Me'ilah

Mishnah

The Mishnah of Me'ilah contains six chapters with 38 paragraphs. Chapter 1 addresses sacrifices in which trespass can occur, distinguishing between most holy sacrifices (ḳodshe ḳodashim), where trespass applies to all parts, and partly holy sacrifices (kodashim kallim), where it applies only to certain parts. It includes the rule of R. Joshua that once priests have had the right to eat of a sacrifice, no trespass can take place. The chapter also examines whether trespass can occur for parts removed from the sanctuary before blood sprinkling, and the effect of sprinkling on trespass liability.

Chapter 2 determines the time after which trespass can occur for various meat-offerings, food offerings, Pentecostal bread, and showbread. It also establishes the periods after which sacrifices may be invalidated by errors, and when one becomes guilty of piggul (abomination), notar (leaving over), or ṭame (impurity). Chapter 3 lists many things one may not partake of without being guilty of trespass, and discusses regulations for objects on consecrated things, such as grass in a consecrated field, fruit of a consecrated tree, and foliage in a consecrated wood.

Chapter 4 covers the combination of various sacrifices in reckoning the minimum amount needed to constitute trespass, and gives other combinations related to legal and ritual questions. Chapter 5 defines a peruṭa as the smallest coin and the minimum value of holy objects used to incur guilt, distinguishing between the value of the use and the value of the object consumed. It also discusses trespass committed by several persons successively on the same object.

Did You Know?

• The Gemara to this treatise contains only one aggadah, on the story of Ben Temalion.
• There is no gemara of the Jerusalem Talmud to this treatise, nor to any treatise of the order Kodashim.
• The Tosefta of Me'ilah has three chapters that cover all the content of the Mishnah's six chapters, with a few omissions and amplifications.