פירוש על מעילה 6:6

כיון שהוציא את הראשונה – for the needs of his use, he has committed religious sacrilege.

Introduction This mishnah discusses a situation where one dedicated coin is in a bag full of non-sacred coins, but we don’t know which coin it is. If he uses the coins in the bag, at what point is he considered to have committed sacrilege?

וחכמים אומרים – he did not commit religious sacrilege

If a perutah belonging to the Temple fell into his bag or if he said, “One perutah in this bag shall be dedicated,” as soon as he spends the first perutah he is guilty of sacrilege, the words of Rabbi Akiva. But the sages say: not until he has spent all the money that was in the bag. According to Rabbi Akiva, as soon as he spends a perutah from this bag of coins, he is liable for sacrilege, lest that perutah was the holy one. As a penalty he will bring an asham talui (a suspended asham) for every perutah that he spends. This matches Rabbi Akiva’s position in Keritot 5:2 one who has committed a doubtful act of sacrilege must bring an asham talui. If he spends all of the coins in the bag, he will have to bring a certain asham because at that point we know that he has committed sacrilege. The sages hold that he is not liable for sacrilege until it is certain that he has used the dedicated coin. This is consistent with their opinion in Keritot 5:2 one does not bring an asham talui for sacrilege. He is liable for sacrilege only when he spends all of the coins.

until he spent all the money that was in the purse for the needs of unconsecrated products. And the Halakah is according to the Sages.

Rabbi Akiva agrees if he says, “A perutah out of this bag shall be dedicated,” he is permitted to keep on spending [and is liable only] when he has spent all that was in the bag. “A perutah out of this bag shall be dedicated” is interpreted to mean that the owner will give a perutah from the coins in this bag to the Temple. In other words, none of the coins are holy now, but one will be holy later on. In this case, Rabbi Akiva agrees with the sages that the he is not liable for sacrilege unless he uses all of the coins in the bag. Congratulations! We have finished Tractate Meilah! It is a tradition at this point to thank God for helping us finish learning the tractate and to commit ourselves to going back and relearning it, so that we may not forget it and so that its lessons will stay with us for all of our lives. By dedicating an entire chapter to the topic of sacrilege, we learn just how serious a crime it is to use funds in an inappropriate manner. In modern Hebrew “meilah” is the word for embezzlement, a crime that unfortunately many of our leaders cannot seem to avoid. Meilah teaches us boundaries holy property, dedicated for the spiritual use of the community cannot be used for non-sacred purposes. Furthermore, when one does so, it is not enough just to pay back the embezzled funds. One must add an additional one-fifth and bring a sacrifice to atone for the crime. Although, as always, the technical aspects of this crime overwhelm the rabbinic discussion, there is a moral lesson that lies behind them as well. I hope you have enjoyed Meilah. Tomorrow we begin Tractate Tamid.

פרוטה מן הכיס זה – that is to say, do not use up the penny from this purse until there will be in it something consecrated.