Chagiga 25: The Stringencies That Apply to Teruma

We have been learning that sacrificial food usually requires more stringent supervision than teruma.  There are situations where the ritual purity of teruma's demands our attention, however.  

Location: The rabbis note that the land of Israel was inhabited mainly by Jews and by Kutim, or Sadducees.  The Jews lived in Judea and the Galilee, while the Kutim inhabited a significant strip of land between those two areas.  It stretched from the sea to the Jordan river, causing Jews to travel across this land that was designated ritually impure.  The rabbis discuss how one might bring teruma from the Galilee to Jerusalem.  Is a sealed box secure enough? A vessel with a tightly bound cover? What about the wine that is purified in the Galilee for sacrificial use?  The rabbis are stringent regarding this travel.

We learned that there were fewer stringencies regarding oil and wine.  The rabbis find exceptions to these leniencies.  One of their considerations is two brothers who inherit their father's land and produce.  The father and one brother were amei ha'aretz.  The brother who is a chaver is only allowed to suggest that they split each crop, pointing at which areas are ritually pure and offering his brother the other sections.  The brothers cannot barter with the produce.  Our rabbis are careful to soften guidelines regarding inheritance, ritual purity, differences in levels of observance, and family relationships.

Stringencies apply to teruma when eaten in a state of ritual impurity.  The rabbis discuss the example of a beit haperas, a field that might be ritually impure because corpses could lie beneath it.  They walk us through the general rules regarding these fields, and then debate whether or not teruma will become ritually impure anyway.  When an am ha'aretz says that their teruma is ritually pure, the rabbis question whether or not we can consider amei ha'aretz credible in some circumstances and not credible in others.  They question whether wine that is meduma - has been mixed or mingled together - can be considered ritually pure.

A new Mishna that describes land close to Jerusalem as places where amei ha'aretz are credible regarding the purity of their vessels.  The Mishna suggests Modi'im as the outer limit regarding this ruling, and the rabbis suggest that a radius surrounding Jerusalem is implied.  The Gemara teaches us that within Modi'im, the credibility of amei ha'aretz is more complicated.  A chaver must enter the city and purchase the pot before leaving for the pot to be considered ritually pure.

The idea that one's status regarding ritual purity can change based on such circumstances seems bizarre.  It suggests that ritual purity is not a state of being; it is much more complex and nuanced than that.  Hopefully I will continue to understand the notion of ritual purity better as I continue this learning.