Minute Prohibited Substances

Explanation of the Measures of Prohibitions

R. Joshua ben Levi says: All prohibited [substances] in the Torah [are nullified by mixing them with permitted substances that are] sixty [times their amount]. R. Samuel bar R. Isaac said: My teacher, you say this? [But] this is what R. Asi says that R. Joshua ben Levi says in the name of Bar Kappara: All prohibited [substances] in the Torah [are nullified] by one hundred [times their amount]. And both of them learned [their respective opinions] specifically from [the phrase]: Cooked foreleg (Numbers 6:19) [see b. Ḥullin 98a].

The number [of different types] of measures [for prohibited substances is] fourteen, and they are as follows: by any amount; when it imparts flavor; [the size] of a barley; of a lentil; of an olive; of a bean; of a large date; of an egg; of a dried fig; of a quarter [of a log]; by sixty [times their amount]; by one hundred; by two hundred; and by one thousand.

The [prohibitions themselves can be] divided into three categories:

First, one may not eat or drink [the substance], but one may benefit from it. Second, regarding the prohibition of consumption and benefit; now, [anything] that one may not benefit from, one may not consume, but not everything that one may not consume, one may not [also] benefit from. The third [category concerns] the measures stated regarding impurity. [It should be further noted that] those [substances] that one may not eat or drink, whether or not one may benefit from them, can be [further] divided into two categories: First, those for which one is liable for its consumption, and second, those for which one is not.

The [substances] that may not be consumed but one may benefit from—even though they include some for which one is liable to excision for consuming—are thirteen, and they are: [an unslaughtered] carcass; a terefah [an animal with a fatal condition]; [meat containing] the sciatic nerve; nonkosher animals and beasts; nonkosher fowl and fish; [forbidden] fats; blood; a limb from a living [animal]; creeping and crawling creatures; and terumah [tithed produce set aside for priests] for nonpriests and impure priests. And also those which we learned [in m. Avodah Zarah 2:6]: These are objects of non-Jews [which are] prohibited, and their prohibition is not a prohibition of benefit [i.e., they can be benefited from]: Milk that was milked by a non-Jew without Jewish supervision; their [non-Jewish] bread and oil; boiled and pickled vegetables, into which wine and vinegar is usually added; minced pickled herring; brine in which there is no kilbit [wormy] fish floating; allec [a sauce made from small fish], drops of asafetida; and salkondit [spiced] salt.

The [substances] that are prohibited in eating and drinking, and whose prohibition is a prohibition of benefit, are fourteen, and they are: ‘orlah [the fruit of a tree within the first four years of its planting]; a mixture of seeds in a vineyard; notar [meat of a sacrifice that was left over after the permitted time for its consumption]; pigul [meat of a sacrifice that was invalidated by an intent during its offering to partake of it after the permitted time]; a nonsacred [animal] that was slaughtered in the [Temple] courtyard; the birds of a leper [see Leviticus chapter 14]; leaven on Passover; meat [mixed] with milk; the meat of an ox [condemned] to be stoned; the calf whose neck is broken [see Deuteronomy 21:1–9]; [an animal] set aside [for idolatry]; idolatry; libation wine [for idolatry]; and vinegar of libation wine.

The [substances] that are prohibited in eating and drinking for which one is liable to excision are seven: leaven on Passover; [forbidden] fats; blood; pigul; notar; one who eats on Yom Kippur [an amount of food] that is like [in size to] a large date; and an impure person who eats sacred food. [As for] the other [substances] that are prohibited in eating and drinking, whether their prohibition is [also] a prohibition of benefit or whether their prohibition is [only] a prohibition of consumption, one is not liable to excision for eating or drinking them.

And those stated regarding impurity [are] seven, and they are [as follows]: a corpse; [the amount] of an olive from a corpse; [the amount] of a lentil from a crawling creature; semen; a bone [from a corpse, the size] of a barley; a ladle-full of dust [from a corpse]; and a quarter [of a log] of blood. And even though one who touches that which is left over [from these measures] is rendered impure, one must separate himself from them [specifically] in accordance with these amounts.¹

The first measure [applies to those substances] that are prohibited by any amount, [and] they are taught in the following mishnah [Avodah Zarah 5:9]: These are prohibited and their prohibition is by any amount: libation wine; idolatry; skins [with a tear opposite the] heart; an ox [condemned] to be stoned; the calf whose neck is broken; the birds of a leper; the hair of a nazirite [see Numbers 6:18]; a firstborn donkey [see Exodus 13:13]; meat [mixed] with milk; and a nonsacred [animal] that was slaughtered in the [Temple] courtyard. These are prohibited, and their prohibition is by any amount.

