Comentários de Citação sobre Deuteronômio 26:4

התרומה והבכורים חייבין עליהן מיתה – A foreigner (i.e., non-Kohen/priest) who willfully eats them (i.e., the heave offering and the first-fruit offerings) are liable to death at the hands of heaven, as it is written regarding the heave offering (Leviticus 22:9): “[They shall keep My charge, lest they incur guilt thereby] and die for it, having committed profanation: [I the LORD consecrate them].” And “First-Fruits” are called/referred to as Terumah, “the Terumah of your hands” are the First Fruits, as it says concerning them (Deuteronomy 26:4): “The priest shall take the basket from your hand [and set it down in front of the altar of the LORD your God].”

ומצטרפין זה עם זה – if one Seah fell from all of them to less than one-hundred parts of non-consecrated produce, It sanctifies them, and in this everyone admits that they combine, for they are one denomination and they are all called Terumah/heave offering. For regarding Hallah, It is written (Numbers 15:20): “you shall set aside a loaf as a gift,” and the First Fruits/Bikkurim are also called Terumah, as the Master stated (Deuteronomy 12:17): “or your contributions/ותרומת ידך – these are First Fruits/Bikkurim, as it is written regarding them (Deuteronomy 26:4): “The priest shall take the basket from you hand [and set it in front of the altar of the LORD your God].”

AND THOU SHALT GO UNTO THE PLACE WHICH THE ETERNAL THY G-D SHALL CHOOSE. In line with the plain meaning of Scripture he admonishes against bringing first-fruit in [any] one of the cities [except for Jerusalem] after the Sanctuary was chosen [i.e., after Jerusalem was designated by the prophets and the ark of G-d was brought there], for just as He warned against slaughtering offerings outside [of the Sanctuary Court], so he warned with reference to the first-fruits. But the obligation of bringing first-fruits became binding immediately after they conquered and divided the Land,³This was after the fourteen years of the conquest and division of the Land, during which the ark of G-d was in Gilgal. Immediately thereafter they brought the ark to Shiloh where the House of G-d existed for a period of three hundred and sixty nine years. When the Philistines destroyed the Sanctuary in the days of Eli, the ark was moved to Nob and Gibeon, where it remained for a period of fifty seven years. From there it was moved by David to Jerusalem, and when Solomon completed the Sanctuary, it was placed in its final resting-place, the Holy of Holies. The period of Nob and Gibeon was not considered of the status of Israel having been brought to the rest and to the inheritance (above 12:9), because the structure of the House of G-d was not of stone as it had been at Shiloh; instead, it was made of the boards and curtains from the Tabernacle in the wilderness. Therefore during the fifty-seven years when the ark of G-d was first in Nob and later in Gibeon, it was permissible to bring offerings to G-d on the bamoth, “high places,” or private altars. See also further, Note 6. in accordance with the words of Rashi.⁴On this verse here. And in the Sifre it is stated:⁵Sifre, Ki Thavo 298. “And thou shalt go unto the place which the Eternal thy G-d shall choose to cause His Name to dwell there — this refers to Shiloh and ‘the Eternal House’⁶Or “the Permanent House.” The Sanctuary in Jerusalem is so called in contrast to the Tabernacle, which was portable. Also, because once the Sanctuary was built in Jerusalem, the place retains its sanctity forever, to the extent that even after its destruction, offerings may no longer be brought anywhere else. In the case of the Sanctuary in Shiloh, however, bamoth were permitted after its destruction. [in Jerusalem].” Perhaps the Rabbis [in the Sifre] meant to say that the bamoth (“high places”) were forbidden during both periods [i.e., Shiloh and Jerusalem]. However, during [the periods of] Nob and Gibeon [when high places were permitted] first-fruits could also be brought [only there in Nob and Gibeon], but they could not be offered at a private bamah, for Scripture refers [here in the chapter on first-fruits] to the altar [and he shall set it down before ‘the altar’ of the Eternal thy G-d indicating that only the public altar is suitable for first-fruits].⁷Verse 4. And “the altar” was only in the central place of worship — including Nob or Gibeon — but not at a private bamah. See further Vol. III, p. 123, Note 122 and Vol. IV, p. 180, Note 138. But since it is written, The choisest first-fruit of thy Land thou shalt bring into the House of the Eternal thy G-d,⁸Exodus 23:19. they perhaps did not bring first-fruits when it [the House of G-d] was in a tent and in a tabernacle⁹II Samuel 7:6. but only in Shiloh where there was a stone building and in the Eternal House,⁶Or “the Permanent House.” The Sanctuary in Jerusalem is so called in contrast to the Tabernacle, which was portable. Also, because once the Sanctuary was built in Jerusalem, the place retains its sanctity forever, to the extent that even after its destruction, offerings may no longer be brought anywhere else. In the case of the Sanctuary in Shiloh, however, bamoth were permitted after its destruction. [thus excluding the period of Nob and Gibeon].

תרומת ידכם THE HEAVE-OFFERING OF YOUR HAND — These are the first-fruits of which it is said, (Deuteronomy 26:4) “And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand” (cf. Sifrei Devarim 63:9).