Tithing and Tax Reform

The recent tax reform proposals by the Republican Congress and a recent public Torah reading made me think about tithing.  In one of the first verses in Saturday's Torah reading Vayeitzei ((Jacob) departed from …), the Jewish Patriarch Jacob promises G-d a tenth of everything G-d gives him after waking up from his dream. Bereishis Rabbah (a collection of rabbinical interpretations) interpret this as meaning that Jacob pledged not only to give a tenth of his earnings, but also a tenth of his sons (other than the first-born sons to each of his wives and handmaids) to G-d's service, which he did with his son Levi.

Pastor Cary Gordon also discussed tithing in his book A Storm, A Message, A Bottle, in relation to taxes.  Pastor Gordon wrote that G-d required no more than 10% from G-d's people (tithing) and that any tax rate above that suggests that government is positioning itself to be greater than G-d. In these united states, the federal, state and local governments collectively spend 38.3% of our republic's average annual gross domestic product over the last three years according to the Heritage Foundation. Clearly, our federal government and our local governments are collecting more in taxes than the 10% tithe that G-d commanded the Jews to set aside to support the Levites and assist the poor. This paradigm will continue even if Congress passes and President Donald Trump signs one of the two competing tax reform proposals currently under debate in Congress.