A ''terumah'' (), the priestly dues or heave offering, is a type of offering in

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

. 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'' (תרומה גדולה, "great offering"), which must be separated from agricultural

produce In American English, produce generally refers to wikt:fresh, fresh List of culinary fruits, fruits and Vegetable, vegetables intended to be Eating, eaten by humans, although other food products such as Dairy product, dairy products or Nut (foo ...

and given to a

kohen Kohen (, ; , ، Arabic كاهن , Kahen) is the Hebrew word for "priest", used in reference to the Aaronic Priest#Judaism, priesthood, also called Aaronites or Aaronides. They are traditionally believed, and halakha, halakhically required, to ...

(a priest of

Aaron According to the Old Testament of the Bible, Aaron ( or ) was an Israelite prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of Moses. Information about Aaron comes exclusively from religious texts, such as the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament ...

's lineage), who must eat it in a state of

ritual purity Ritual purification is a ritual prescribed by a religion through which a person is considered to be freed of ''uncleanliness'', especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification ...

. 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

, as being unclean could render the ''terumah'' unfit for consumption. Today, the ''terumah'' is separated and either burnt or discarded.

Etymology

The word ''terumah'' ("lifting up") comes from the verb stem, ''rum'' (רוּם, "high" or "to lift up"). The formation of ''terumah'' is parallel to the formation of ''tenufah'' ('תְּנוּפָה,

wave offering The omer offering (''korban omer''), or the sheaf offering, was an Sacrifice, offering (''korban'') made by the Jewish priests in the Temple in Jerusalem. The offering consisted of one Omer (unit), omer of freshly harvested grain, and was waved ...

) from the verb stem ''nuf'', "to wave," and both are found in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' ''Jewish antiquities: or, A course of lectures on the three first books'', p. 198. David Jennings, Philip Furneaux, Thomas Godwin – 1825 "This waving was of two kinds; one called ''terumah,'' from ''rum, elevatus est'', which, they say, was performed by waving it perpendicularly upward and downward; the other, ''tenuphah'', from ''nuph, agitare, movere''". In a few verses, English Bible translations (such as the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English Bible translations, Early Modern English translation of the Christianity, Christian Bible for the Church of England, wh ...

) have translated "heave offering," by analogy with "wave offering":

Hebrew Bible

The term occurs seventy-six times in the

Biblical Hebrew Biblical Hebrew ( or ), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language, a language in the Canaanite languages, Canaanitic branch of the Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites in the area known as the Land of Isra ...

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; ) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (''Tanakh'') in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocaliz ...

of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

it was rendered ''afieroma'' (ἀφιέρωμα), in the 1917 JPS Tanakh it is generally translated "offering"; while in the King James Version (1611) it is also generally translated "offering" but also sometimes "

oblation An oblation is a solemn offering, sacrifice or presentation to God, to the Church for use in God's service, or to the faithful, such as giving alms to the poor. The word comes from the Late Latin ''oblatio'' (from ''offerre'', ''oblatum'' 'to ...

" 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'': * The gifts offered by the Israelites for the inauguration of the

Tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instru ...

(''Mishkan'') * Portion of

gift offering A meal offering, grain offering, or gift offering (, ), is a type of Biblical sacrifice, specifically a sacrifice that did not include sacrificial animals. In older English it is sometimes called an oblation, from Latin. The Hebrew noun () is ...

s, of

slaughter offering A slaughter offering in the Hebrew Bible () is a type of Jewish animal sacrifice. The term specifically refers to the slaughter of an animal to God followed by a feast or a meal. This is distinguished from the burnt offering, shechita, guilt off ...

s, which were allocated to the priests. * The half-

shekel A shekel or sheqel (; , , plural , ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly 11 grams (0.35 ozt)—and became currency in ancient Tyre, Carthage and Hasmonean Judea. Name The wo ...

Temple tax * The

dough offering In Judaism, the dough offering (or separation of ''challah'', ) is an positive commandment requiring the owner of bread dough to give a part of the kneaded dough to a kohen (Jewish priest). The obligation to separate the dough offering (hencefort ...

