## Meilah Daf 16b

###### Meilah 16b:1
[Meilah 16b:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Meilah/r/16b:1)

אָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה, אָמַר רַב: אֲכִילַת שְׁרָצִים – לוֹקֶה עָלָיו בִּכְזַיִת. מַאי טַעְמָא? ׳אֲכִילָה׳ כְּתִיב בְּהוּ.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
§ **Rav Yehuda says** that **Rav says:** With regard to **eating creeping animals,** one **is flogged for** eating **an olive-bulk** of them. **What is the reason?** It is because the term **“eating” is written** in the Torah **with regard to them.** The verse states: “And every creeping thing that swarms upon the earth is a detestable thing; it shall not be eaten” (Leviticus 11:41). The term “eating” is invariably referring to consuming an olive-bulk.


###### Meilah 16b:2
[Meilah 16b:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Meilah/r/16b:2)

וְהָתָנֵי רַבִּי יוֹסֵי בַּר רַבִּי חֲנִינָא קַמֵּיהּ דְּרַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: ״וְהִבְדַּלְתֶּם בֵּין הַבְּהֵמָה הַטְּהֹרָה לַטְּמֵאָה וּבֵין הָעוֹף הַטָּמֵא לַטָּהֹר וְלֹא תְשַׁקְּצוּ אֶת נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם בַּבְּהֵמָה וּבָעוֹף וּבְכֹל אֲשֶׁר תִּרְמֹשׂ הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר הִבְדַּלְתִּי לָכֶם לְטַמֵּא״ – פָּתַח הַכָּתוּב בַּאֲכִילָה, וְסִיֵּים בְּטוּמְאָה.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara raises a difficulty. **But didn’t Rabbi Yosei bar Rabbi Ḥanina teach** the following *baraita* **before Rabbi Yoḥanan:** The verse states: **“You shall separate between the kosher animal and the non-kosher, and between the non-kosher bird and the kosher; and you shall not make your souls detestable by animal, or by bird, or by anything that swarms on the ground, which I have set apart for you as impure”** (Leviticus 20:25). **The verse opens with eating** creeping animals, in the phrase “You shall not make your souls detestable,” **and** it **ends with** the **ritual impurity** of creeping animals: “Which I have set apart for you as impure.”


###### Meilah 16b:3
[Meilah 16b:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Meilah/r/16b:3)

מָה טוּמְאָה בְּכַעֲדָשָׁה, אַף אֲכִילָה בְּכַעֲדָשָׁה. וְקַלְּסֵיהּ רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן, וְקַשְׁיָא לִדְרַב!

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The *baraita* explains: This teaches that **just as** the carcass of a creeping animal imparts **ritual impurity** through contact **when** it is the volume of **a lentil-bulk, so too,** one is liable for the prohibition of **eating** a creeping animal **when** it is the volume of **a lentil-bulk. And Rabbi Yoḥanan praised [*vekilseih*]** Rabbi Yosei bar Rabbi Ḥanina for citing this *baraita*. **And** this poses **a difficulty to** the opinion of **Rav,** who maintains that one is flogged only if he eats an olive-bulk of creeping animals.


###### Meilah 16b:4
[Meilah 16b:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Meilah/r/16b:4)

לָא קַשְׁיָא: כָּאן – בְּמִיתָתָן, כָּאן – בְּחַיֵּיהֶן.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara answers: This is **not difficult. Here,** the *baraita* is referring to eating creeping animals **when they are dead,** at which stage they impart ritual impurity and one is liable for eating a lentil-bulk. By contrast, **there,** Rav is speaking about eating creeping animals **when they are alive,** which do not yet impart ritual impurity. For this reason one is flogged only if he eats an olive-bulk.


