Meilah, Chapter 4, Mishnah 1. A person is liable for me'ilah only if he derived at least a perutah's worth of benefit from consecrated property. This new chapter opens by asking what happens when no single item supplied a full perutah of benefit, yet several small benefits, taken together, add up to a perutah or more. Do they join into one liability, or does each remain too small to count?
The mishnah examines this in two categories of consecrated property. The first is kodshei hamizbeach, items dedicated to the altar: animals such as cattle, sheep and goats, and birds such as doves and pigeons, along with the flour, oil and wine used for the menachot and the libations. The second is kodshei bedek habayit, items dedicated to the maintenance of the Beit Hamikdash. That category includes materials that will themselves be put to use in the building, such as gold and silver, and also items that cannot be used in the repairs directly but are sold, with the proceeds going toward the upkeep.
Altar Consecrations Join Together
"Kodshei hamizbeach" (things consecrated to the altar) "mitztarfin zeh im zeh" (are joined one with another) "lime'ilah" (with regard to me'ilah).
Objects dedicated to the altar are added to one another when the benefit is measured. If someone unwittingly enjoyed several of them, and the sum of what he enjoyed reaches a perutah, that total is what makes him guilty. Suppose he enjoyed half a perutah from an olah and another half a perutah from a chatat: me'ilah has been committed.
The two acts of benefit need not be close together. Even if a considerable stretch of time separated them, as long as they occurred within a single lapse of awareness, meaning he never became conscious in between that he had misused consecrated property, the two amounts join to produce one violation.
Combining for Pigul, Notar and Tameh
"Ulechayev aleihen" (and to render one liable for them) "mishum pigul" (on account of pigul) "notar" (on account of notar) "vetameh" (and on account of eating in a state of tum'ah).
This joining operates for the other prohibitions of the korbanot as well. Whoever consumes a kezayit of pigul, a kezayit of notar, or a kezayit of sacrificial meat while he is tameh, is subject to karet. Pigul: while performing the service, the one bringing the offering had in mind that its blood be sprinkled, or its meat eaten, outside the designated time, and that intention disqualifies it. Notar: sacrificial meat left standing beyond the hour by which it had to be consumed, and thereby disqualified. Tameh: the eater himself was in a state of tum'ah when he partook of the korban.
In these cases as well, amounts taken from two separate offerings are added together. Someone who ate half a kezayit of the pigul of an olah and then half a kezayit of the pigul of a chatat has eaten a full kezayit, and karet applies to him.
Bedek Habayit: Consecrations for Temple Repair
"Kodshei bedek habayit" (things consecrated toward the repair of the Sanctuary) "mitztarfin zeh im zeh" (are joined one with another).
Joining is not limited to what belongs to the altar. Property set aside for the repair fund of the Beit Hamikdash likewise adds up until a perutah is reached. Half a perutah enjoyed from one such item, plus half a perutah enjoyed from a second, and the two amounts together produce a case of me'ilah.
Combining Across the Two Categories
"Kodshei hamizbeach" (things consecrated to the altar) "vekodshei bedek habayit" (and things consecrated toward the repair of the Sanctuary) "mitztarfin zeh im zeh" (are joined one with another) "lime'ilah" (with regard to me'ilah).
Finally, even benefits taken from the two different categories combine with each other. Benefit from something dedicated to the altar joins with benefit from something dedicated to the maintenance of the Beit Hamikdash to reach the required perutah.
In short, any consecrated property of the Beit Hamikdash, whether kodshei hamizbeach or kodshei bedek habayit, can be added together in any combination. Once the total benefit reaches a perutah, the person has violated me'ilah.