{"id":12053,"date":"2026-07-07T00:06:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T21:06:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=12053"},"modified":"2026-08-03T16:47:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T13:47:04","slug":"17-07-06","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-07-06\/","title":{"rendered":"06. Teruma and the Laws of Purity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"direction: ltr\">The role of the kohanim is to connect Israel with God, and safeguarding purity is one of the conditions that enables them to fulfill that role. Therefore, only a kohen who is ritually pure may eat <em>teruma<\/em>. For this reason, kohanim and their families must be careful not to become impure and must also protect their clothing and utensils from impurity. The laws of purity and impurity are numerous and highly complex; we will mention only a few.<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\">In general, impurity is associated with death. A corpse is therefore the highest source of impurity, an <em>avi avot ha-tum\u2019a<\/em>. A Jew or utensil that touches a corpse or remains together with it in an <em>ohel<\/em> \u2013 that is, under the same roof \u2013 becomes a primary source of impurity, an <em>av ha-tum\u2019a<\/em>. A Jew who becomes impure through contact with a corpse can become pure only through a seven-day process: water mixed with the ashes of the red heifer is sprinkled on him on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he immerses in a mikveh. A lower level of impurity applies to a <em>zav<\/em> and a <em>nidda<\/em>. In these cases as well, impurity emerges from something that was connected to the potential for life but died, and they are therefore considered <em>avot ha-tum\u2019a<\/em>. A <em>zav<\/em>, <em>zava<\/em>, and <em>nidda<\/em> become pure by counting seven days and immersing in a mikveh, without the sprinkling of the red-heifer waters.<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\">A person or utensil that touches an <em>av ha-tum\u2019a<\/em> \u2013 such as a <em>zav<\/em>, a <em>nidda<\/em>, or a person who became impure through contact with a corpse \u2013 becomes impure. After immersion, once the day ends, he or it becomes pure. A <em>neveila<\/em> or dead <em>sheretz<\/em> is also impure at the level of an <em>av ha-tum\u2019a<\/em>. A person or utensil that touches one of them becomes impure and becomes pure through immersion and nightfall. Utensils made of stone or earth do not contract impurity.<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\">The produce separated as <em>teruma<\/em> must also be protected from impurity. If, after being picked, the produce becomes wet with one of the seven liquids \u2013 water, wine, honey, olive oil, milk, dew, or blood \u2013 it becomes susceptible to impurity. Once that happens, if an impure person or utensil touches it, even after it has dried, the produce becomes impure. However, if it never became wet, then it was never made susceptible to impurity, and even contact with an impure person or utensil does not render it impure.<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\">Even though <em>teruma<\/em> is specifically meant to be eaten by kohanim in purity, the obligation to separate <em>teruma<\/em> applies even when the produce has become impure. As it says: \u201cBehold, I have given you charge of My <em>terumot<\/em>\u201d (Bamidbar 18:8), which the Sages interpret to mean: whether the <em>teruma<\/em> is pure or impure. When the <em>teruma<\/em> is pure, it is designated for eating. When it is impure, it must be burned. However, since one may benefit from it while it burns, it is preferable that the kohen receive that benefit: if it is fruit, he may use it to fuel an oven; if it is oil, he may use it to light lamps (<em>Shabbat<\/em> 25a; MT, Laws of Terumot 2:14\u201315).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The role of the kohanim is to connect Israel with God, and safeguarding purity is one of the conditions that enables them to fulfill that role. Therefore, only a kohen who is ritually pure may eat teruma. For this reason, kohanim and their families must be careful not to become impure and must also protect [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[228],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-17-07"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>06. Teruma and the Laws of Purity - Peninei Halakha<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-07-06\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"06. 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