3,284. An Unclean Kohein and Terumah

Terumos 7:1

A kohein who is ritually unclean may not eat terumah regardless of whether it is clean or unclean as per Leviticus 22:4, “Any descendant of Aaron who has tzaraas or is a zav may not eat of the sanctified.” We must conclude that this refers to terumah, which can be eaten by all descendants of Aaron regardless of gender. The result is that any unclean person who eats ritually clean terumah is liable to death at the hands of heaven. Such a person receives lashes because Lev. 22:9 says, “You shall protect My charge and not bear a sin because of it.” If a ritually unclean person eats ritually unclean terumah, he is not lashed even though he violates a Torah prohibition because what he ate isn’t sanctified.

Terumos 7:2

Ritually unclean kohanim (who immersed in a mikvah) may not eat terumah until the sun sets and three stars appear as per Leviticus 22:7: “The sun will set and he will be pure” – i.e., he may eat sanctified foods after the sky has been “purified” of light. [The preceding sentence parses better in the original Hebrew.]