A man has 100 log of wine (tevel) and verbally designates 2 log as terumah, 10 as first tithe, and 9 as second tithe. He then drinks from the wine, planning to leave the designated amounts at the end. What does Rambam rule?
Since the obligation to separate terumah and tithes is biblical in origin, we do not apply bereirah — the principle of retroactive designation. He must perform the actual separation first, then drink (H1).
Question 2
Someone specifies that the tithes for his jug of wine are located at the bottom of the jug. May he drink from the top?
Liquids intermingle — you cannot drink from the top without mingling with the bottom, so the tithes designated at the bottom cannot be kept separate. He may not drink from the top (H2).
Question 3
A lender sets up an arrangement to repay his loan to a Levite through tithes he separates over time. The Levite then dies during the repayment period. What is the rule?
When a debtor-recipient dies, the lender must receive permission from the heirs to continue — and this only works if the deceased left the heirs land (not just money), since without land there is no lien on the estate (H7).
Question 4
Poor people give a landowner a se'ah of leket (gleanings) in exchange for a se'ah of grain from his pile. What is the tithe status of each?
The leket and other poor-person presents are inherently exempt from tithes. But the grain the poor receive in exchange from the owner's pile is fully obligated — the exemption belongs to the original gift, not to whatever is received in trade (H10).
Question 5
Two baskets of tevel sit before a person. He says sequentially: 'Let the tithes of the first be in the second, and the tithes of the second be in the first.' What is the result?
When stated sequentially, the first designation works — the second basket now contains the first basket's tithe. But then the second basket's obligation has already been discharged, so it can no longer serve as a source for tithing the second basket. Only the first basket's tithe is valid (H11).