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The Temple served as a spiritual center, with Jews gathering there on the three pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot). Anyone who wanted could come at other times too.
One of the mitzvot that strengthened the Jews' connection to the Temple was the second tithe. The second tithe was separated in the first, second, fourth, and fifth years of the seven-year cycle. This tithe – roughly 9% of the agricultural produce – was for the owners. They were obligated to eat this produce (or redeem it and eat other food bought with the money) in a state of purity in Jerusalem.
The Jews' connection to the Temple was also reinforced by the mitzva of the animal tithe. This involved setting aside one animal out of ten, bringing it to Jerusalem, offering it as a sacrifice, and eating it as part of a festive mitzva meal.
These mitzvot provided people with a spiritual vacation near the Temple, where they could enjoy mitzva meals and attend classes from the Torah giants of Jerusalem. The greater a family’s material blessings, the longer they could remain in Jerusalem, benefiting from the divine presence and inviting the poor to share meals with them. If the family’s children liked studying Torah, they could continue studying Torah in Jerusalem and live off their family’s second tithe.
