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7 [1] [The following laws apply when a person has a 100 *log* of wine that are *tevel* according to Scriptural Law. If he says: "The two *lugim* that I will separate are *terumah*; the ten are the first tithe, and the nine are the second tithe," he should not begin drinking and leave over the quantity designated as *terumah* and the tithes at the end. Instead, he should make the separations and then drink. We do not say that the wine he left over at the end is retroactively considered as if it was set aside in the beginning. [The rationale for this stringency is that] the obligation [to separate] *terumah* and the tithes is Scriptural in origin, and with regard to [matters of] Scriptural Law, we do not say that we will consider it as if a separation has been made unless it actually has been made. [2] When a person specifies that his tithes were located at the opening of a jug [of wine], he should not drink from the bottom of the barrel. If he specifies that they are at the bottom, he should not drink from the top. [The rationale is that] the liquids intermingle. If, by contrast, one specified [that the tithes for produce] were at the opening of a storage container, one may eat from the bottom. If one specified that they were located at the bottom, one may eat from the top. [3] A person can designate certain produce as the second tithe and then redeem it. [Afterwards,] he may designate that same produce as the first tithe for this batch of produce or *terumat ma'aser* for other produce. [4] When a person sets aside produce to use them for the separation of tithes, he may continue to separate tithes relying on this produce on the assumption that it is intact, eating and drinking [from the produce from which he intended to separate tithes] until the entire quantity that was set aside has become tithes. He then gives that to a Levite. [If later] he discovers that the produce that he set aside [for tithes] has been lost, he must show concern for all the tithes that he set aside. He should not, however, tithe [the second time] with certainty. [5] When a person lends money to a priest, a Levite, or a poor person, so that he can separate [produce] for the money [they owe] from the portions due them, he may continue to separate tithes on their behalf on the assumption that they are alive. He need not show concern that the priest or Levite died or the poor man became wealthy. [6] How should he make these separations on their behalf? He should separate *terumah*, the first tithe, or the tithe for the poor and give it to another person for the sake of the priest, Levite, or poor person to whom he lent money. If [the debtors] would frequently take these separations from him or if he was accustomed to give these separations to them alone, he need not give them to another person on their behalf.
After [the lender] makes these separations, he calculates the worth of the produce he separated and deducts it from the loan. [He continues doing this] until he repays the entire debt. He may sell the *terumah* to any priest of his choice and may partake of the tithes [himself]. [7] When he calculates the worth of the produce that he set aside, he has the right to consider their value according to the lower market price. This is not considered as interest. The Sabbatical year does not remit such a debt.
If the lender desires to nullify this arrangement, he may not. But if [the borrowers] seek to do so, they may. If the owner despaired of receiving payment from them, he can no longer make these separations on their behalf. For we may not make separations because of [a debt that] was lost.
If the priest, Levite, or poor person who borrowed money dies, he cannot continue to separate on their behalf unless he receives permission from the heirs. [Moreover, even if permission is granted,] it is effective only when [the deceased] left the heirs [a tract of] land at least the size of a needle. If, however, he left them only money, permission from the heir is not effective. If he made the loan in court on the condition that he will make the separations on their behalf for this money, it is not necessary for him to receive permission from the heirs.
If the poor person became wealthy, he may no longer separate [the tithe for the poor] on his behalf. Even though he made the loan in court, [the recipient] may retain the funds in his possession. [8] When an Israelite tells a Levite: "I am in possession of a *kor* of tithes for you," the Levite has the right to designate that produce as *terumat ma'aser* for other produce even if he did not draw it into his possession. If the Israelite gives it to another Levite, the first individual has nothing more than complaints against him. [9] When a person has produce in a silo and gives a *se'ah* to a Leviteand a *se'ah* to a poor person, he should not set aside eight *se'ah* from the silo and partake of it unless he knows with certainty that the two *se'ah* of the tithes are still intact. If, however, the Levite and/or the poor person partook of them, he may set aside only an amount of grain proportionate to what remains from the two *se'ah*. [10] [The following laws apply when] poor people exchange the presents given them with the owner of the field, i.e., they gave him a *se'ah* of *leket, shichachah, peah* or the tithes for the poor and they took a *se'ah* of grain from the grain pile. [The grain] he takes from them is exempt from the tithes, even though it was prepared in the domain of the owner. [Tithes] must be separated from [the grain] they take from him even though it was given in exchange for their presents that are exempt. [11] [The following laws apply when] there are two baskets of *tevel* from which *terumah* was separated in front of a person and he says: "Let the tithes from this one be in the other one." The tithing of the first basket is effective. If he says, "Let the tithes from this one be in the other one and [the tithes for] the second one be in this one," the tithing of the first basket is effective, for he has established its tithes within the second basket. The tithing of the second basket is not effective because tithes cannot be set aside from the first basket because the obligation to tithe has already been discharged for the second basket from which the tithes from both must be separated. [12] If one says: "With regard to the tithes for these two baskets. The tithes for each one are established in the other," he has designated the tithes by name and has established the tithes within them. He therefore separates the tithes from them. He may not separate the tithes from another source. [13] How are the tithes separated [in the above situation]? One may separate the tithes for both of them from one of them or he should separate the tithes from each one of them from itself if they were of equal [size]. If one of them was larger than the other, one should separate the tithes for the larger one from the smaller one and the tithes for the smaller one from the larger one.
Version: Mishneh Torah, trans. by Eliyahu Touger. Jerusalem, Moznaim Pub. c1986-c2007
Source: https://www.nli.org.il/he/books/NNL_ALEPH001020101/NLI
License: CC-BY-NC