| Tractate of theTalmud | |
|---|---|
| English: | Priestly dues |
| Seder: | Zeraim |
| Number ofmishnahs: | 101 |
| Chapters: | 11 |
| Babylonian Talmud pages: | - |
| Jerusalem Talmud pages: | 59 |
| Tosefta chapters: | 10 |
Terumot (Hebrew:תְּרוּמוֹת, lit. "Priestly dues" and often, "heave-offering") is the sixthtractate ofSeder Zeraim ("Order of Seeds") of theMishnah and of theJerusalem Talmud. This tractate discusses the laws ofteruma, a gift of produce that an Israelite farmer was required to set aside and give to akohen (priest). There were two kinds ofterumot given to the priest: the regular heave-offering, known also as theterumah gedolah ("great heave-offering"), which the Israelites were required to give to the priest from the produce of their fields; the other was theterumat ma'aser ("tithe of the heave-offering"), namely, the gift that theLevites were required to put aside for the priests fromthe tithe which ordinary Israelites had been required to give to them.
The laws detailed in this tractate are derived from theTorah inNumbers 18:8, 11–12 andDeut 18:4–5, and forterumat ma'aser fromNumbers 18:25–32.
Themitzvah (commandment) applies only to produce grown in theLand of Israel and continues to be observed in the modern state ofIsrael.
This tractate comprises eleven chapters in the Mishna and ten in theTosefta and has fifty-nine folio pages ofGemara in theJerusalem Talmud. Like most tractates in the order ofZeraim, there is noBabylonian Talmud for this tractate. Laws concerning terumah are also mentioned in the tractatesDemai andMa'aserot.
The first-fruits of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes, to stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for ever.
— Deuteronomy 18:4-5
This tractate focuses on the laws of the gifts of produce that are to be given to akohen (priest) as mandated by theTorah. Terumah is the first gift that must be separated from the produce and given to the priest, as prescribed inNumbers (Num 18:8, 11–12 andNumbers 18:25–32) andDeuteronomy (Deut 18:4–5).[1]
The Hebrew termterumah signifies a contribution, an offering for a sacred purpose, and more literally, something lifted up (hence the antiquated English translation,heave offering).[note 1] In theTorah, thecommandment applied to grain, wine and oil; the Mishna extends the scope to include all produce. It also applied only in theLand of Israel, but certain lands bordering the Land of Israel, andBabylonia were later included.[2][3]
Since the priests and Levites were not allocated land in of the Land of Israel, they were provided for in the form oftithes given to the Levites and theterumotofferings given to the priests by both the Levites and the ordinary Israelites. The Levites were required to separate and give the priest one-tenth of the tithe that they received from the Israelite farmers and this was calledterumat ma'aser ("offering of the tithe"), orma’aser min hama’aser (tithe of the tithe). The Israelites, on the other hand, separated theterumah gedolah to be given to the priests before they separated a tenth of the produce to be given as tithe to the Levites. Both types of gifts come under the general term ofterumah, which forms the theme of this tractate, but theterumah gedolah of the Israelite farmers comprises the main subject of discussion.[1][2][3][4][5]
The Torah does not specify the amount ofterumah that must be given, and theoretically, even one single kernel of grain could suffice; thus the Mishna in this tractate establishes an amount, from one-fortieth to one-sixtieth of the gross product, depending on the circumstances and generosity of the individual farmer, with one-fiftieth being regarded as the average gift. The generally accepted measure is therefore one-fiftieth, andthe Sages found an allusion to this amount in the termterumah as an acronym of theAramaic wordstrei mi-meah ("two from a hundred") or 2%.[1][3][6]
The tractate deals with the details of many circumstances which could arise with regards to theterumah. Thus, for example, before theterumah is separated, all the produce istevel (untithed) and forbidden to be eaten.Terumah is considered holy, and may be eaten by priests only, as prescribed in Leviticus 22:10, and must be guarded against becomingritually unclean, lost or wasted, as interpreted from Numbers 18:8. The Mishna also considers what to do in cases whereterumah became mixed with non-sacred food; if the ratio is less than one hundred times that ofterumah, it determines that all of it becomes forbidden to non-priests. However, it is not necessary to give the mixture to the priest, rather it is sold to a priest at the price ofterumah, which was fixed lower than ordinary produce, while deducting the value of theterumah mixed into it. If the ratio of non-sacred food exceeds one hundred-times than that of theterumah, a non-priest may eat it, after removing the quantity of theterumah that had fallen into it and giving it to the priest.[1][3]
The tractate consists of eleven chapters and 101 paragraphs (mishnayot). It has aGemara – rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah – of 59 double-sided pages in theJerusalem Talmud. There is aTosefta of ten chapters for this tractate.[2][4]
There is no Gemara in theBabylonian Talmud for this tractate, or indeed for any of the tractates ofthis order of the Mishnah, other thanTractate Berakhot, as the laws related to agriculture and produce that are mostly discussed in this order generally have no practical application outside of theLand of Israel.
In most editions of the Mishnah, this tractate is sixth in the order Zera'im.Maimonides, in hisCommentary on the Mishnah, states that this tractate followsShevi'it sinceterumah is the first gift which one separates from the produce.[1][4]
An overview of the topics of the chapters is as follows:[3][4]
The commandment ofterumah applies only to produce grown in theLand of Israel and continues to be observed in the modern state ofIsrael. There is debate amongJewish legal authorities as to whether the present-dayJewish religious laws detailed in this tractate are nowbiblically or rabbinically mandated obligations.[7]
Mishna 8:12 of this tractate is a digression from the laws ofterumah but is included in this tractate because it contains a similar case to the preceding mishna about pagans' intent to cause defilement – in the previous Mishna of a commodity and in this one, of a person. This Mishna has become a source of Jewish law for the general principle that it is not permitted to sacrifice one individual to save another. Tosefta 7:23 of this tractate, quoted in the Jerusalem Talmud (Talmud,y.Terumot 47a) expands the ruling of the Mishna to a case where if one member of a group is not delivered to be killed, the entire group will be killed. The ruling is the same as in the Mishna, that all should die rather than sacrifice one to save the others. However, if one individual was specified by the persecutors, then other factors can be considered, such as whether that individual is already subject to capital punishment for a crime they have committed.[8] Many medieval and modernJewish legal scholars have grappled with the practical applications of the cases mentioned in this tractate, often when facing situations involving persecution, in the Middle Agesduring the Crusades, theRintfleisch massacres or otheranti-Jewish violence, and in modern times duringthe Holocaust.[9][10][11]
Medieval commentaries on this tractate include the following:[7]
Commentaries bylater scholars include the following:[7]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Terumot".The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.