3,321. What Terumah May Be Used For

Terumos 10:26

If someone steals terumah, he must repay the value of what he stole, plus one fifth (rather than repaying double); the fifth that he adds for misappropriating terumah acts as his fine for stealing as per Leviticus 22:14, “you shall give the kohein the sacred.” We see that one is only liable for the extra fifth of sacred items. If someone stole terumah and fed it to someone else, that second person must repay the value of the terumah plus one fifth (because he’s the one who misappropriated it).

When we say that someone must repay the value and add one fifth, it’s as follows: If someone ate terumah worth four zuz, he must repay five zuz from the species of grain that he ate. [This is because the one fifth is a fifth of the amount he repays, not a fifth of the original amount.] When we say that someone must repay the value plus two fifths, then if he ate terumah worth four zuz, he must repay six zuz worth of produce. When we say that someone must repay twice the value plus one fifth, then if he ate terumah worth four zuz, he must repay nine zuz worth of produce. When one repays, he must repay the value of the terumah as of the time he ate it. This is so regardless of whether the value may have gone up or down in the interim.

Terumos 11:1

Terumah may be used for eating, drinking and anointing; anointing is the functional equivalent of drinking as per Psalms 109:18, “It entered like water inside him and like oil into his bones.” Drinking, of course, is a form of eating. One eats something that is suitable for eating, drinks something that is suitable for drinking, and anoints with something that is suitable for anointing. One may not anoint with wine or vinegar, but he may anoint using ritually clean oil and one may use ritually unclean oil as fuel. This is referred to as oil for burning.