Gemara Clarity

Me’ilah 3b

מעילה ג׳ ע״ב

Meilah 3b

Learn Me’ilah 3b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Me’ilah 3b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

A personal-altar offering brought into the courtyard, and how פיגול affects מעילה

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a statement: once a personal-altar offering enters the courtyard, the courtyard walls 'take hold of it' for every law. רבי אלעזר then asks what happens if such an offering became disqualified and its limbs already went up on the altar: must they come down? The גמרא first infers that he was sure about a regular Temple offering, either like רבה or like רב יוסף. It then rejects that inference, since the personal-altar case could go either way under both views, and the question ends as תיקו. A new topic follows: רב גידל quotes רב that a פיגול sprinkling neither takes קדשי קדשים out of מעילה nor brings קדשים קלים into it. רב פפא challenges אביי with a משנה about the תודה bread, and רבי אבא answers that רב meant פיגול intent at the sprinkling itself. רב אשי then tests this with עולא's rule about a פיגול handful. רבא answers that עולא only meant something on the way to פיגול.

Opening lines

קְלָטוּהָ מְחִיצוֹת לְכׇל דָּבָר.

the partitions have taken hold of it for all matters.

בָּעֵי רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר:

Rabbi Elazar asks:

[עוֹלַת בָּמַת יָחִיד שֶׁהִכְנִיסָהּ, שֶׁנִּפְסְלָה] –

A burnt offering of a personal altar that one brought in, and it became disqualified –

עָלוּ, מַהוּ שֶׁיֵּרְדוּ?

if they went up, what is the law: should they come down?

The steps (14)

  1. StatementThe courtyard walls take hold of the offering for every law
  2. QuestionIf a disqualified personal-altar offering's limbs went up, must they come down?
  3. ProofInference: רבי אלעזר was already sure about a regular Temple offering
  4. RejectionNo proof: he asks one question built on another
  5. RejectionEven רבה might agree the limbs stay up for a personal-altar offering
  6. RejectionOr even רב יוסף might agree the limbs come down for a personal-altar offering
  7. ConclusionThe question stays unresolved
  8. StatementA פיגול sprinkling does not change מעילה status
  9. Challengeרב פפא challenges אביי with the law of the thanks-offering bread
  10. ChallengeThe conclusion of the challenge, and אביי is silent
  11. Resolutionרבי אבא: רב was speaking about sprinkling
  12. Challengeרב אשי quotes עולא about a פיגול handful on the altar
  13. ChallengeTaking the handful is the same as slaughtering
  14. Resolutionעולא only meant something that leads toward פיגול