Meilah 1:1-2

Meilah 1:1

If sacrifices of greater sanctity were slaughtered on the south side of the Temple courtyard (which is wrong), the rules of misappropriation apply. If they were slaughtered in the south and their blood collected in the north, or vice versa, or if they were slaughtered by day and their blood sprinkled at night, or vice versa, or if they were slaughtered with intention to act outside the proper time or place, in all of these cases, the laws of misappropriation apply. Rabbi Yehoshua stated a general rule: misappropriation does not apply to anything that was permitted to the kohanim at some point. If it was never permitted to the kohanim, then the laws of misappropriation apply. Examples of “permitted to the kohanim” include sacrifices that were left out overnight, that were rendered ritually impure, or that were taken outside the courtyard. Examples of “never permitted to the kohanim” include sacrifices that were slaughtered with intention to act outside the proper time or place, or whose blood was collected or sprinkled by someone unfit to serve.

Meilah 1:2

If flesh from sacrifices of greater sanctity was taken outside before the blood was sprinkled, Rabbi Eliezer says that the laws of misappropriation continue to apply to it but the laws of piggul (improper intentions), nosar (leftovers) and ritual impurity do not. Rabbi Akiva says that the laws of misappropriation no longer apply to it but the laws of piggul, nosar and ritual impurity do. Rabbi Akiva further discussed the case of a person who set aside an animal for a sin offering and it got lost, so he set aside another in its place, after which the first was found with the result that they were both slaughtered simultaneously. Just as the blood of one frees its flesh from the laws of misappropriation, doesn’t it likewise free the other animal from the laws of misappropriation? If it exempts the other animal’s flesh, it follows logically that it exempts its own (in a case where the flesh was taken outside before the blood was sprinkled).