In the Tanakh, the term herem is used, among other meanings, for an object or real property to be devoted to God, with God authorizing a kohen to be its receiving agent. This law is one of the twenty-four kohanic gifts and, of those twenty-four, as one of ten gifts given to the priest even outside the land of Israel. According to Abba Jose ben Hanan, the nuances of the herem laws are considered "eight pillars of Torah law" that are "principles of Halakha".
Etymology
In Hebrew the adjective herem means "devoted thing" or "thing devoted to destruction". The term is used 29 times in the Masoretic Text of the Tanakh. An unrelated homonym, the noun herem meaning "fisherman's net", is used a further 9 times. The adjective herem and the associate verb haramcome from the Semitic rootḤ-R-M, with cognates in the Syriac and Arabic languages. The word "devoted" is understood by Maimonides as a "complete and total transition" from one status to another. The Targums define the word as a complete separation. According to Samuel ben Meir, this is the complete transition of an estate or object from hullin status to that of kodesh.
"Devoted property" in the territory of Joseph
, a 19th century Bible commentator, explained as referring to the practice of herem. According to him, the tribe of Joseph desired the merit that Eleazar the high priest should be buried in their territory. Thus, when he died they designated Givat Pinchas, and calculated to publicize the herem designation during the division cycle when Pinchas was in service, thus increasing the likelihood of Pinchas burying his father in the herem property, which ultimately happened.
Ideas behind the commandment
The Sifra describes the commandment to devote things as enabling the Israelite to do perform a commandment with objects that otherwise do not have a commandment attached to them. For example a non-kosher animal other than the firstborn of a donkey, by way of the Israelite making his possession thereof herem, he elevates it to holiness. Maimonides describes the act of creating a "devoted" estate a worthy act, since it goes against the sin of miserhood. In addition, he also categorizes the initiation of devoted goods by an Israelite as an act of respect and honor to the God of Israel. Raya Mehemna describes herem as rectifying and healing the negative emotion of anger the initiator of a devotion of property may possess. The Sifre argues that the priests' right to herem is a reward for Jochebed for rescuing the infants of Israel from the pharaonic decree of infanticide of Israelite newborns:
Rabbinic laws
Undesignated ''herem''
Opinions differ as to what is done with herem in cases where the initiator of herem did not designate whether the property is consecrated to the Temple or to the priests. Maimonides opines that this undesignated herem be given the priests by default. Maimonides further states that undesignated devoted property is considered mundane and may be used by the priests for personal needs. This is in contrast to the case where the person does designate his herem to be given the priests, in which case the herem retains a holy state and cannot be used for personal needs.
Dispension to the mishmaroth
Allocation of herem may depend on the type of the object devoted; whether it is real estate or goods. According to Rav Sheshet, devotion of real estate is considered one of the four priestly gifts that is divided among the serving priestly division, while tangible devoted goods are appropriated even to an individual priest not currently in active Temple service.
The herem commandment, although practice infrequently today, still has halakhic implication in modern times:
In the diaspora
Considering that herem is listed as one of the ten priestly gifts that can be given to a priest outside of Jerusalem, some poskim have noted that both types of devoted things, both real estate and goods, are designated and given to the priest of the beit din's choice. Solomon Luria is of the opinion that the dedicator of herem is required to specify that the property be given to a priest, in order for a priest to be eligible as the recipient. In terms of the beit din choosing an eligible priest, Rabbi Luria opines that the status quo Kohen is sufficient to be the recipient of a devoted item and it to be "mundane".
