And in all of these cases, if there was <i>Terumah</i> in their mouths, Rabbi Eliezer says they may swallow [it]. Rabbi Yehoshua says they must spit [it] out. If someone tells him, "you have just become impure and the <i>Terumah</i> has just become impure," Rabbi Eliezer says he may swallow [it]. Rabbi Yehoshua says he must spit [it] out. [If someone tells him,] "you were already impure and the <i>Terumah</i> was already impure," or if it became known that it is untithed produce or <i>Ma'aser Rishon</i> [first tithe, which must be given to the Levite] from which no <i>Terumah</i> [produce consecrated for priestly consumption] was taken, or <i>Ma'aser Sheni</i> [second tithe, which must be eaten in Jerusalem] or <i>Hekdesh</i> [consecrated donation] that were not redeemed, or if he tasted the taste of an insect in his mouth, he must spit out [the <i>Terumah</i>].
Bartenura on Mishnah Terumot
וכולם – a slave and a woman who ate from the beginning with permission, it is in this that Rabbi Eliezer states that they should swallow it. But the son of a woman divorcee or the son of a woman who performed the ceremony of removing her deceased husband’s brother’s shoe, that forever did not eat with permission, Rabbi Eliezer admits that he should spit it out, something that he was disqualified, or the heave-offering was disqualified prior to his placing it in his mouth, as Rabbi Eliezer admits that he should spit it out.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Terumot
Introduction
In today’s mishnah, which is a continuation of yesterday’s mishnah, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Joshua debate whether a person who finds out that s/he has begun to eat something forbidden but has not yet swallowed the food, must spit it out.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Terumot
אם שטעם טעם פשפש – an unclean reptile, for when they crush it, his breath is most repulsive, and it is found in the walls and in the beds and we call it B’KEE in Arabic and in the foreign language, TZIMITZA, and the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yehoshua.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Terumot
In all the above cases, if terumah was still in their mouth: Rabbi Eliezer says: they may swallow it. But Rabbi Joshua says: they must spit it out. Albeck explains that according to Rabbi Eliezer since in these cases s/he is going to have to pay back the value and the added fifth in any case, it is not forbidden for him/her to swallow the food that is in his/her mouth. Rabbi Joshua, in contrast, held above that s/he will not have to pay back the added fifth. Since he will have to pay back less, he has to make sure that he doesn’t eat or even swallow any terumah whatsoever intentionally.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Terumot
[If it was said to him], “Your have become unclean”, or “the terumah has become unclean”, Rabbi Eliezer says: he may swallow it. But Rabbi Joshua says: he must spit it out. In this case, while the terumah was still in his mouth someone told him that he had just become impure or that the terumah had just become impure. In other words, when he began to eat the terumah, he was pure and the terumah was pure, but while eating he, or the terumah became impure. In this case, again Rabbi Eliezer says he may swallow that which is in his mouth whereas Rabbi Joshua says he has to spit it out. This is similar to the previous cases because when he began to eat it was permitted for him to do so.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Terumot
[If it was said to him], “You were unclean” or “the terumah was unclean”, or it became known that [the food he was eating] was untithed, or that it was first tithe from which terumah had not yet been taken, or second tithe or dedicated produce that had not been redeemed, or if he tasted the taste of a bug in his mouth, he must spit it out. In this section, it is made known to him that he or the terumah was impure before he began to eat. Alternatively, it is made known to him that the food he was eating was forbidden in some way. For instance, it was not tithed, or it was tithe from which terumah had not been removed, or it was second tithe or dedicated produce that had not yet been redeemed. Or he tasted a bug in his mouth (yuk!). In these cases, he is simply one who unwittingly ate food that he shouldn’t have eaten and hence Rabbi Eliezer agrees with Rabbi Joshua that he must spit it out. The mishnah distinguishes between cases of accidentally eating something forbidden in these cases a person should have been more careful and cases where a person couldn’t have done anything to prevent the food from becoming prohibited in these cases Rabbi Eliezer holds that he may swallow the rest of his food.
