GEN1283 Although Judaism has long been associated with the idea of tithing, there is no explicit verse in the Torah commanding us to donate a tenth of our annual earnings to charity. There are, however, several indications of 10 percent as an appropriate sum to designate for charitable giving. Most significantly, the Torah ordains that in the third and sixth years of every seven-year cycle one should set aside a tenth of one’s crops for the landless tribe of Levi and for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow Deuteronomy 14:28-29; see also Deuteronomy 26:12.  In addition, as noted, Jacob, when fleeing for his life, makes a vow that if he returns safely to his father’s home, he will set aside a tenth of his possessions to honor God [this verse].  Many centuries later, the Talmud [Ketubot 50a] takes for granted that it is a worthy act to dispense a tenth or more of one’s earnings to charity… Rabbi Joseph Karo—in an unusually titled chapter, “How much is a person obliged to give and how should he give it?” – writes that a Jew should give a tenth for a standard fulfillment of the laws of charity, and 20 percent for an ideal fulfillment.   One who gives less than 10 percent is, according to Rabbi Karo, regarded as giving with an “evil eye” Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh Deah, 249:1.  TELVOL2:206-7