Terumah (offering)


A terumah, the priestly dues or heave offering, is a type of offering in Judaism. The word is generally used for offerings to God, but can also refer to gifts to a human.
The word terumah refers to various types of offerings, but most commonly to terumah gedolah, which must be separated from agricultural produce and given to a kohen, who must eat it in a state of ritual purity. Those separating the terumah unto the priests during the time when the Temple stood were required, as a rule, to do so also in a state of ritual purity, as being unclean could render the terumah unfit for consumption. Today, the terumah is separated and either burnt or discarded.

Etymology

The word terumah comes from the verb stem, rum. The formation of terumah is parallel to the formation of tenufah from the verb stem nuf, "to wave", and both are found in the Hebrew Bible. In a few verses, English Bible translations have translated "heave offering", by analogy with "wave offering":

Hebrew Bible

The term occurs seventy-six times in the Biblical Hebrew Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible; in the Greek Septuagint it was rendered afieroma, in the 1917 JPS Tanakh it is generally translated "offering"; while in the King James Version it is also generally translated "offering" but also sometimes "oblation" and four times "heave offering".
The word is used in various contexts throughout the Hebrew Bible, including one use in Proverbs which may denote haughtiness or graft. In most contexts it refers to designating something for a higher purpose, or lifting apart of a quantity from a larger quantity).
The Bible refers to the following offerings, among others, using the term terumah or the verb leharim:
In halakah, the word terumah by itself refers to the "great offering". According to Hizkuni, this terumah is called "great" because it is the first of all tithes given on produce, and thus is given from the "greatest quantity of produce" before any other gift is given. The Mishnah, Tosefta, and Gemara include a tract entitled Terumot which deals with the laws regulating terumah.
Terumah gedolah must be given to the Jewish priest and is considered one of the twenty-four priestly gifts. The consumption of terumah is restricted by numerous Torah-based commandments and could be eaten by priests, their families, and their servants. Israelites would separate this terumah from their finished grain, wine, and oil prior to separating maaser rishon for Levites. Unlike the maaser rishon, the Torah did not specify any minimum measure for terumah gedolah; hence, even one grain of barley could satisfy the requirement to separate terumah. However, based on, the rabbis conclude that an "average" offering would be 1/50 of the produce, a generous one 1/40, and a stingy one 1/60.
Terumah gedolah could only be separated from the non-tithed produce, and terumat maaser could only be separated from maaser rishon by its owner. Minors, deaf-mutes, the mentally ill, and non-Jews were not obligated to perform such separation. However, while non-Jews could not act as agents for Jews to separate terumah, the terumah owned by and separated by non-Jews was considered valid and had the status and sanctity of terumah.
Produce designated for the poor and unowned crops were not subjected to terumah. Each type of produce had to be individually tithed. A small whole fruit was preferably given rather than part of a larger fruit. Terumah had to include the best produce if a kohen lived nearby.

Purity

Terumah is designated for the priests, who must be separated in a state of ritual purity. The phenomenon of priests purifying themselves to eat terumah was so well-known that nightfall was described as "the hour when priests enter to eat their terumah".
In addition, it is forbidden to intentionally cause terumah to become impure. Israelites who separate the terumah for the priests may still do so in a state of ritual impurity, so long as the fruits touched by them have not come in contact with water after being picked from the tree or uprooted from the ground, or such as with one of the seven liquids that make the fruits susceptible to uncleanness. If the fruits were made wet by one of these liquids and a person who was ritually unclean had then touched them, the fruits become defiled.
All people nowadays are presumed to be impure due to corpse uncleanness, so terumah cannot currently be eaten by priests. Impure terumah generally must be burnt, but can also be eaten by the priest's livestock. Thus, in modern Israel, it is common for priests to be made partial owners of zoos and similar institutions so that terumah separated from commercial produce can be donated to them and not wasted. Similarly, terumah from olive oil may be used by priests to light lamps, and is known as shemen s'reifah.