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1 β[1] Priestly gifts and tithes are biblically applicable only in Eretz Yisrael, both during the time of the Temple and after the time of the Temple. The prophets, however, made them applicable also in Babylonia, which is close to Eretz Yisrael and many Jews commute from there. The ancient sages made them applicable also in Egypt, Ammon and Moab, because these countries are close to Eretz Yisrael. β[2] Wherever Eretz Yisrael is spoken of, the reference is to territories occupied by a king of Israel, or a prophet, with the consent of a majority of Israel; it is called a national conquest [so as to give it the character of the holy Land]. On the other hand, if an individual Israelite, or members of a family or tribe, went ahead and occupied a locality for themselves, even if it was part of the land given to Abraham, it would not be called Eretz Yisrael in terms of all the *mitzvoth* applicable to the Holy Land. For this very reason, Joshua and his court distributed all of Eretz Yisrael among the tribes long before it was actually occupied by them, so that when each tribe would ascend and occupy its share it should not be regarded as an individual conquest. β[3] The lands which David occupied outside the land of Canaan, such as Mesopotamia and Aram Tzova and AαΈ₯lav, even though he was king over Israel and acted upon the decision of the supreme court, count neither as Eretz Yisrael nor as Diaspora in every respect; they are not like Babylonia and Egypt, for example, but are classified as outside the Holy Land and yet unlike it [as to special laws operative only in Eretz Yisrael]. Why are they of a lower degree than Eretz Yisrael? Because David occupied them before occupying all of Eretz Yisrael, where some remnants of the seven nations of Canaan were left. Had David occupied the entire land of Canaan with its various boundaries and then the other lands, all his conquests might then have assumed the sanctity of Eretz Yisrael, in every respect. The lands conquered by David are referred to as Syria. β[4] Syria is like Eretz Yisrael in regard to certain laws, and in certain respects it is like Diaspora. If a man has acquired land in Syria, it is as if he acquired it in Eretz Yisrael with regard to heave-offerings, tithes, and the sabbatical year. All the laws pertaining to Syria are rabbinic enactments. β[5] The part of Eretz Yisrael that was occupied by those who had come up from Egypt received the first consecration, which ceased to be as soon as they were exiled. The first consecration, resulting from the mere conquest, applied only for the time being [while inhabited and ruled by Israelites] and not for the future. As soon as the returned exiles came up and occupied part of the land, they consecrated it a second time with a sanctity lasting forever, both for the time being and the future. They retained, however, certain laws which had been operative in the places occupied by those who had come up from Egypt and unoccupied by those who arrived from Babylonia. These were not exempted from heave-offerings and tithes, so that the poor might rely on them during the sabbatical year.β β β[6] Hence, the entire world is divisible into three classifications: Eretz Yisrael, Syria, and the Diaspora. Eretz Yisrael, in turn, is divisible into two parts: the one which was occupied by the returned exiles from Babylonia, and the second which was occupied only by those who had come up from Egypt. The Diaspora is divisible into two parts: Egypt, Babylonia, Ammon and Moab are lands where the special laws are to be observed by the authority of sages and prophets; while in the other countries the laws of heave-offerings and tithes are not to be observed. β[7] β[8] β[9] β[10] β[11] β[12] β[13] β[14] β[15] β[16] β[17] β[18] β[19] β[20] β[21] β[22] β[23] β[24] β[25] β[26] The priestly tithe at this time is not from Torah writ, but [rabbinic] - even in a place that those that came up from Babylonia held, and even at the time of Ezra - as you do not have the priestly tithe from the Torah except in the Land of Israel at the time that all of Israel is there, as it is stated, "When you come" (seemingly a reference to Numbers 15:18, which has, "In your coming") - the coming of all of you, like they were at the first possession, and like they are to return in the future for the third possession, and not like they were at the possession in the days of Ezra, which was a coming of some of them - and hence it was not from the Torah [then]. And so does it appear to me is the law of tithes [as well], that we are only obligated [rabbinically] at this time - like the priestly tithe.
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