The Torah in Parashat Behukotai (Vayikra 27:14) addresses the case of a person who consecrates his house, declaring it sacred, and it then becomes the property of the treasury of the Bet Ha’mikdash. The property must be appraised by a Kohen, and the owner of the home must then redeem it by paying to the Temple treasury the value as determined by the Kohen, and adding a Homesh (one-fifth) to its value. This process is listed by the Sefer Ha’hinuch as one of the Torah’s 248 affirmative commands. The Sefer Ha’hinuch explains that the Torah commanded the owner to redeem the property by paying 120 percent of its value in order to arouse feelings of respect and reverence for the Bet Ha’mikdash and everything associated with it. The Torah grants the homeowner the opportunity to redeem his house so that he does not lose it, but he must add an additional 20 percent so that he has an appreciation for the importance and significance of the Bet Ha’mikdash and will not treat it lightly. This Misva applies not only to the case of a consecrated home, but to any situation involving an object whose owner decided to consecrate it. Nowadays, in the absence of the Bet Ha’mikdash, one should not consecrate property to the Bet Ha’mikdash, because he will then, quite obviously, be unable to donate it. If one did consecrate something, then he should transfer the sanctity onto a coin, and then cast the coin into the Dead Sea, where it is then ruined. The Sefer Ha’hinuch implies that before the sanctity is transferred onto a coin, the item must first be assessed and its value determined. It is difficult to understand why this is necessary, though, in light of the fact that the object is not redeemed, but is rather divested of its status by transferring its sanctity onto a coin. This verse, which speaks of a person consecrating “Beto” (“his home”), serves as the source for one of the important Halachic principles related to consecration. The Talmud states that just as one can consecrate only “Beto” – his home, which belongs to him and which he physically possesses, similarly, one can consecrate only property which he owns and which is in his physical possession. If a person owns something but does not have it in his possession, or has something in his possession which he does not own, then he cannot consecrate that item. One example is a Mashkon – an item which a borrower gave his lender as collateral for the loan. The Mashkon belongs to the borrower, but is in the physical possession of the lender. As such, neither can consecrate it – the borrower cannot consecrate it because it is not in his possession, and the lender cannot consecrate it because he does not own it. Another example is an item which was stolen, and which the thief must return to its original owner. The item still belongs to its original owner, but is in the physical possession of the thief; therefore, neither can consecrate the item. (This is true only of moveable items; land cannot, technically, be stolen, and thus it is always considered in the possession of the owner.) This Misva apples only during the times when the laws of Yobel (the jubilee year) apply. One who did not have his consecrated property appraised, or did not pay the required sum – or, nowadays, failed to transfer the sanctity onto a coin – has transgressed this affirmative command. The Sefer Ha’hinuch adds that the individual also violates the prohibition of Me’ila – misusing sacred property, because he continues living in his house without redeeming it, thus deriving benefit from a home belonging to Hekdesh (the Temple treasury). Although this Misva does not apply nowadays, when we do not have the Bet Ha’mikdash, the message underlying this command is relevant to the pledges that we make to synagogues or other charitable institutions. Such pledges must be treated with the utmost respect and seriousness, and paid in full in timely fashion.