Parshas Emor
“And any stranger (regular person who is not a priest) may not eat holy food!” (Vayikra 22:10)
It is a negative commandment that a regular person may not eat Terumah, as it says “And any stranger (regular person who is not a priest) may not eat holy food!”, and Chazal received a transmission that the holy food referred to here is Terumah, and Bikurrim (the first of each fruit that grows), both of which are called Terumah in the Torah.
Amongst the roots of this commandment are that one of the special points of holy food is that it should only be eaten by the priests who serve Hashem, and by their wives, children and servants, and that they may give it to their animals, but that others should not be able to eat it.
This prohibition of eating Terumah applies to regular people in the whole nation of Klal Yisrael, to men and women, in all places where one can have authentic biblical Terumah. Nowadays this prohibition applies only rabbinically and only to the fruit of Eretz Yisrael.
