Terumos, Chapter 4, Mishnah 3 - a fundamental and important mishnah in the laws of Terumah. We learned previously that by Torah law there is no fixed measure for Terumah and no minimum quantity for giving it: a person can separate a single grain of wheat and thereby exempt his entire wheat crop from any further separation. The Sages, however, established a measure, and our mishnah deals with the amounts the Sages set for separating Terumah.
A question may arise here: in the well known mishnah we recite every day, "these are the things that have no fixed measure," Terumah is not included in the list. Why not? It is a good question, and we will address it in a later mishnah, after we clarify some further details relevant to the matter.
The measures of Terumah according to the Sages:
"Ayin yafah - echad me'arba'im" - a generous person, one with a good eye, gives one in forty: for every forty barrels he separates one as Terumah.
"Beis Shammai omrim: mishloshim" - in their view the measure is not one in forty but one in thirty. The denominator is smaller, so they are stricter - or more generous, if you prefer.
"Vehabeinonis - mechamishim" - an average person gives one in fifty, that is, two percent.
"Vehara'ah - misheeshim" - this does not refer to a wicked person, but to one who is stingy and not generous. He gives one in sixty.
According to Beis Shammai, then, the measures are: one in thirty for the generous person, one in forty for the average person, and one in fifty for the miser. The halachah, however, follows Beis Hillel, that the average person gives one in fifty.
The practical halachah:
In practice we rule like Beis Hillel, that the average person separates one part in fifty, two percent - but with two important qualifications:
Nowadays: since kohanim are tamei and cannot eat the Terumah, the Shulchan Aruch rules that one may separate even a minuscule amount as Terumah gedolah, following the opinion of the Rambam, since in any case it will not be eaten. Were kohanim available to eat it, the practical halachah would be one in fifty, the measure of the average person.
Only for foods obligated by Torah law: there is a major dispute as to which types of food are obligated in Terumah. The verse specifies only grain, wine and oil, and it is possible that this is the full extent of the obligation. Some add the seven species: in addition to grain (wheat and barley), oil (olives) and wine (grapes) - also figs, pomegranates and dates. The Rambam and other authorities wrote that all tree fruits are obligated in Terumah by Torah law, and only vegetables are obligated rabbinically. For anything not obligated by Torah law, one may give one in sixty even at the outset, and this is not considered a stingy eye.
He separated and it came out one in sixty:
Let us remember that one who separates Terumah estimates the amount in his mind and does not measure it precisely. What, then, is the law when it turns out that a person intended to separate one in fifty and in fact separated one in sixty? The mishnah says: "Taram ve'alah beyado echad mishishim - terumaso terumah" - the separation takes effect and is valid, "ve'ein tzarich litrom" - there is no need to go back and separate additional food as Terumah.
And if he wanted to add more? "Chazar vehosif - chayav bema'asros". The second portion he took and called Terumah is not Terumah at all, and since it is entirely exempt from the obligation of Terumah, it is obligated in tithes: he must separate from it ma'aser rishon and ma'aser sheni as applicable, even though it is designated for the kohen. Otherwise, he would be giving the kohen tevel, since he can no longer call it Terumah - it is too late.
It came out one in sixty-one:
On the other hand, "alah b'yado mi'shishim v'echad - Terumah, v'yachzor v'yitrom k'mo shehu lamud" - if what came out in his hand was one part in sixty-one, it is Terumah, but he goes back and separates again as he is accustomed to do. A person thought he had fifty barrels and designated one as Terumah, and after the separation he discovered another eleven barrels that had been hidden from his view - so the total is sixty-one barrels, and one out of sixty-one is not enough. The barrel he separated is indeed Terumah, but he must go back and separate additional Terumah, in the measure he is accustomed to: he may not now suffice with one in sixty if his practice is always to separate one in fifty, but rather he must give the additional amount to the kohen and bring it up to the full measure of one in fifty.
Measuring the completion:
We said that in the first separation one should not measure the quantity precisely, but rather estimate it with a good assessment, and if he missed and did not hit the mark exactly, that is of no consequence, and that separation made by estimation fulfills his obligation from the Torah. But in the second, supplementary separation, which comes to address the discovery of the eleven additional barrels, he must separate one in fifty from those eleven barrels in order to complete his measure. Since this separation is only rabbinic, he is permitted - and perhaps it is even preferable for him - to separate by measure, by weight and by count, and to arrive precisely at the missing amount that completes the required quantity.
The view of Rabbi Yehudah - "af shelo min hamukaf":
Rabbi Yehudah holds that since the supplementary separation is only rabbinic, another rule is relaxed in it as well. The usual rule is that Terumah must be taken "min hamukaf" - from produce that is adjacent: when a person separates from several piles of grain, they must be near one another or touching one another. The precise definitions of mukaf will be discussed in Maseches Challah, and in any case this is a rabbinic requirement, and after the fact the separation takes effect even when it was not from the mukaf, only that one should not do so at the outset.
Therefore Rabbi Yehudah says: "af shelo min hamukaf" - even not from produce that is adjacent. Since this is a rabbinic requirement, and the supplementary separation is itself only rabbinic, there is no need at all for it to be done from the mukaf. But the halachah does not follow him: the halachah is that in the supplementary separation one does indeed measure the additional amount precisely, but it must be separated only from the mukaf, from items that are near one another and from which he is separating.
In summary: In this Mishnah we learned the measures of Terumah that the Sages established - a generous eye, one in forty; an average one, one in fifty; and a stingy one, one in sixty - and, in contrast, the view of Beis Shammai, and the halachah does not follow them. In practice one separates one in fifty, with two qualifications: nowadays a minimal amount suffices, and for foods that are not obligated from the Torah, one in sixty suffices even at the outset. We also learned that one who separates and ends up with one in sixty - his Terumah is Terumah and he should not add; and one who separates and ends up with one in sixty-one goes back and completes it according to his practice, a completion that is measured precisely, and as a matter of halachah specifically from the mukaf, not like the view of Rabbi Yehudah.