{"id":12161,"date":"2026-07-11T00:04:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T21:04:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=12161"},"modified":"2026-08-05T12:43:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T09:43:03","slug":"17-11-04","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-11-04\/","title":{"rendered":"04. The Mitzva of \u1e24alla in the Present Era"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"direction: ltr\">After the destruction of the Second Temple, as Jewish settlement in the Land diminished, the process of purification through the ashes of the red heifer was no longer available. As a result, kohanim are considered <em>tamei met<\/em> and may not eat <em>teruma<\/em> or <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> (above, 7:1). Even so, the obligation to separate <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> remains. Until <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> has been separated, the bread or cakes may not be eaten; once it is separated, it is burned or respectfully buried so that no one mistakenly eats it. The law outside the Land will be explained below, section 13. Since the separated portion can no longer be eaten by the kohen, one need not separate one twenty-fourth of the dough, as was required when <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> was given as an edible priestly gift. It is enough to separate any amount.<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\">Although the mitzva in the present era is rabbinic, and although kohanim may not eat the <em>\u1e25alla<\/em>, separating it still keeps the mitzva\u2019s vision alive. It reminds us that our bread \u2013 and the human labor that produces it \u2013 must remain connected to holiness, and through that connection blessing is drawn into the home. For this reason, some women enhance the mitzva by baking an amount of dough that requires <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> on Erev Shabbat (Rema O\u1e24 242:1).<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\">The same development took place outside the Land. At the beginning of the Second Temple period, the Sages required Jews outside Eretz Yisrael to separate <em>\u1e25alla<\/em>, and at that stage kohanim would eat it in a state of <em>tahara<\/em>. Several generations later, however, the Sages decreed that the lands outside Eretz Yisrael have the status of <em>tum\u2019a<\/em> (below, 12:9). From then on, <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> separated outside the Land became <em>tamei<\/em>, and kohanim could no longer eat it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\">To ensure that people would still remember that <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> is meant to be eaten by kohanim, the Sages instituted the separation of two portions outside the Land. The first was burned, like all <em>tamei<\/em> <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> that may not be eaten. The second was given to kohanim to eat, even though they were <em>tamei<\/em>. Over time, however, most Diaspora communities adopted the practice of separating only one portion of <em>\u1e25alla<\/em>, which is burned or buried. Since the whole purpose of the second portion was to preserve the memory of edible <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> as it existed in Eretz Yisrael, once kohanim in Eretz Yisrael could no longer eat <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> because of <em>tum\u2019a<\/em>, it was no longer fitting for kohanim outside the Land to eat it either. Therefore, outside the Land as well, the accepted practice is to separate one portion of <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> and burn it (Rema O\u1e24 322:5; below, 12:10).<sup><a id=\"_te01ftnref11_2\" class=\"aup1\" href=\"#_te01ftn11_2\">[2]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\">In summary: In the present era, even though kohanim may not eat <em>\u1e25alla<\/em>, whenever a Jew prepares dough from which <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> must be separated \u2013 whether in Eretz Yisrael or outside the Land \u2013 he must separate at least some amount by rabbinic law. When the majority of the Jewish people lives in Eretz Yisrael, the obligation of <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> there will again become biblical, and blessing will increase. Even then, however, kohanim will not be able to eat the <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> until the laws of <em>tahara<\/em> can once again be observed in practice. When that day comes, kohanim will again reveal holiness through eating <em>\u1e25alla<\/em>, and blessing will grow within Israel until it spreads openly to the entire world, so that \u201call the families of the earth\u201d are blessed through us. The Sages\u2019 enactment to separate <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> even outside the Land hints at this future expansion of blessing from Israel to the whole world.<\/p>\n<div>\n<hr size=\"1\" \/>\n<div><a id=\"_te01ftn11_2\" href=\"#_te01ftnref11_2\">[2]<\/a>. Rambam (MT, Laws of Bikkurim 5:10\u201311) and SA YD 322:5 imply that the original enactment for the Diaspora remains in force. According to this view, even in the present era one should separate two portions of <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> in the Diaspora. The first is burned, while the second may be eaten by kohanim who are <em>tamei<\/em>, even if their <em>tum\u2019a<\/em> is bodily, such as <em>keri<\/em> or <em>nidda<\/em>. If a kohen is present who is free of bodily <em>tum\u2019a<\/em>, one may separate only one portion of <em>\u1e25alla<\/em>, and he may eat it.In practice, however, Rash, Rashba, and Smag write that the Diaspora custom is to separate only one portion of <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> and burn it, since <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> is no longer eaten even in Eretz Yisrael. This custom is also cited by Tosafot (<em>\u1e24ullin<\/em> 104a, s.v. <em>\u1e25alat<\/em>) and <em>Sefer ha-Teruma<\/em>. Another reason for discontinuing the practice of kohanim eating <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> in the Diaspora is the concern that it would not be treated properly and might be eaten in violation of halakha (<em>Sefer ha-Teruma<\/em>; Radvaz). Rema YD 322:5 and MB 457:22 likewise write that throughout Ashkenazic lands the custom is to separate one portion of <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> and burn it. The widespread Sephardic custom is also not to eat <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> in the Diaspora, as Radvaz writes (3:864). So too write <em>Tevu\u2019at ha-Sadeh<\/em> 2:8 and <em>Kedushat ha-Aretz<\/em> 2:7.<\/p>\n<p>When <em>tahara<\/em> was practiced, even <em>teruma<\/em> or <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> that had become <em>tamei<\/em> was still given to a kohen, who could use it as fuel for his oven. In the present era, however, because kohanim may not eat <em>teruma<\/em> or <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> while <em>tamei<\/em>, the custom is not to give them <em>tamei<\/em> <em>teruma<\/em> or <em>\u1e25alla<\/em>, lest they mistakenly eat it. Rather, one who separates <em>\u1e25alla<\/em> either burns it, or wraps it and places it in the garbage (Radvaz 1:731; see above, 7:7; 9:6).