RAV KOOk ON Ki Tavo Part 2: The Farmer's Declaration

Tax reporting in the Torah? In a way, yes.... Twice every seven years, in the fourth and seventh years of the Sabbatical cycle, the Jewish farmer must testify that he correctly distributed tithes from his crops. He makes the following declaration, preferably in the Temple itself: “I have removed all the sacred portions from my house. I have given the appropriate ones to the Levite and to the orphan and widow…. I have not violated Your commandments, and have forgotten nothing.” (Deut. 26:13) What exactly is this declaration? The Mishnah explains as follows: “I have not violated Your commandments” — I have been punctilious in all the laws of ma’aserot, such as tithing each type of produce separately. “And have forgotten nothing” — this does not refer to forgetting the mitzvah, but its spiritual context: I did not forget to bless You and mention Your Name when tithing (Ma’aser Sheini 5:11). What is special about tithing, that only this mitzvah requires such a declaration? Why must we testify that we were punctilious in all its minutiae, and remembered to praise God when distributing ma’aser to the Levite and the poor?