Yevamot II 73: Ritual Impurity and Teruma

Today's daf brings us back to our learning in Pesachim.  The halachot of sacrifices is reviewed and reconsidered in light of yibum.  However, the rituals of yibum are foregone for the moment.  Instead, daf 73 focuses on the rules regarding ritual purity around teruma and tithes.

The rabbis consider a number of issues:

• whether one who sprinkles the ashes must be ritually pure
• whether an uncircumcised man can eat the second tithe
• whether an acute mourner* can eat the second tithe
• differences between access to teruma, second tithe, and first fruits 
• teruma and first fruits belong to kohanim
• first fruits and second tithes both must be brought to a place
• first fruits and second tithes both require a declaration
• consequences, (flogging, death at the hand of heaven, and karet) that implicate the importance of halachot
• when priests can benefit from ritually impure consecrated items 

• stringencies that apply to consecrated items but not to teruma:
• piggul (offerings are invalid because one has considered eating them improperly
• notar (meat that remains is invalid and must be destroyed)
• korban (an offering to G-d)
• misuse
• karet (one who eats consecrated items while ritually impure)
• forbidden to an acute mourner

• stringencies that apply to teruma:
• death (one who is forbidden but eats teruma intentionally is liable to death at the hand of heaven)
• one-fifth (one who is forbidden but eats teruma accidentally must pay back its cost plus 1/5)
• pidyon (teruma cannot be redeemed or 'unsanctified')
• non-priests (teruma is forbidden to zarim)

We learn that kohanim washed their hands before partaking of teruma or first fruits as a symbol of the importance of ritual purity.  This is the origin of our tradition of netilat yadaim, hand washing, before partaking of food.

* an accute mourner is one who is in the first hours of mourning