Bechorot 57 – Who is Obligated in Animal Tithe

When a father dies and brother become heirs to his estate – but until the time that they divide it – they are obligated to give the tithe, because the estate is the real owner. Once they divide it, if they continue to operate it together as partners, they are not obligated to tithe, since no partners are obligated. Incidentally, the law of the “kolbon”, a small coin given in addition to the half-shekel to the Temple, is just the opposite.

Earlier we said that there are multiple cases when one does not have to give animal tithe. In fact, it is the presence of them that allowed the Sages to suspend the separation of tithes altogether, in the time when there is no Temple. Thus, all animals are obligated in tithes, except for a hybrid, a sick animal (terefah), one born by Caesarean section, and an orphan. What is considered an orphan for tithes? Any animal whose mother died or was slaughtered, and then it (the child) came out of the mother's womb. Rabbi Yehoshua says that if the mother's hide is intact, its offspring is not an orphan, because wrapping it in its mother's hide helps.

Art: George Cochran Lambdin - The Little White Heifer