Si [un propietario] envió [dinero perteneciente al Templo] en manos de un sordomudo, una persona loca o un menor [para comprarle algo al almacenista], y ellos llevaron a cabo sus instrucciones, el propietario tiene violó meilah . Si no siguen sus instrucciones, el dueño de la tienda ha violado meilah . Si lo envió en manos de una persona normal y recordó antes de que él [el emisario] llegara al dueño de la tienda, el dueño de la tienda violó a Meilah cuando finalmente gastó el dinero. ¿Qué debería hacer [el propietario] [para que el almacenista no viole la meilah ?] Debería tomar una peruta o un recipiente [que valga una peruta] y decir: La perutah que pertenece al Templo donde quiera que esté puede ser desconsagrada en este [peruta o recipiente], para los artículos que pertenecen al Templo se pueden canjear con dinero o artículos que valen dinero.
Bartenura on Mishnah Meilah
ביד חרש שוטה וקטן – who are not capable of carrying out a commission/agency, nevertheless, since his agency was done, the person who sent him committed sacrilege/misappropriation.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Meilah
Introduction
This mishnah deals with a person who unknowingly sends money that has been dedicated to the Temple with an agent to a storekeeper to buy something.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Meilah
החנוני – who received the money from the hand of the deaf-mute/חרש, imbecile/שוטה or the minor/קטן, is liable when he spends the monies of sacred property on his possessions.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Meilah
One who has sent a deaf-mute, an imbecile or a minor: If they carried out their agency the employer is guilty, If they did not carry out their appointed errand, the shopkeeper is guilty. A deaf-mute, imbecile and minor cannot be held legally responsible for their actions. However, if they fulfill their agency, then the one who sent them is liable for sacrilege, just as he is in all cases. If they do not fulfill the agency, then when the shopkeeper spends the money that they gave him, he will be guilty of sacrilege. The money has remained holy until this point, because the deaf-mute, imbecile and minor are not capable of being liable for sacrilege. Had the agent been a person of sound senses, he would have been liable for sacrilege when he didn’t fulfill the employer’s instructions. In such a case, when the storekeeper spends the money he will not be liable.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Meilah
ונזכר – the householder [is reminded] prior to the monies reaching the hand of the storekeeper, and since he remembered, he furthermore is not liable for a sacrifice of sacrilege/misappropriation, for there is no sacrifice of misappropriation/sacrilege for a wanton act.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Meilah
If one sent one of sound senses and remembers [that the money belongs to Temple property] before it has come into the possession of the shopkeeper, the shopkeeper will be guilty when he spends it. Here the employer remembers that the money he gave to his agent is holy, but he remembers too late. The employee is already on his way. At this point the sender cannot be liable for sacrilege, or at least not to bring a sacrifice to atone for sacrilege, because a sacrifice is not brought by one who intentionally commits sacrilege. Although he sent it without knowing it was holy, since he knows before it is used, he is considered as one who intentionally commits sacrilege.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Meilah
החנוני חייב – and this is the case where the houseowner and the agent were reminded, for here, there is no one who acted inadvertently other than the storekeeper. But if the houseowner is reminded but the agent is not reminded, the agent committed misappropriation because inadvertently erred first.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Meilah
What should he do? He should take a perutah or a vessel and say “The perutah that is Temple property, wherever it may be, is redeemed with this;” for consecrated things can be redeemed both with money and with money's worth. Don’t worry! There is a remedy to prevent the poor innocent storekeeper from committing sacrilege. The sender can redeem the coins even when they are not in his presence. All he has to do is take a perutah or a vessel that is worth at least a perutah and declare that the holiness of the coins that he already sent is transferred to the coin or vessel in his hand. The mishnah concludes by noting that Temple property can be redeemed both by coin and by things that are worth money.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Meilah
כיצד יעשה – that is to say if the storekeeper knew about this penny that it is holy prior to his spending it or that it became combined with the rest of the pennies that he has, how should he act and be free to use his pennies.
