The twenty-four kohanic gifts are a description in the Gemara tradition of offerings given to the Jewish priests. The adjective "kohanic" means "of a kohen", relating to a Jewish priest.
The Kohanim were compensated for their service in the temple in Jerusalem - and to the nation - through twenty-four "priestly gifts". The majority of these gifts were food items. Of these twenty-four gifts, ten gifts were given to the priests in the Temple, the "Holy House" (beyth ha-miqdash), four were to be consumed by the priests in Jerusalem, and ten are to be given to the priests even outside the land of Israel.
The gifts are usually not given today, when there is no temple in Jerusalem. For example, most practising Jews today do not give first-born of their animals to modern Kohanim. Other practices may be followed, such as selling the mother animal to a non-Jew before it gives birth to the firstborn, and then buy back both the animal and its firstborn.
Gifts
According to Tosefta Hallah, the ten gifts given in (or to be consumed in) the Temple area were portions of:
1. an animal brought as a sin offering2. guilt offering3. sacrifices of the communal peace offering4. a bird brought in as a sin offering5. the suspensive guilt offering6. the olive oil offering of a metzora.7. the two loaves of bread brought on First Fruits8. the showbread9. the left over portion of the meal offering10. the left over portion of grain from the offering of the first sheaf, the omer offeringGifts given (or to be consumed) within the walls of Jerusalem were:
11. firstborn of any domestic kosher animal12. First Fruits13. the inner organs of certain offerings, that which is removed from the Nazirite offering14. the skins of certain offeringsGifts which could be given (or consumed) outside Jerusalem were:
15. heave offering of a portion of the harvest16. heave offering of the tithe - a tithe of the Levite's tithe17. a portion of dough18. the first shearing of the sheep19. Foreleg, cheeks and maw of all non-sanctified, ritually slaughtered domestic animals20. money given in exchange for redemption of a first-born son (Hebrew: pidyon haben פדיון הבן; redemption of the son) - in rabbinical practice five silver shekels for the redemption of a firstborn Israelite son.21. money (or a sheep or goat) redeemed in place of a firstborn donkey22. things declared herem, the hromim property or possession dedicated to the Temple without specifying to which use it is to be given23. inherited fields that were dedicated to the Temple and not reclaimed in the Jubilee year.24. that recovered which was stolen from a resident alien who has died, leaving no heirs.Females, who did not serve in the Tabernacle or the Temple, were permitted to consume and/or derive benefit from some of the Twenty-Four Priestly Gifts. But if a Kohen's daughter married a man from outside the Kohanic line, she was no longer permitted to benefit from the priestly gifts. Conversely, the daughter of a non-priest who married a priest took on the same rights as an unmarried daughter of a priest.