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After the destruction of the Second Temple, as Jewish settlement in the Land diminished, the process of purification through the ashes of the red heifer was no longer available. As a result, kohanim are considered tamei met and may not eat teruma or \u1e25alla (above, 7:1). Even so, the obligation to separate \u1e25alla remains. Until [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[232],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-17-11"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>04. The Mitzva of \u1e24alla in the Present Era - 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\/17-11-04\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"04. The Mitzva of \u1e24alla in the Present Era - Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After the destruction of the Second Temple, as Jewish settlement in the Land diminished, the process of purification through the ashes of the red heifer was no longer available. As a result, kohanim are considered tamei met and may not eat teruma or \u1e25alla (above, 7:1). Even so, the obligation to separate \u1e25alla remains. Until [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-11-04\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-10T21:04:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-05T09:43:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-11-04\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-11-04\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7866b763cf3f205e4ae075eebce0d674\"},\"headline\":\"04. The Mitzva of \u1e24alla in the Present Era\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-10T21:04:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-05T09:43:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-11-04\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":887,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"11 - \u1e24alla\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-11-04\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-11-04\\\/\",\"name\":\"04. The Mitzva of \u1e24alla in the Present Era - Peninei Halakha\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-10T21:04:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-05T09:43:03+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-11-04\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-11-04\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-11-04\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u05d3\u05e3 \u05d4\u05d1\u05d9\u05ea\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"04. The Mitzva of \u1e24alla in the Present Era\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Peninei Halakha\",\"description\":\"HaRav Eliezer Melamed\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Peninei Halakha\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/logo-ph-.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/logo-ph-.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":64,\"caption\":\"Peninei Halakha\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7866b763cf3f205e4ae075eebce0d674\",\"name\":\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f73aec4c538c25ed89bfe678bd2c8d6c4c68e602d853cddfe42d3dbab083bc82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f73aec4c538c25ed89bfe678bd2c8d6c4c68e602d853cddfe42d3dbab083bc82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f73aec4c538c25ed89bfe678bd2c8d6c4c68e602d853cddfe42d3dbab083bc82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/author\\\/eladgg\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"04. The Mitzva of \u1e24alla in the Present Era - Peninei Halakha","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-11-04\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"04. The Mitzva of \u1e24alla in the Present Era - Peninei Halakha","og_description":"After the destruction of the Second Temple, as Jewish settlement in the Land diminished, the process of purification through the ashes of the red heifer was no longer available. As a result, kohanim are considered tamei met and may not eat teruma or \u1e25alla (above, 7:1). Even so, the obligation to separate \u1e25alla remains. Until [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-11-04\/","og_site_name":"Peninei Halakha","article_published_time":"2026-07-10T21:04:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-05T09:43:03+00:00","author":"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-11-04\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-11-04\/"},"author":{"name":"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7866b763cf3f205e4ae075eebce0d674"},"headline":"04. The Mitzva of \u1e24alla in the Present Era","datePublished":"2026-07-10T21:04:51+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-05T09:43:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-11-04\/"},"wordCount":887,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#organization"},"articleSection":["11 - \u1e24alla"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-11-04\/","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-11-04\/","name":"04. The Mitzva of \u1e24alla in the Present Era - Peninei Halakha","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-07-10T21:04:51+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-05T09:43:03+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-11-04\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-11-04\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-11-04\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u05d3\u05e3 \u05d4\u05d1\u05d9\u05ea","item":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"04. The Mitzva of \u1e24alla in the Present Era"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/","name":"Peninei Halakha","description":"HaRav Eliezer Melamed","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#organization","name":"Peninei Halakha","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/logo-ph-.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/logo-ph-.png","width":300,"height":64,"caption":"Peninei Halakha"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7866b763cf3f205e4ae075eebce0d674","name":"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f73aec4c538c25ed89bfe678bd2c8d6c4c68e602d853cddfe42d3dbab083bc82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f73aec4c538c25ed89bfe678bd2c8d6c4c68e602d853cddfe42d3dbab083bc82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f73aec4c538c25ed89bfe678bd2c8d6c4c68e602d853cddfe42d3dbab083bc82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8"},"url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/author\/eladgg\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12161"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12162,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12161\/revisions\/12162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}