Study Yevamot folio 86A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
תרומה לכהן, ומעשר ראשון ללוי, דברי רבי מאיר. רבי אלעזר בן עזריה מתירו לכהן. מתירו?! מכלל דאיכא מאן דאסר? אלא אימא: נותנו אף לכהן.
Teruma is for a priest and the first tithe is for a Levite; this is the statement of R' Meir. R' Elazar ben Azarya permits it, i.e., the first tithe, to a priest, as he too is from the tribe of Levi. The Talmud is puzzled by this last statement: It says: Permits it. Does this prove by inference that there is one tanna that prohibits a priest from partaking of tithes? But a priest is also a Levite and cannot be considered a foreigner. Rather, say that R' Elazar ben Azarya meant that one may give it even to a priest. The tithe does not have to be handed to a Levite; one may choose to give it to a priest instead.
מאי טעמא דרבי מאיר? אמר רב אחא בריה דרבה משמיה דגמרא: ״כי את מעשר בני ישראל אשר ירימו לה׳ תרומה״. מה תרומה אסורה לזרים, אף מעשר ראשון אסור לזרים. אי מה תרומה חייבין עליו מיתה וחומש — אף מעשר חייבין עליו מיתה וחומש?
The Talmud inquires: What is the reason for R' Meir’s opinion? Rav Aḥa, son of Rabba, said in the name of tradition that the verse states: “For the tithe of the children of Israel that they set apart as a teruma to YHWH, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance” (Numbers 18:24). From the fact that this verse calls the tithe “teruma,” we learn: Just as teruma is forbidden to foreigners, so too is the first tithe forbidden to foreigners, i.e., non-Levites. The Talmud asks: If so, is it true that just as with teruma, a foreigner who eats it is liable to receive the punishment of death at the hand of Heaven and to pay the additional fifth for it, so too, with regard to tithes, a foreigner who eats it should be liable for it to receive the punishment of death at the hand of Heaven and to pay the additional fifth?