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Revision as of 05:17, 25 February 2020 by Chefallen (talk | contribs) (→Topics: add details, refs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Talmudic tractate about the gifts due to the priests from agricultural produce in the Land of IsraelTerumot (Template:Lang-he, lit. "Priestly dues" and often, "heave-offering") is the sixth tractate of Seder Zeraim ("Order of Seeds") of the Mishnah and of the Jerusalem Talmud. This tractate discusses the laws of teruma, a gift of produce that an Israelite farmer was required set aside and give to a Kohen.
The laws are derived from the Torah in Numbers 18:11–13 and Deut 18:1–5 and applied to grain, wine and oil. The Mishna extends the scope to include all produce. The Torah does not specify the amount of terumah that must be separated and theoretically even one single kernel of grain would suffice; thus the Mishna in this tractate establish one-fortieth as a generous gift, one-fiftieth as an average gift, and one-sixtieth as a miserly gift.
This tractate comprises eleven chapters in the Mishna and ten in the Tosefta and has fifty-nine folio pages of Gemara in the Jerusalem Talmud. Like most tractates in the order of Zeraim, there is no Babylonian Talmud for this tractate. Laws concerning terumah are also mentioned in the tractates Demai and Ma'aserot.
Topics
This tractate focuses on the laws of the gifts of produce that are to be given to a kohen (priest) as mandated by the Torah. Terumah is the first gift that must be separated from the produce and given to the priest, as prescribed in Numbers (Num 18:8, 11–12 and Numbers 18:25–32) and Deuteronomy (Deut 18:4–5).
The Hebrew term terumah signifies a contribution, an offering for a sacred purpose, and more literally, something lifted up (hence the antiquated English translation, heave offering). In the Torah, the commandment applied to grain, wine and oil; the Mishna extends the scope to include all produce. It also applied only in the Land of Israel, but certain lands bordering the Land of Israel, and Babylonia were later included.
Since the priests and Levites were not allocated land in of the Land of Israel, they were provided for in the form of tithes given to the Levites and the terumot offerings 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 called terumat ma'aser ("offering of the tithe"), or ma’aser min hama’aser (tithe of the tithe). The Israelites, on the other hand, separated the terumah 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 of terumah, which forms the theme of this tractate, but the terumah gedolah of the Israelite farmers comprises the main subject of discussion.
Historical context
The commandment of terumah applies only to produce grown in the Land of Israel and continues to be observed in the modern state of Israel. There is debate among Jewish legal authorities as to whether the present-day Jewish religious laws detailed in this tractate are now biblically or rabbinically mandated obligations.
References
- ^ Kehati, Pinchas (1994). Tomaschoff, Avner (ed.). Seder Zera'im: Terumot. The Mishna: A New Translation with Commentary. Vol. Vol. 2. Fisch, Rafael (translator). Jerusalem, Israel: Maor Wallach Press. pp. 1–2.
{{cite book}}:|volume=has extra text (help) - ^ Birnbaum, Philip (1975). "Terumah". A Book of Jewish Concepts. New York, NY: Hebrew Publishing Company. p. 668-669. ISBN 088482876X.
- ^ Lehrman, S. M., ed. (1948). "Terumoth: Translated into English with Notes". The Babylonian Talmud. Vol. vol. 2. Singer, M.H. (translator). London: The Soncino Press. pp. 197–198.
{{cite book}}:|volume=has extra text (help) -
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Terumot". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
- "Terumot". JewishEncyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
- The Mishnah, ArtScroll Mishnah Series, Seder Zeraim, Tractate Terumos(a), pp. 9–10
External links
- Full text of the Mishnah for tractate Terumot on Sefaria (Hebrew and English)
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