But in the eyes of HaShem, putting up with “a little idolatry” is akin to putting up with “a little Anthrax”! If Israel, HaShem’s vehicle for reconciling the world to Himself gets tainted with idolatry, then ultimately, the vehicle’s mission will be thwarted. The stakes, therefore, are extremely high in regard to idolatry!

Tim Hegg speaks much more eloquently on this:
http://www.torahresource.com/Parashpdfs/139CommentsTR.pdf

Shabbat Shalom!

(Deuteronomy 14:23-26) “You shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always. If the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe, since the place where the LORD your God chooses to set His name is too far away from you when the LORD your God blesses you, then you shall exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.

OK, so we understand that it is really about bringing the firstborn of your flocks and your agricultural “firstfruits” (grain, new wine, and oil) to the place where the LORD chooses to establish His name (i.e. Jerusalem or the temple).

So from there, I have to think, why am I going to Jerusalem? Probably to observe one of the 3 pilgrimage festivals, right? Passover, Pentecost, or Sukkot. So I’m coming to Jerusalem with my special tithes, but wait, I live too far away to bring everything with me. I am still not 100% clear on this, but reading the text literally seems to imply that rather than bringing the stuff, I can exchange it for money and bring it, and then it says to purchase “whatever my heart desires” for food and drink, etc.

And then I asked the question on another forum, I guess Jews going back have always set some money aside for celebrations and the feasts, and even more like weddings and bar mitzvahs, etc. Here is a quote: “The Father commands us to rejoice at his festivals, and a little extra money is needed at those times to buy extra food, drink, sukka materials, seder plates, etc.”

Anyhow, that is the basis of my understanding so far. And I don’t have the definitive answer by any means.

One thing to remember is what did Yeshua say, and He basically said sell everything I have and give to those who need. So there are varying aspects regarding our tithes. Giving 10% to a church or congregation isn’t commanded, although a tithe is a tenth. In our recent Torah portions, it is commanded that we should open our hand to the needy and give to the Levite, sometimes thought of as teachers, since the Levites had no inheritance and were commonly not only the priests but also the Rabbis or teachers in that day.  And then there is also this command about coming to Jerusalem [for the festivals] and bringing tithes.  There’s so much to learn.

As far as the studies go, I reeeally enjoy it so far. The whole package is nicely put together. We joined a couple months ago. It is not the only thing I study by any means, but it is a great addition, and the audio CDs are very helpful for our family. Especially for people who don’t read a lot, the CDs are a good ‘audio commentary.’ I subscribed to TC Volume 2: Shadows of the Messiah.

Actually, just FYI…. FFOZ was looking for a name for their new Volume 1, and myself along with 2 others helped to choose it online. The name is “Unrolling the Scroll.”

As far as New Testament— Often times you will find passages that parallel right along with the Torah portion, and certain teachers do well at bringing these out. So that helps, but I also have recently tried keeping up with the Gospel readings plus Acts. FFOZ (and others) have it set up to read through the “5″ Gospels along with the Torah (Mt, Mk, Lk, Jn, Acts). I have these on our website for reference.

Thanks for contributing. I hope this is a good way that we can discuss things like this.