Semen renders impure the one from whom it was emitted by any amount, and it renders impure one who touches it by [an amount the size] of a lentil, as it is thus [stated] in the Talmud, [tractate] Niddah [43b]: R. Malay² says in the name of R. Eleazar ben R. Simeon: Semen transmits impurity to one who emits [it] by any amount, [but with regard to] one who touches it by [an amount the size] of a lentil.

Furthermore, water renders food fit to become impure by any amount [of water that falls on the food], as we learned: [All food that may be eaten,] upon which water comes, shall be impure (Leviticus 11:34); this teaches that [such food] imparts impurity by [means of] any amount [of prior contact with water]. Likewise, blood from a menstruating woman renders that woman impure by any amount. Also [the measure of “by any amount” appears regarding] that which is stated: [a mixture of] wine vinegar and malt vinegar, [and likewise] leaven of wheat [flour] and leaven of barley [flour, when one of the substances is prohibited and the other permitted]. Abaye says: [The prohibited substance renders the mixture forbidden] when it imparts flavor; and Rava says: by any amount [b. Avodah Zarah 66a]. And the law is in accordance with Rava.

The second measure [applies to those substances] that are prohibited when [they] impart flavor, and they are ten: libation wine that fell into water, as we learned: [Libation] wine [mixed] with water, or [libation] water [mixed] with wine [renders the mixture forbidden] when it imparts flavor. This is the [general] principle: A substance [mixed] with the same [type of] substance [renders the mixture forbidden] by any amount, but [if it is mixed] with a different substance [it renders the mixture forbidden only] when it imparts flavor [m. Avodah Zarah 5:8].

The second [of the ten substances to which this measure applies is] meat [mixed] with milk, as we learned: A drop of milk that fell on a piece of meat, if that drop has [enough milk] to impart flavor to that piece, [it is prohibited]; and in [the case of] a pot [of meat, the mixture is prohibited], if [the drop] contains [enough milk] to impart flavor to that [entire] pot [m. Ḥullin 8:3].

The third is fat of a sciatic nerve that was cooked with a different [substance,] as we learned: A thigh that was cooked with the sciatic nerve in it, [if the sciatic nerve is large enough to impart flavor to the thigh, the entire thigh is prohibited]. [ . . . ] [A sciatic nerve] that was cooked with [other] sinews, in a case where one can discern [and remove the sciatic nerve, it prohibits] when it imparts flavor [see m. Ḥullin 7:5]. However, [if] the fat of a sciatic nerve was mixed [with a kosher substance, and the sciatic nerve cannot be identified], one measures it [and it is prohibited if the proportion of the sciatic nerve is greater than] one sixtieth [of the whole].

The fourth and fifth [of the ten substances] are a carcass and a nonkosher fish, and likewise their fats, and similarly a piece of a carcass and a piece of a nonkosher fish, which were cooked with pieces of permitted [food]. In a case where one can discern [and remove the carcass or a nonkosher fish, it prohibits only] when it imparts flavor. If one cannot discern [and remove the forbidden pieces, then] they are all prohibited [see m. Ḥullin 7:5].

The sixth is sauce of a forbidden [substance], as we learned: Sauce [prohibits] when it imparts flavor [m. Ḥullin 7:5].

The seventh is [forbidden] fat, as was stated: Abaye said: [The principle that] the flavor [of a forbidden food prohibits] and [it is] not [necessary for] its substance [to be present, applies in cases of] biblical law in general [i.e., not just regarding meat mixed with milk, b. Ḥullin 108a].

The eighth is a nonkosher egg, as was stated regarding nonkosher eggs that one boiled with kosher eggs: If [the nonkosher eggs] are enough to impart flavor [to the kosher eggs, then those eggs] are prohibited [b. Ḥullin 98a].

The ninth is wine for a nazirite, as was stated: Anything soaked in grapes [he shall not drink] (Numbers 6:3), [this comes] to establish [that the] flavor [of the forbidden food is considered] like [its] substance. [This means] that if one soaked grapes in water, and they suffice to impart the flavor of wine, [the mixture is] prohibited. From here one learns [by analogy] to all the prohibitions of the Torah [that the taste of a forbidden food is like its substance].

The tenth [and final substance is] vinegar that fell into libation wine, as was stated: [Forbidden] vinegar [that fell] into wine, everyone agrees [that the mixture is forbidden] when [the vinegar] imparts flavor. [If it was forbidden] wine [that fell into] vinegar, R. Abaye says: [The prohibited substance renders the mixture forbidden] by any amount.