3,240. When to Take One-Sixtieth

Terumos 3:3

One may separate 1/60 (the ungenerous measure) from a harvest of a species that the kohanim don’t care so much about, like carobs and kalisin (apparently a small type of fig), even at the outset. We likewise take 1/60 from: terumah taken from produce that was grown from terumah; terumah mixed with untithed produce; ritually unclean terumah that was rendered unclean against the owner’s will or by accident; the terumah of consecrated produce; terumah taken from produce outside of Israel; terumah of black cumin, kalisin, carobs, inferior wild figs, red barley, etc. (i.e., species held in low regard); and produce grown in an unperforated flowerpot. When guardians take terumah from the produce of orphans in their charge, they should likewise take 1/60.

Terumos 3:4

One doesn’t take this terumah with a measuring cup, a scale or by counting, because it has no prescribed measurement. Rather, one simply estimates and takes 1/50 (the standard volume) as he sees it. One may take terumah from produce that was measured, weighed or counted, though he may not do so using a vessel of a known volume. On the other hand, he may take terumah by filling such a vessel one-half or one-third of the way. One may not do this by filling a seah measure halfway because that’s also a measure (like a half-gallon is to us).