###### Meilah 16b:5
[Meilah 16b:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Meilah/r/16b:5)

אֲמַר לֵיהּ אַבָּיֵי: וְהָא רַב אַמַּתְנִיתִין קָאֵי, וּמַתְנִיתִין ״כׇּל הַשְּׁרָצִים״ קָתָנֵי, אֲפִילּוּ בְּמִיתָתָן. לָאו דְּאִיכָּא פּוּרְתָּא מֵהַאי וּפוּרְתָּא מֵהַאי? אֲמַר לֵיהּ רַב יוֹסֵף: הָהִיא דִּיּוּקָא דִּילָךְ הוּא. רַב – שְׁמַעְתָּא בְּעָלְמָא קָאָמַר.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Abaye said to** Rav Yosef: **But** in his statement **Rav** was **referring to the mishna, and the mishna teaches: And all the creeping animals** join together to constitute the requisite olive-bulk measure to render one who consumes it liable to receive lashes. This indicates that this *halakha* applies **even when they are dead.** Is the mishna **not** referring to a case **where there is a bit of this** live creeping animal **and a bit of that** carcass of a creeping animal, which together combine to amount to an olive-bulk? **Rav Yosef said to** Abaye: **This** deductive **inference,** that Rav is referring to the mishna, **is yours.** But in fact **Rav** was **merely saying a *halakha*** unconnected to the mishna. Therefore, there is no proof that Rav was speaking about the carcasses of creeping animals.


###### Meilah 16b:6
[Meilah 16b:6](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Meilah/r/16b:6)

וְקַלְּסֵיהּ רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן. מֵיתִיבִי: הָאֵיבָרִין – אֵין לָהֶן שִׁיעוּר, אֲפִילּוּ פָּחוֹת מִכְּזַיִת נְבֵלָה וּפָחוֹת מִכַּעֲדָשָׁה מִן הַשֶּׁרֶץ – מְטַמְּאִין. וְאָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: אֵין לוֹקִין עֲלֵיהֶן אֶלָּא בִּכְזַיִת!

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara stated: **And Rabbi Yoḥanan praised** Rabbi Yosei bar Rabbi Ḥanina for citing the *baraita* that rules that one is liable for violating the prohibition of eating a creeping animal by the amount of a lentil-bulk. The Gemara **raises an objection** from a mishna (*Oholot* 1:7): **The** whole **limbs** of impure bodies **have no** minimum **measure** with regard to imparting ritual impurity. **Even** if the limbs were **less than an olive-bulk of a carcass or less than a lentil-bulk of a creeping animal,** they **impart** ritual **impurity. And Rabbi Yoḥanan says:** This mishna is referring to the *halakhot* of ritual impurity; but with regard to the minimum measure which renders one liable for consumption, **one is flogged for** eating **them only** if they amount to **an olive-bulk.**


###### Meilah 16b:7
[Meilah 16b:7](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Meilah/r/16b:7)

אָמַר רָבָא: בְּמוּבְדָּלִין דִּבֵּר הַכָּתוּב.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Rava says** in resolution of the apparent contradiction between Rabbi Yoḥanan’s statements: When Rabbi Yoḥanan said that one is flogged for eating even a lentil-bulk of a creeping animal, he was referring only to those eight creeping animals of which **the verse speaks, which are separated** from all other creeping animals. The Torah (Leviticus 11:29–32) lists eight types of creeping animals, and Rabbi Yoḥanan was referring specifically to those eight. He maintains that one is flogged for eating a lentil-bulk of such creatures, whereas in the case of other creeping animals one is flogged only for eating an olive-bulk of them.


###### Meilah 16b:8
[Meilah 16b:8](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Meilah/r/16b:8)

אֲמַר לֵיהּ רַב אַדָּא בַּר אַהֲבָה לְרָבָא: אֶלָּא מֵעַתָּה, בְּהֵמָה נָמֵי, לִיפְלְגִי בֵּין מוּבְדֶּלֶת לְשֶׁאֵינָהּ מוּבְדֶּלֶת.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Rav Adda bar Ahava said to Rava: If that is so,** that there is a difference in the measure of liability for consumption between various types of creeping animals, the same should **also** apply with regard to **an animal.** Since the Torah in Leviticus 20:25 juxtaposes both kosher animals and non-kosher animals to creeping animals, one can say that an analogous difference should apply here as well: **Let** the *halakha* **distinguish between** flesh from the carcass of kosher animals, which is **separated** from other types in that it is permitted in consumption by the Torah, and flesh from the carcass of a non-kosher animal, **which is not separated,** i.e., which is not permitted by the Torah. Consequently, if the carcass of a kosher animal imparts ritual impurity by the amount of an olive-bulk of flesh, the measure of flesh from the carcass of a non-kosher animal that imparts ritual impurity should be larger, i.e., an egg-bulk.