(''challah'') * The meat of Israelites' sin- and guilt-offerings * Various priestly gifts: ''terumah gedolah'', Bikkurim (First-fruits), herem, bechor,

pidyon haben The ''pidyon haben'' () or redemption of the first-born son is a mitzvah in Judaism whereby a Jewish firstborn son is "redeemed" with money. The redemption is attained by paying five silver coins to a kohen (a patrilineal descendant of the pr ...

* The

first tithe The first tithe () is a positive commandment in the Torah requiring the giving of one tenth of agricultural produce to charity, after the giving of the standard terumah, to the Levite (or Kohen). This tithe is required to be free of both monet ...

Terumat maaser In the Hebrew Bible, the tithe of the tithes (Hebrew: ) is a mitzvah (biblical requirement) for the recipient Levite to give to the Kohen, priest a tenth (10%) of the First tithe, tithe of produce that the former received from the Israelites. I ...

* Spoils given to

Eleazar Eleazar (; ) or Elazar was a priest in the Hebrew Bible, the second High Priest, succeeding his father Aaron after he died. He was a nephew of Moses. Biblical narrative Eleazar played a number of roles during the course of the Exodus, from ...

after the war with

Midian Midian (; ; , ''Madiam''; Taymanitic: 𐪃𐪕𐪚𐪌 ''MDYN''; ''Mīḏyān'') is a geographical region in West Asia, located in northwestern Saudi Arabia. mentioned in the Tanakh and Quran. William G. Dever states that biblical Midian was ...

* In

Ezekiel Ezekiel, also spelled Ezechiel (; ; ), was an Israelite priest. The Book of Ezekiel, relating his visions and acts, is named after him. The Abrahamic religions acknowledge Ezekiel as a prophet. According to the narrative, Ezekiel prophesied ...

's prophecy, gifts that were to be given to the ''nasi'' (prince or king) * In

's prophecy, land which was to be set aside for use of the Temple, priests, and Levites

''Terumah gedolah''

halakah ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments (''mitzv ...

(Jewish law), the word ''terumah'' by itself refers to the "great offering" (''terumah gedolah''). 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 The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

Tosefta The Tosefta ( "supplement, addition") is a compilation of Jewish Oral Law from the late second century, the period of the Mishnah and the Jewish sages known as the '' Tannaim''. Background Jewish teachings of the Tannaitic period were cha ...

, and

Gemara The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemore) is an essential component of the Talmud, comprising a collection of rabbinical analyses and commentaries on the Mishnah and presented in 63 books. The term is derived from the Aram ...

include a tract entitled ''

Terumot Terumot (, 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 Israe ...

'' 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'' (both ''terumah gedolah'' and ''terumat hamaaser'') is restricted by numerous

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

-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 The first tithe () is a positive commandment in the Torah requiring the giving of one tenth of agricultural produce to charity, after the giving of the standard terumah, to the Levite (or Kohen). This tithe is required to be free of both moneta ...

for

Levites Levites ( ; ) or Levi are Jewish males who claim patrilineal descent from the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi descended from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. The surname ''Halevi'', which consists of the Hebrew definite article "" ''Ha-' ...

. Unlike the ''maaser rishon'', the

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 (''tevel''), and ''terumat maaser'' could only be separated from ''maaser rishon'' by its owner (or an authorized, legally permissible agent). Minors,

deaf-mute Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was either deaf and used sign language or both hearing impairment, deaf and muteness, could not speak. The term continues to be used to refer to deaf people who cannot speak ...

s, 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 (''peah, leket, shichecha'') and unowned crops were not subjected to (and could not be used as) ''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

(priest) lived nearby.

Purity

''Terumah'' is designated for the priests, who must be separated in a state of

. The phenomenon of priests purifying themselves to eat ''terumah'' was so well-known that nightfall (when their pure status would take effect after immersion in a

mikveh A mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ...

) 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 (wine, blood, oil, milk, dew, bees' honey, and water). 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

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

s 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'' ().

(''Hallah'' 4:9; ''Terumah'' 11:10);

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...

(''Shabbat'' 23b), commentaries.

References

Notes