Terumah dates may be compressed into a cake but may NOT be made into beer. What is the underlying reason?
The rule is that terumah must be used in its natural form. Transforming edible food-terumah into a beverage changes its character in a forbidden way. The only exceptions are olives (pressed into oil) and grapes (pressed into wine), since Numbers 18:12 itself refers to them in their processed form.
Question 2
A priest smears terumah oil on his body and then an Israelite massages him in a bathhouse, incidentally coming into contact with the oil. Is this permitted?
Once terumah oil makes direct contact with a person's flesh, its sanctity departs. Therefore, an Israelite who subsequently touches the priest — and comes into contact with residual oil — is not benefiting from terumah in a forbidden way.
Question 3
Impure terumah oil is kindled in a synagogue without a priest's permission. What is the halachic status of this act?
Our Sages permitted impure terumah oil to be burned as lamp fuel when it serves a public mitzvah purpose — such as synagogues, houses of study, or dark alleyways — without requiring a priest's permission. The exception is a sick person's private lamp, which requires explicit priestly consent.
Question 4
A field is sown with terumah inadvertently. Before the crop reaches a third of its growth, what must the owner do?
If terumah was sown unknowingly and has not yet reached a third of its growth, the owner must uproot and turn over the crop. Once it reaches a third of its growth — whether sown intentionally or not — he must maintain it, since destroying it at that stage would be like destroying terumah itself.
Question 5
What is the status of produce that grows from produce that grew from terumah (second generation)?
Only first-generation produce from terumah is Rabbinically forbidden to non-priests. Second-generation produce — what grows from that produce — is considered fully ordinary and may be eaten by non-priests. Even if the seed did not decompose, so long as the new growth exceeds the root, the entire plant is permitted.