithe is admitted by the walls of Jerusalem. But in a case where one is inside Jerusalem and his burden of second tithe produce is outside Jerusalem, what is the law?

Instead of something like a building, the Gemara describes a much less magnificent portal that is thin enough to allow for a person to still be outside the city even after the burden of produce that they carry before them arrives inside. The Gemara clarifies that while there is no doubt that once the produce is inside the city it cannot be redeemed, if the person enters the city and the produce remains behind them still on the outside, its status is ambiguous. 

An elder cites a midrashic reading, credited to the school of Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai, of Deuteronomy 14:24:

It is written: “As if the journey (to Jerusalem) is too far from you (mimmekha)…” and should be read as “from your fullness (mimmilluakha),” indicating that if any part of the person is inside the city, it is as though the load they carry is also inside the city.

Instead of understanding the verse to be talking about the distance between your home and Jerusalem, which is the literal meaning, it is understood to be referring to the distance between you and your baggage. As such, the conclusion is reached that once a part of you has physically entered Jerusalem, that which you are carrying is considered to be there as well even if it hasn’t quite cleared the threshold yet.

This doesn’t entirely settle the question. Rav Pappa asks: What if one is holding the second-tithe produce on a reed which is suspended behind him? Does it make a difference if the produce is not in direct contact with one’s body? Teyku, says the Gemara, we do not know the answer to this question.

Did this discussion have practical implications? We can imagine that, having reached the city gate, a tithe-carrying traveler might be tempted to stop in its shade and satisfy their hunger after the long trek through the hills that surround Jerusalem. Knowing they need not necessarily nudge all that produce over the threshold before taking a nosh can give them peace of mind that they are fulfilling a commandment rather than setting themselves up for a flogging.

Read all of Makkot 19 on Sefaria.

This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on April 27, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.