The Land of Israel: Terumah, Ma'aser, Shmittah and Yovel, Kilayim: The Laws of Terumah and Maaser:
What are the laws of Terumah and Maaser?
In Num. 18 the Torah discusses terumah (given to the Kohanim), maaser (a tithe,
given to the Levites), and terumas maaser (a tithe of the tithe, given by the
Levites to the Kohanim). In Deut. 12 and 14 the Torah discusses maaser sheni
(a second tithe, brought to Jerusalem and eaten there by the owner) and maaser
oni (which takes the place of maaser sheni and is given to the poor in the
third and sixth years of the Sabbatical cycle). 2 Chron.(Ch. 31) and Nehemiah
(Ch. 13) describe methods of centrally collecting the terumah and maaser and
distributing them to the Kohanim and Levites; apparently, in the later years
of the monarchy, it was found necessary to organize these processes and not
leave them entirely up to the individual farmer. [A farmer is not required to
bring his terumah to a Kohen; he can leave it in the granary, if it is safe
there, and it is up to the Kohen to go there and get it (see Mishneh Torah,
Terumos 12:17). Evidently the system instituted in the days of the monarchy
was intended to prevent this from happening.] In the time of Ezra it was
further instituted that maaser be given to the Kohanim rather than to the
Levites, apparently because relatively few Levites returned from the
Babylonian exile (see Mishneh Torah, Maaser 1:4).
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