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בִּשְׁלשָׁה פְּרָקִים בַּשָּׁנָה, תּוֹרְמִין אֶת הַלִּשְׁכָּה, בִּפְרוֹס הַפֶּסַח, בִּפְרוֹס עֲצֶרֶת, בִּפְרוֹס הֶחָג, וְהֵן גְּרָנוֹת לְמַעְשַׂר בְּהֵמָה, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא. בֶּן עַזַּאי אוֹמֵר, בְּעֶשְׂרִים וְתִשְׁעָה בַּאֲדָר, וּבְאֶחָד בְּסִיוָן, וּבְעֶשְׂרִים וְתִשְׁעָה בְּאָב. רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר וְרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמְרִים, בְּאֶחָד בְּנִיסָן, בְּאֶחָד בְּסִיוָן, בְּעֶשְׂרִים וְתִשְׁעָה בֶּאֱלוּל. מִפְּנֵי מָה אָמְרוּ בְּעֶשְׂרִים וְתִשְׁעָה בֶּאֱלוּל, וְלֹא אָמְרוּ בְּאֶחָד בְּתִשְׁרֵי, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהוּא יוֹם טוֹב, וְאִי אֶפְשָׁר לְעַשֵּׂר בְּיוֹם טוֹב, לְפִיכָךְ הִקְדִּימוּהוּ לְעֶשְׂרִים וְתִשְׁעָה בֶּאֱלוּל:
On three occasions during the year the ceremony of the collection of the Temple treasury chamber is performed. During the ceremony, a priest enters the treasury chamber with three containers, lifts up [torem] some of the coins, and places them in the containers. These funds, known as the collection of the chamber, are used to purchase animals for communal offerings and other needs of the Temple. These three occasions are: Half a month, fifteen days, before Passover, on the day before the first of the month of Nisan; half a month before Shavuot, on or around the twentieth of Iyar; half a month before the festival of Sukkot, on the day before Rosh HaShana. These three days are also the due dates that were established by the Sages for the setting aside of animal tithes. On each of these days one is obligated to tithe the animals that were born during the intervening period, and it is prohibited for him to eat or sell them until he does so. This is the statement of Rabbi Akiva. Ben Azzai says that the dates established by the Sages for the setting aside of animal tithes are the twenty-ninth of Adar, the first of Sivan, and the twenty-ninth of Av. Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon say that the dates for the animal tithes are the first of Nisan, the first of Sivan, and the twenty-ninth of Elul. And why did Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon say the twenty-ninth of Elul and not the first of Tishrei, as they said the first of Nisan and Sivan? Because the first of Tishrei is the festival of Rosh HaShana, and it is not permitted to tithe on a Festival. Therefore, the Sages advanced the day of tithing the animals born over the course of the summer to the twenty-ninth of Elul.
