One may not set aside <i>Terumah</i> from the impure for the pure. And if he accidentally set the <i>Terumah</i> aside, their <i>Terumah</i> is [valid] <i>Terumah</i>. If intentionally, [it is as if] he has done nothing. And so too with a Levite who had tithes from which <i>Terumah</i> had not been taken, and was continuously designating [parts of these impure tithes as the <i>Terumah</i> of other tithes]: if accidentally, what he did is done [with validity]. If intentionally, [it is as if] he has done nothing. Rabbi Yehudah said, if he knew that it was [impure] in the beginning, even if he [forgot and designated] accidentally, [it is as if] he has done nothing.
Bartenura on Mishnah Terumot
אין תורמין מן הטמא על הטהור – because of the loss to the Kohen [because ritually impure heave-offering is forbidden to the Kohen].
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English Explanation of Mishnah Terumot
Introduction
This mishnah is the opposite of yesterday’s mishnah. Here we learn what happens if a person tries to give terumah from impure produce for pure produce. Obviously, this is much more problematic, because the impure terumah is far less useful to the kohen.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Terumot
ואם תרם שוגג תרומתו תרומה – and exactly when it had been fit for use and the season for separating tithes had arrived prior to it becoming ritually impure, because according to the Torah It is perfect heave-offering, but if it he set aside heave-offering, even in advertently, his heave-offering is not a heave-offering.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Terumot
They may not give terumah from impure [produce] for that which is pure. One should not give terumah from impure produce on behalf of pure produce.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Terumot
מעשר טבל – First Tithe that had not had the Terumah of the tithe taken from it.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Terumot
If he did give: If unwittingly, the terumah is valid; If intentionally he has done nothing. If, despite the fact that this is prohibited, the person did so anyway, if he did it without knowing what he was doing, the terumah is valid. However, if he did it intentionally, the terumah is not terumah and he must go back and take terumah out again.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Terumot
היה מפריש עליו והולך – he would separate from this on the rest of the tithes.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Terumot
So too, if a Levite had [unclean] tithe [from which terumah] had not been given, and he gave terumah from this, if unwittingly, the terumah is valid, if intentionally he has done nothing. As I stated in the introduction, a Levite must give terumah from the tithes that he receives. The Levite in our section has a pile of impure tithes and he tries to say that this tithe will be terumah on behalf of other tithes that he has received. The same rules apply here as applied in the case of regular terumah in section two. When it comes to the terumah taken from tithes, one also cannot give impure terumah to exempt pure terumah. However, Albeck notes that in the case of terumah from tithes, the opposite is not true one can give from pure produce for impure produce.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Terumot
Rabbi Judah says: if he knew of it at the outset, even if done in error, he has done nothing. Rabbi Judah holds that if at some point he knew that the pile of tithes was impure, then even if he later forgot and thought that he was giving terumah from pure produce, his terumah does not count. The fact that he once knew means that he can never again be considered as having given it “accidentally.”
