Study Ketubot folio 25A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
ואלא, מאי גדולה חזקה? מעיקרא אכול בתרומה דרבנן, השתא אכול בתרומה דאורייתא.
The Talmud asks: And what, then, is the meaning of: Great is the legal authority of presumptive status? This is a standard case of presumptive status, as the practice of the priests remained as it was. There is nothing novel in the application of the principle of presumptive status in this case. The Talmud answers: Initially, in the Babylonian exile, they would partake of teruma taken from produce obligated by rabbinic law. Now, upon their return to Eretz Yisrael, they partake of teruma taken from produce obligated by Torah law: Grain, wine, and oil, based on their presumptive status.
ואי בעית אימא: השתא נמי בתרומה דרבנן אכול, בתרומה דאורייתא לא אכול. וכי מסקינן מתרומה ליוחסין — בתרומה דאורייתא, בתרומה דרבנן — לא מסקינן. ואלא, מאי גדולה חזקה? דאף על גב דאיכא למיגזר משום תרומה דאורייתא — לא גזרינן.
And if you wish, say instead: Now too, upon their return to Eretz Yisrael, they partake of teruma taken from produce obligated by rabbinic law. However, of teruma taken from produce obligated by Torah law they may not partake. And when we elevate from teruma to lineage, this is only with regard to one who partakes of teruma by Torah law. However, in the case of one who partakes of teruma by rabbinic law, we do not elevate him to priestly lineage. The Talmud asks: And what, then, is the meaning of: Great is the legal authority of presumptive status? The Talmud answers: It means that although there is reason to issue a decree in Eretz Yisrael prohibiting consumption of teruma by rabbinic law, due to teruma that is forbidden by Torah law, we do not issue that decree because: Great is the legal authority of presumptive status.
ובתרומה דאורייתא לא אכול? והא כתיב: ״אשר לא יאכלו מקדש הקדשים״. מקדש הקדשים הוא דלא אכול, הא בתרומה דאורייתא אכול!
The Talmud asks: And did they in fact not partake of teruma by Torah law? But isn’t it written: “That they should not partake of the most sacred items [kodesh hakodashim]” (Ezra 2:63), from which it may be inferred: It is of the most sacred items, i.e., offerings, that they did not partake; of teruma by Torah law, they did partake.