MA'ASEROT ( = "tithes"): Seventh masseket of the Mishnah,
Tosefta, and Palestinian Gemara, in the Talmudic order of
Zera'im. It deals with the tithes of agricultural produce due to
the Levites (Num. xviii. 21). In contradistinction to the tithe
called "ma'aser sheni," which the owner must consume at
Jerusalem (Deut. xiv. 22 et seq.), and to the triennial poor
man's tithe (Deut. xiv. 28 et seq., xxvi. 12 et seq.), called
"ma'aser 'ani," the tithe treated in this masseket is
denominated "ma'aser Lewi" (the Levite's tithe) or "ma'aser
rishon" (first tithe; see Ma'as. Sh. v. 6, 10). The latter name
was formerly applied to this treatise (see Joshua ha-Levi,
"Halikot 'Olam," i. 1; Frankel, "Darke ha-Mishnah," p. 257),
which is so styled in the Erfurt manuscript of Tosefta (ed.
Zuckermandel). The treatise is divided into five chapters (three
in the Tosefta), and its contents, briefly stated, are as
follows: - Ch. i.: Whatever is edible, and is private property,
and grows in the ground is subject to tithe. Plants tha