Study Yevamot folio 86B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
The first tithe is given to a priest. The Talmud is puzzled: To a priest and not to a Levite? But the Torah expressly states that the first tithe is for Levites. The Talmud answers: Say he means it can be given also to a priest. The Talmud clarifies: What is the reason for R' Akiva’s opinion? As
And R' Akiva replies: Here you cannot say the verse is referring to priests, as it is written: “And you may eat it in any place” (Numbers 18:31), from which we learn that the tithe is given to one who can eat it in any place. This excludes a priest, who cannot eat it in a cemetery, as he is prohib
The Talmud relates: There was a certain garden from which R' Elazar ben Azarya, a priest, would take the first tithe, in accordance with his opinion that priests are also entitled to this tithe. R' Akiva went, closed up the garden, and changed its entrance so that it would be facing toward the ce
§ It was stated that amora’im disagreed about the following question: For what reason did the rabbis penalize the Levites with regard to their tithe, by declaring that it may be given to priests as well? R' Yonatan and the Elders who were with him disagree with regard to this matter. One said it wa
The Talmud asks: Granted, according to the one who says it was because they did not ascend, we can understand that due to that reason they penalized the Levites by forcing them to share their tithe with the priests. But according to the one who says it was done so that the priests could rely on it