As we learned above, 7:7, although a kohen may not eat teruma that has become tamei, it is preferable that he derive benefit from it as it is burned. In this way, the teruma is removed from use while still providing benefit to the kohen. For example, if the teruma is fruit, he may use it as fuel to heat an oven; if it is oil, he may use it to light a lamp.
When a kohen burns teruma fruit that became tamei to heat an oven for himself, or lights a lamp with teruma oil that became tamei, a non-kohen may also benefit from the heat or light. As the Sages say, “A lamp for one is a lamp for one hundred.” Even if the kohen later leaves, the non-kohen may continue benefiting from the lamp or oven that the kohen lit (MT, Laws of Terumot 11:18). However, just as one may not burn sacrificial meat that became tamei on Yom Tov, one may not burn teruma that became tamei on Yom Tov. Therefore, one may not light a lamp for Yom Tov with teruma oil that became tamei (Shabbat 24b).[9]
When kohanim were able to purify themselves and eat teruma, a kohen could feed his animal only teruma produce that was not fit for human consumption. Food fit for people had to be preserved for the kohen himself. Today, however, kohanim cannot eat teruma at all. Therefore, a kohen may feed his animals or pets teruma produce, whether or not it has become tamei.
To prevent teruma from going to waste, some people transfer ownership of their animals to a Torah scholar who is a kohen. They may then feed those animals the teruma they separate for the kohen. Afterward, they calculate how much they saved by not buying animal feed and pay that amount to the kohen. [10]
[9]. When there is a realistic possibility that a kohen will benefit from burning the teruma, it is best to make the produce tamei before its processing is complete (Tur; Rema 331:19). Once processing is complete, however, one may no longer make it tamei (Shakh YD 331:35). Some are lenient and allow one to make the produce tamei after processing is complete but before teruma has been separated. However, once the teruma itself has been separated, all agree that it may not be made tamei (Kaftor Va-feraḥ; Radvaz).
Produce becomes susceptible to tum’a once it has come into contact with one of the seven liquids (see above, 7:7). After that, if a Jew touches the produce with his hand, or if the produce touches a vessel that is tamei, the produce becomes tamei. The simplest way to make produce tamei is to spray it with water that first passed over a Jew’s hand. The water becomes tamei and then immediately makes the produce tamei as well.
The hand of a living gentile, however, does not make the water tamei for this purpose. Although the Sages decreed that gentiles have the status of a zav or zava, teruma is not burned on the basis of that rabbinic tum’a, since it has no basis in Torah law (Nidda 34a; MT, Laws of Those Who Impart Impurity by Lying or Sitting 2:10).
Contact with a corpse is different. The corpse of either a Jew or a gentile generates tum’a through direct contact by Torah law, at the level of avi avot ha-tum’a. With respect to tum’at ohel – tum’a transmitted by being under the same covering – only the corpse of a Jew generates tum’a; the corpse of a gentile does not (MT, Laws of Impurity from the Dead 1:12–13).
[10]. The basic concern is that teruma fit for human consumption should not be treated as animal food, because doing so destroys food that could have been eaten by a kohen. Thus, Sifra (Emor 5:6) and Tanna De-vei Eliyahu Rabba 14 explain that one may not give an animal teruma that is fit for people. A kohen’s animal may be given only teruma produce that people would eat only in pressing circumstances, such as vetch, a legume commonly used as animal fodder. Produce that is not fit for human consumption at all is exempt from terumot and ma’asrot. This is also the view of Rash, R. Ovadia of Bartenura (Terumot 11:9), Ra’avad, Ritva, and Kaftor Va-feraḥ.
Other authorities distinguish between teruma that has become tamei and teruma that has not. Tosafot and Rashba maintain that a kohen may feed his animal teruma that has not become tamei, even if it is fit for human consumption. However, if the teruma has become tamei, it must be burned and may not be fed to an animal. Rambam and Rashi go further still, and maintain that even teruma that has become tamei may be given to an animal, because feeding it to the animal also removes it from the world.
The opinions therefore form three basic views: Rambam and Rashi permit a kohen to feed his animal teruma whether or not it has become tamei. Tosafot and Rashba permit this only when the teruma has not become tamei; once it has become tamei, they apparently require it to be burned. Rash and those who agree with him would apparently prohibit feeding an animal any teruma fit for human consumption.
However, Maharam Ḥaviv, in Kol Gadol §56, argues that today, since kohanim cannot eat teruma, even Rash and those who agree with him would permit feeding it to the animals of kohanim from the outset. In his view this is not considered a loss because the teruma cannot be eaten by the kohen in any case. R. Tzvi Pesaḥ Frank adds that it is even preferable to feed teruma that has become tamei to a kohen’s animal, because the kohen benefits from it as it is being removed from the world (Har Tzvi, Zera’im 1:101). R. Herzog rules similarly (Ketavim U-fesakim 3:32). R. Kook writes that one who is lenient has a basis on which to rely (Mishpat Kohen 38:1–2).
A further view maintains that even when relying on this leniency, one should not feed the teruma to the animal directly. Instead, one should place the teruma before the animal at an unusual distance. In this way, even according to the stringent view, the loss of the teruma occurs only indirectly, through grama (R. Shmuel Salant; Ḥazon Ovadia: Terumot U-ma’asrot, p. 236).
