Temurah, Chapter 7, Mishnah 5. In the previous mishnah we dealt with the items that must be buried, primarily because they are all forbidden to derive benefit from. Here we move on to the items that must be burned: "V'eilu hein hanisrafin" - and these are the ones that are burned. It is worth noting that there are additional items that require burning; this mishnah discusses only four of them.
The four items that are burned:
Chametz on Pesach.
Terumah that became tamei.
Orlah.
Kilei hakerem (mixed species in a vineyard).
"Chametz b'Pesach yisaref" - chametz on Pesach is burned:
Chametz that a person owned when Pesach arrived must be burned. Our mishnah follows the view of Rabbi Yehudah, who holds that chametz on Pesach is derived from nosar, or is at least connected to nosar, and therefore the only way to destroy it is specifically by burning. The Sages in Maseches Pesachim disagree and hold that any form of destruction is sufficient, not burning alone: one may crumble it and scatter it to the wind, or cast it into the sea, and the like. The halachah is ruled in Shulchan Aruch that by strict law one may crumble it and throw it into the sea or destroy it in some other manner, although the Rema writes that the custom is specifically to burn it, as a stringency following the view of Rabbi Yehudah in our mishnah.
"Terumah temei'ah" - Terumah that became tamei:
This refers to Terumah in the sense of the gift given to a kohen from the first of a person's produce, and likewise to terumas maaser of the Levi'im and to challah. All of these must be kept in a state of taharah, and if they became tamei, they must be burned.
It should be clarified that this is not a matter of a prohibition to derive benefit. There is no prohibition to benefit from Terumah that became tamei; it is simply that there is an obligation to burn it. As the mishnah will state explicitly further on, at the time the kohen burns it he is permitted to benefit from it: if it is oil, he may burn it and light up his house with it; and if it is bread, he may burn it and warm his house with it. Such benefit is permitted, but the burning is obligatory.
"V'ha'orlah v'kilei hakerem" - and orlah and mixed species in a vineyard:
Orlah is the fruit of the first three years of a tree's life. It says in Vayikra, Chapter 19, verse 23: "Shalosh shanim yihyeh lachem areilim lo yei'acheil" - for three years they shall be forbidden to you, they shall not be eaten. "Lo yei'acheil" - wherever the Torah uses this expression, our Sages expounded that the intent is not only a prohibition of eating, but a prohibition of deriving any form of benefit. Nevertheless, there is no mention of burning at all in this verse.
The second verse upon which the mishnah relies deals with kilei hakerem. Kilei hakerem is grain or vegetables sown in a vineyard, together with the vines or close to them: grain - such as wheat, barley, oats, spelt and rye; vegetables - such as cabbage. Sowing them together with the vines or in the vineyard is forbidden, and the details of the laws will be explained further on. The verse says: "Lo tizra karmecha kilayim pen tikdash hamlei'ah hazera asher tizra u'svuas hakarem" - you may not sow mixed species in your vineyard, lest there become forbidden both the seeds that were sown in it, the full growth of the seed in its plain sense, and also the produce of the vineyard, meaning the grapes.
Our Sages noted that "tikdash" is a puzzling choice of wording, and they expounded: "pen tukad eish" - lest it need to be burned in fire. This derashah teaches that kilei hakerem is not merely forbidden to derive benefit from, meaning the grain, the vegetables and the grapes that grew together, but it must even be burned. And a separate derashah links orlah to kilei hakerem, teaching that the fruit of the first three years must also be burned, just like kilei hakerem. This is the law with which our mishnah deals.
"Asher darko lisaref yisaref v'asher darko likavor yikaver" - whatever is normally burned shall be burned, and whatever is normally buried shall be buried:
The Mishnah adds a qualification: something that is normally burned must be burned, and something that is normally buried must be buried. This qualification applies specifically to Orlah and kilei hakerem alone, and does not apply to chametz on Pesach or to Terumah that became tamei. In other words, Orlah and kilei hakerem require burning only when we are dealing with items that are normally burned, meaning solids; but liquids, such as wine, which cannot be burned, must be buried.
"U'madlikin b'pas u'v'shemen shel Terumah" - and we may kindle with bread and with oil of Terumah:
The Mishnah returns to the Terumah that became tamei while in the kohen's possession. One is permitted to derive benefit from it at the time it is burned, and unlike Orlah and kilei hakerem, where we distinguish between liquids and solids, with Terumah that became tamei there is no such distinction, and in every case it must be burned. Therefore we burn any bread of Terumah that became tamei, as well as oil of Terumah that became tamei. All of these require burning, but one is permitted to derive benefit from the tamei Terumah while it is being burned.
In summary: In this Mishnah we learned the four things that are burned - chametz on Pesach (according to Rabbi Yehudah), Terumah that became tamei, Orlah and kilei hakerem. We examined the sources for these laws in the verses and in the derivation from "pen tukad esh", the distinction between items whose manner is burning and items whose manner is burial, which applies to Orlah and kilei hakerem alone, and the permission to derive benefit from tamei Terumah at the time it is burned.