You will say before Hashem your G-d, “I have removed the holy things from the house. I have given it to the Levi, to the ger, to the orphan, to the widow, according to whatever commandments You commanded me.”^[2]

Chazal call this little speech (and the lines that follow) viduy maaser, or the “maaser confession.” But it sounds more like a person patting himself on the back for doing a good job, rather than a confession of wrongdoing! The Sforno finds the mea culpa: Implicit in this statement is that it should have been the first-born in every family who would be doing the avodah in the Mishkan, and receiving the gifts of terumah and maaseros. The bechorim, however, messed up, and lost their special status. They were replaced by kohanim and leviim. The speech that each donor recites is a confession on behalf of those first-born.

This explanation creates more problems than it solves. Why is every Jew reciting this confession, rather than just the first-born themselves? Why is it recited after all the holy material has been distributed, rather than at the time it was separated? The maaser portions that he refers to include maaser sheni and the portion going to the poor. These have nothing to do with the bechorim, who were never intended to receive them.

The key that unlocks this mystery is in a statement by Chazal^[3] that the bechorim suffered from a bout of ego inflation. They thought so highly of their own status and station, that they took leadership roles in the service of the eigel hazahav. That cost them their special role.

We can now understand that the essence of the maaser confession is standing in awe before Hashem, recognizing the surfeit of chesed that he has received, despite being entirely undeserving. He feels so humbled by this chesed, that he performed the commandment precisely the way Hashem ordered him to. How could he not? Moreover, he doesn’t regard his giving the required portions to the kohen and levi as somehow reciprocating the favors Hashem has performed for him. Rather, he sees the giving itself as a further privilege – yet another chesed – that Hashem did for him, allowing him to be a giver rather than a receiver.

In other works, his reactions are the polar opposite of those of the bechorim! They magnified their importance in their own eyes; the maaser confession is recited by a person who minimizes his importance, and heaps on more and more self-effacement.

The confession takes place well after the person succeeded in conquering his yetzer hora, and parted with the grain for which he had toiled long and hard. At the time that he separated the required portions, he performed the mitzvah as he was commanded. He then followed up with giving those portions to the kohen and levi. He took understandable pride in his achievement. That has all past. Now, well after the growing season, he looks back at those separations, and reminds himself of the failure of the bechorim. They could have been the recipients of terumah and maaser, had they not fed their gaavah with their privilege. Our party “confesses” to that sin (perhaps in the spirit of our mentioning the sins of previous generations when we perform viduy on Yom Kippur), and announces that he will react differently. He will use Hashem’s beneficence to him not for pumping up his self-image, but to minimize his importance – and maximize his gratitude to Hashem.

The Besht spoke of a commoner who grossly insulted the king. Not just an ordinary commoner, but one of the lowliest, crudest, least refined members of society. What did the kind go to punish him? He gave him a job in the palace. There, the peasant learned who the king really was – and how that king stood head and shoulders above him. This caused him incredible pain! The king was not done with him yet. He promoted his to a still higher position, where he learned more of the king’s wisdom, refinement, and justice. The pain increased. He would die a hundred deaths rather than to be reminded of his vulgar behavior to such a noble figure.

This, said the Best, is the meaning of the pasuk in Tehillim,^[4] “G-d of vengeance! G-d of vengeance reveal Yourself!” When Hashem wants to avenge Himself on those who rebel against Him, what does He do? He reveals Himself by pouring on more chesed, more Divine rachamim, so that the rebel finds the memory of how he treated Him unbearable.

This, then, is the meaning of our pasuk. The person ready to recite the viduy maaser, stands “before Hashem.” He has seen and benefited from all the chesed coming from Hashem, i.e. midas ha-rachamim. And he understands how it could appear that he was entitled to it, as if “your G-d,” i.e. midas ha-din decided that he was deserving of it. But he knows he is not. So he reacts with redoubled humility and gratitude.

1. Adapted from Be’er Moshe, by the Ozherover Rebbe zt”l ↑
2. Devarim 26:13 ↑
3. Bamidbar Rabbah 6:2 ↑
4. Tehillim 94a ↑