A Holy People and the Torn Flesh of the Field

Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben Yochai 22:30

"And you shall be holy people to Me" (Exodus 22:30). Issi ben Yehudah says: whenever the Holy One, blessed be He, adds a commandment to Israel, He adds holiness to them. "And men": I know only men; from where do I learn women? Scripture says "you shall be to Me" [including all]. "And flesh in the field" (Exodus 22:30). I know only an animal torn in the field; from where do I learn one torn on a roof, in a courtyard, or in a ruin? Scripture says "torn flesh you shall not eat." One might think that if it was injured in its ear or its leg it would be forbidden. Scripture says "to the dog you shall throw it," meaning flesh that has been torn so as to be fit only for a dog. Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: "torn flesh you shall not eat" comes to give a warning concerning the torn animal. I know only one that was torn; from where do I learn that flesh separated from a living animal is under the warning? Scripture says "and flesh in the field you shall not eat." From where do I learn that a limb of a fetus that emerged, after which its mother was slaughtered, is under a negative commandment? Scripture says "and flesh in the field, torn": once it emerged to a place that is to it like a field, I apply "torn" to it. From where do I learn that the flesh of consecrated offerings that went outside the hangings, and the flesh of lesser holy things that went outside the wall of Jerusalem, and the flesh of the Passover offering that went outside its company, are under a negative commandment? Scripture says "and flesh in the field, torn": whatever went outside its boundary, I apply "flesh in the field, torn" to it. "You shall not eat": there is no eating of less than an olive's bulk. "To the dog you shall throw it" teaches that one is permitted to benefit from it. "It": it you throw to the dog, but you do not throw the carcass of a consecrated animal that died to the dog.

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