הלכה אויף במדבר 18:32

To not eat tevel: To not eat tevel — whether an Israelite or a priest — and that is a thing that tithes and priestly tithes have not been taken away from it, as it is stated (Leviticus 22:15), “And they shall not profane the consecrated things of the Children of Israel that they shall raise to the Lord.” And the received (traditional) explanation comes about this (Sanhedrin 83a) that the verse is speaking about tevel. And the content of the verse is to say that they should not profane the consecrated things in their still being mixed with the non-sacred. And that is [why] the expression is [in] future tense — meaning to say that it has not yet been raised. And so [too], is it in the Gemara Sanhedrin 83a, “From where [do we know] about the one who eats tevel that he is [punishable by] death? As it is stated, ‘And they shall not profane the consecrated things of the Children of Israel that they shall raise to the Lord’ — the verse is speaking about those that will be raised in the future; such that we learn [a comparison of] ‘profane’ [and] ‘profane’ from priestly tithe,” about which it is written (Numbers 18:32), “and the consecrated things of the Children of Israel you shall not profane and not die.” And [the latter] is with the death penalty — as we wrote above (Sefer HaChinukh 280), from that which is written (Leviticus 22:9), “and die for it, since they profaned it,” and adjacent to it, “And any foreigner shall not eat the holy.” And they, may their memory be blessed, also said about this matter in the Gemara Makkot 16b, “Perhaps one is only liable for eating tevel from which no [gifts] were taken at all; but if the great priestly tithe was taken from [the produce], but not the tithe of the tithe, or the first tithe or the second tithe, or even if only the poor tithe [was not separated]; from where [is it derived] that there is a liability in the thing? [Hence] we learn to say, ‘You may not eat in your gates’ (Deuteronomy 12:17), and later it states, ‘and they shall eat within your gates and be satisfied’ (Deuteronomy 26:12). Just as there, it is poor tithe, here too, it is poor tithe — and the [Torah] states, ‘You may not.’”

However this liability is for lashes, but the iniquity [punishable by] death is only for tevel that has not had the great priestly tithe taken from it; and likewise for one who eats tithe before the priestly tithe of the tithe has been taken from it. And this is what is stated in the commandment to the Levites when it commanded to take out the tithe from the tithe (Numbers 18:32), “and the consecrated things of the Children of Israel you shall not profane and you shall not die.” That is a prevention that they should not eat the first tithe in its mixture [with gifts that still need to be separated]. So did they, may their memory be blessed, explain (Yevamot 86a). And therefore they are liable for death for it, as it is elucidated in Tractate Dammai. It comes out from the sum of our words that one who eats tevel before he takes the great priestly tithe from it — and likewise before he took the priestly tithe from the tithe — is with death. But if he ate from it after the great priestly tithe was taken from it, and also the priestly tithe of the tithe was taken — for example that he preceded to take the priestly tithe of the tithe before the tithe, even though it is still mixed with the two tithes, which are the first tithe and the second tithe, or poor tithe; he is not liable for death, but rather he has a liability for lashes. And so [too,] the whole time when it is mixed [with] one of the tithes, it is with lashes. And its warning is from, “You may not eat in your gates, etc.,” as we will write in the Order of Re’eh Anokhi (Sefer HaChinukh 473-4). And hold on to this matter, as you will find the truth to be like this if you merit to study the words of our Sages — the masters of the tradition — may their memory be blessed.

The commandment of the Levites to give a tithe from the tithe: That the Levites were commanded to separate a tithe from the tithe they take from Israel and that they give it to the priests, as it is stated (Numbers 18:26), “And to the Levites you shall speak, etc. and they shall give from it a gift to the Lord, a tithe from the tithe.” And this is what is called ‘terumat ma’aser’ (literally, the gift of the tithe) in every place in the Gemara. They called it this expression in the way of the verse, which states, “a gift to the Lord.” But the verse elucidates that he gives it to the priest, and as it states (Numbers 18:28), “and you shall give from it, the gift of the Lord, to Aharon the priest.” And Scripture warns that he separate from the good and the choicest from the tithe, as it states (Numbers 18:29), “from all the fat that you sanctify from it.” Moreover it is stated about this (Numbers 18:32), “You shall bear no sin upon it in separating its fat from it” — teaching that if he takes it out from the inferior [portion], there will be a sin upon them. And this matter is like the matter of a negative commandment that comes by way of deduction from a positive commandment, and therefore it is not to be counted among the negative commandments.