If one lent money to a Cohein, a Levite, or a pauper, to deduct the amount from their share of (the tithe), he deducts it on the assumption that they are alive; and he need not apprehend that the Cohein or the Levite died or that the pauper became wealthy. [When he separates terumah, he sells it and keeps the money for himself for his loan to the Cohein; and he keeps the first-tithe and the poor-tithe and eats it for his loan to the Levite and to the pauper (but from the first-tithe he separates terumath-ma'aser for the Cohein.) And if he is wont to give his terumoth and ma'aseroth to this Cohein, or Levite, or pauper from whom he borrowed, he need not invest them with his ma'aseroth and terumoth through another, but he takes them for himself immediately after he tithes them. But if he is wont to give his terumoth and ma'aseroth to others, he cannot keep them for his loans until he first invests another with them, and then takes them back for his loan.] If they (the Cohein, Levite, or pauper) died, he must receive permission from the heirs [who inherited land on which the creditor has a claim. He must receive their permission to collect this debt through these terumoth and ma'aseroth. For they might desire to receive their gifts and to repay the debt of their testator from elsewhere.] If he lent them before beth-din, he need not receive permission from the heirs.
Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
להיות מפריש עליהן מחלקן – When he separates out the Terumah/heave-offering (which goes to the Kohen) , he should [first] sell it, he should detain the money to himself on account of his own obligation that he has towards the Kohen/priest. And the first tithe and second tithe he should withhold [them] and eat it for the obligation that he has towards the Levite and the poor, but he (the Levite) separates out from the first tithe [that he has received] the heave-offering (of one-tenth) [that he is required to give to the Kohen/priest]. But if he is accustomed to give his heave-offerings and tithes to this particular Kohen or particular Levite or the poor person who lent to them, he does not need to transfer to them their tithes and heave-offerings through another person, but he takes them for himself immediately after he has separated them out. But if he was accustomed to give his heave-offerings and tithes to others, he may not withhold them through his obligation, until he takes possession of them through another [Kohen or Levite] first and thereafter he should go back and take them as part of his obligatory [gift].
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
Introduction
This mishnah continues to deal with situations in which we assume that a person is still alive even though we cannot be sure that he is.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
צריך ליטול רשות מן היורשים – That inherited from them property that had been mortgaged to a creditor, he must take permission from them if they want to repay this loan through these heave-offerings and tithes [that they have received], lest they wish to take their [priestly/Levitical] gifts and to repay their hereditary loans from another place.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
If a man lends money to a priest or a levite or a poor man on condition that he can may separate [terumah or tithes] from their portion, he may do so, in the presumption that they are still alive, and he need be concerned that the priest or the levite may have died or the poor man may have become rich. In this scenario a person loans money to a priest, Levite or poor person with the agreement that the debt will be worked off by the person withholding terumah (given to the priest), first tithe (to the Levite) or poor tithe (the poor person) which he would have given to them. In such a case, the person will harvest his produce and separate terumah and tithes as he normally does. The terumah he must sell to another priest but he may keep the money for himself as payment for his debt. Note that he may not eat the terumah since terumah is strictly forbidden to non-priests. The tithes he may eat himself, since non-Levites and people who are not poor may eat tithes. The person paying off his debt need not be concerned that the priest or Levite died or that the poor person is no longer poor. As we learned in the previous mishnayoth, we can assume that a person is still alive until we have strong reason to believe otherwise.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
If they died, he must obtain the permission of the heirs. If he made the loan in the presence of the court, he need not obtain permission from the heirs. If the lender knows that the priest, Levite or poor person died, he may not continue the arrangement without obtaining permission from the heirs. Since the heirs may prefer to pay back the debt, the lender must let them know what about the arrangement. Assumedly they will find the arrangement acceptable. Furthermore, if the arrangement was made in the presence of the court, he need not obtain their permission. The court has the power to finalize the debt such that the debtor may not preemptively pay it back.
