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Me’ilah 13a

מעילה י״ג ע״א

Meilah 13a

Learn Me’ilah 13a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

מעילה on every kind of הקדש and its contents, a holy animal's milk, holy produce, and benefit from a הקדש field's dust.

Overview

The משנה finishes listing the kinds of הקדש: things fit for the מזבח, for בדק הבית, or for neither. מעילה applies to all of them. It gives five examples: a cistern, a garbage dump, a dovecote, a tree and a field. If they were consecrated while already full, מעילה applies to their contents too. If they were consecrated empty and filled up later, only the item itself is under מעילה. רבי יוסי says that the growths of a consecrated field or tree are also holy. The משנה adds that a baby animal may not nurse from a holy mother, and that workers and work animals may not eat holy produce. The גמרא learns that a holy animal's milk is holy from a בכור, through the words 'passing' and 'its mother.' It learns from 'do not muzzle the ox in its threshing' that the right to eat while working does not apply to הקדש. Finally, threshing one's own קלעילין in a הקדש field is מעילה, because the field's loose dust helps the קלעילין.

Opening lines

וְלֹא לְבֶדֶק הַבַּיִת,

but not for Temple maintenance,

לְבֶדֶק הַבַּיִת וְלֹא לַמִּזְבֵּחַ,

for Temple maintenance but not for the altar,

לֹא לַמִּזְבֵּחַ וְלֹא לְבֶדֶק הַבַּיִת –

neither for the altar nor for Temple maintenance –

מוֹעֲלִין בָּהּ.

one is liable for misusing it.

The steps (15)

  1. StatementEvery kind of הקדש carries מעילה, even if unusable in the Temple
  2. QuestionThe משנה asks for examples
  3. ResponseFive examples: the container and its contents both carry מעילה
  4. StatementConsecrated empty, filled up later: no מעילה on the contents
  5. Statementרבי יוסי: growth of a consecrated field or tree is also holy
  6. StatementA young animal may not nurse from a holy mother
  7. StatementWorkers and work animals may not eat holy produce
  8. QuestionWhere do we learn that the baby may not nurse?
  9. ResponseThe word 'passing' links מעשר to a בכור
  10. ResponseThe words 'its mother' link קדשים to a בכור
  11. QuestionWhy may the cow not eat the הקדש produce?
  12. Response'Its threshing' means only your own threshing
  13. StatementThreshing in a הקדש field is מעילה
  14. ChallengeBut מעילה needs a detached item
  15. Resolutionרבינא: the field's dust helps the קלעילין