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Shareכִּ֣י תִשָּׂ֞א אֶת־רֹ֥אשׁ בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֮ לִפְקֻדֵיהֶם֒ וְנָ֨תְנ֜וּ אִ֣ישׁ כֹּ֧פֶר נַפְשׁ֛וֹ לַיהֹוָ֖ה בִּפְקֹ֣ד אֹתָ֑ם וְלֹא־יִהְיֶ֥ה בָהֶ֛ם נֶ֖גֶף בִּפְקֹ֥ד אֹתָֽם׃
When you take a census of the Israelite men according to their army enrollment, each shall pay יהוה a ransom for himself on being enrolled, that no plague may come upon them through their being enrolled.
״עַשֵּׂר תְּעַשֵּׂר״ — עַשֵּׂר בִּשְׁבִיל שֶׁתִּתְעַשֵּׁר.
“A tithe shall you tithe [te’aser]” (Deuteronomy 14:22)? This phrase can be interpreted homiletically: Take a tithe [asser] so that you will become wealthy [titasher], in the merit of the mitzva.
אַשְׁכְּחֵיהּ רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן לְיָנוֹקָא דְּרֵישׁ לָקִישׁ, אֲמַר לֵיהּ: אִימָּא לִי פְּסוּקָיךְ! אֲמַר לֵיהּ: ״עַשֵּׂר תְּעַשֵּׂר״. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: וּמַאי ״עַשֵּׂר תְּעַשֵּׂר״? אֲמַר לֵיהּ: עַשֵּׂר בִּשְׁבִיל שֶׁתִּתְעַשֵּׁר, אֲמַר לֵיהּ: מְנָא לָךְ? אֲמַר לֵיהּ: זִיל נַסִּי.
Rabbi Yoḥanan found the young son of Reish Lakish. He said to the boy: Recite to me your verse, i.e., the verse you studied today in school. The boy said to him: “A tithe shall you tithe.” The boy further said to Rabbi Yoḥanan: But what is the meaning of this phrase: “A tithe shall you tithe”? Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: The verse means: Take a tithe so that you will become wealthy. The boy said to Rabbi Yoḥanan: From where do you derive that this is so? Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: Go and test it.
אֲמַר לֵיהּ: וּמִי שְׁרֵי לְנַסּוֹיֵיהּ לְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא? וְהָכְתִיב: ״לֹא תְנַסּוּ אֶת ה׳״! אֲמַר לֵיהּ, הָכִי אָמַר רַבִּי הוֹשַׁעְיָא: חוּץ מִזּוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״הָבִיאוּ אֶת כׇּל הַמַּעֲשֵׂר אֶל בֵּית הָאוֹצָר וִיהִי טֶרֶף בְּבֵיתִי וּבְחָנוּנִי נָא בָּזֹאת אָמַר ה׳ צְבָאוֹת אִם לֹא אֶפְתַּח לָכֶם אֵת אֲרֻבּוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם וַהֲרִיקֹתִי לָכֶם בְּרָכָה עַד בְּלִי דָי״.
The boy said to him: And is it permitted to test the Holy One, Blessed be He? But isn’t it written: “You shall not test the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 6:16)? Rabbi Yoḥanan said to the boy that Rabbi Hoshaya said as follows: It is prohibited to test God in any way, except in this case of tithes, as it is stated: “Bring the whole tithe into the storeroom, that there may be food in My house, and test Me now by this, said the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing that there shall be more than sufficiency” (Malachi 3:10).
אֲמַר לֵיהּ רָבָא לְרַבָּה בַּר מָרִי: מְנַָא הָא מִילְּתָא דַאֲמוּר רַבָּנַן: כׇּל הַמְבַקֵּשׁ רַחֲמִים עַל חֲבֵירוֹ וְהוּא צָרִיךְ לְאוֹתוֹ דָּבָר, הוּא נַעֲנֶה תְּחִילָּה? אֲמַר לֵיהּ: דִּכְתִיב: ״וַה׳ שָׁב אֶת שְׁבוּת אִיּוֹב בְּהִתְפַּלְלוֹ בְּעַד רֵעֵהוּ״.
§ The Gemara cites a series of questions that Rava asked Rabba bar Mari, the first one being related to the previous topic of discussion. Rava said to Rabba bar Mari: From where is this matter derived whereby the Sages stated: Anyone who asks for compassion from Heaven on behalf of another, and he requires compassion from Heaven concerning that same matter, he is answered first? Rabba bar Mari said to him that the source for this is as it is written: “And the Lord changed the fortune of Job, when he prayed for his friends” (Job 42:10).
אֲמַר לֵיהּ: אַתְּ אָמְרַתְּ מֵהָתָם, וַאֲנָא אָמֵינָא מֵהָכָא: ״וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל אַבְרָהָם אֶל הָאֱלֹהִים, וַיִּרְפָּא אֱלֹהִים אֶת אֲבִימֶלֶךְ וְאֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ וְאַמְהוֹתָיו [וְגוֹ׳]״, וּכְתִיב: ״וַה׳ פָּקַד אֶת שָׂרָה כַּאֲשֶׁר אָמָר וְגוֹ׳״ – כַּאֲשֶׁר אָמַר אַבְרָהָם אֶל אֲבִימֶלֶךְ.
Rava said to him: You said the proof from there, from a verse in the Writings, and I say the proof from here, from a verse in the Torah. As it is written: “And Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants, and they bore children” (Genesis 20:17), and it is written immediately following that: “And the Lord remembered Sarah, as He had said” (Genesis 21:1), with the pronoun interpreted homiletically: As Abraham said with regard to Abimelech. Because Abraham prayed for Abimelech that the women of his household should give birth, Abraham himself was answered concerning that matter.