Meilah, Chapter 1, Mishnah 4. The two mishnayot we have just learned asked what the zerikah, the sprinkling of the blood upon the mizbe'ach, achieves when something had already gone wrong: the imurin or the flesh of a korban had been taken out of the Azarah (the Temple courtyard) while the blood was still unthrown. Now the mishnah takes up the straightforward case. Nothing was removed, every avodah was performed in its proper place, and the blood was presented as required. What, then, does the zerikah accomplish?
The mishnah begins by laying down the rule and only afterwards illustrates it. "Ma'aseh damim bekadshei kadashim", what the blood service brings about in an offering of the highest sanctity, such as a chatat or an asham, is "lehakel ulehachmir": part of what follows from the zerikah is a leniency, and part of it is a stringency. In an offering of lesser sanctity the picture is different, "uvkodashim kalim, kulan lehachmir": there, everything the zerikah brings about is severity. "Keitzad", in what way? The mishnah now sets out the cases one by one.
Kadshei Kadashim: Leniency and Stringency
"Lifnei zerikat damim", before the blood has been thrown, "mo'alin ba'imurin uvabasar": me'ilah attaches to the imurin (the portions set aside for burning on the mizbe'ach) and equally to the flesh. At this stage both of them count as kodshei Hashem. From the moment the owner consecrated the animal for his korban, the whole of it became Hashem's possession. True, the kohanim are destined to eat a portion of the flesh, but that portion reaches them as a gift from Hashem; before the zerikah they hold no claim to it. The animal therefore remains entirely Hashem's, and one who derives benefit from any part of it has committed me'ilah.
"Le'ahar zerikat hadam, mo'alin ba'imurin ve'ein mo'alin babasar." After the blood is thrown, the imurin remain subject to me'ilah, but the meat does not. The zerikah is what permits the meat to the kohanim for eating. Once that happens, the meat is no longer held as Hashem's property, and the laws of me'ilah no longer govern it. That is the leniency produced by the zerikah.
Of both alike, "al zeh ve'al zeh", the imurin no less than the flesh, the mishnah rules that a person is "chayavin", liable to karet, should he eat them when they are pigul, when they are notar, or when he is in a state of tumah. None of these three liabilities exists until the blood has been thrown. Picture a case in which every avodah was carried out correctly and only one defect entered in: a disqualifying intention during the service, which makes the korban pigul; or eating or burning it after its appointed time has passed, which is notar; or consuming it while tamei. In every one of these, culpability starts only from the zerikah onward. Such is the severity that the zerikah introduces.
Kodashim Kalim: Stringency Only
"Uvkodashim kalim kulan lehachmir." With kodashim kalim, as the mishnah stated at the outset, every effect of the zerikah is a stringency. "Keitzad," how so?
"Kodashim kalim, lifnei zerikat hadam", in an offering of lesser sanctity, before the blood is thrown, "ein mo'alin lo ba'imurin", there is no me'ilah in the imurin, "velo babasar", and none in the flesh either. Such an animal was never consigned to Hashem alone, for its owners are going to keep part of the flesh and eat it themselves. Since Hashem's ownership of it is not exclusive, at this stage the laws of me'ilah do not apply to it at all.
"Le'ahar zerikat damim, mo'alin ba'imurin." After the blood is thrown, the imurin are now handed over to Hashem and must be burned on the mizbe'ach. At that point they become Hashem's property, and me'ilah applies to them. This is a stringency created by the zerikah, the exact reverse of what we saw with kadshei kadashim.
"Ve'ein mo'alin babasar." The meat, however, is not subject to me'ilah, since it is eaten by the owner and was never designated for Hashem.
Here as well the mishnah says "al zeh ve'al zeh": with respect to the imurin as much as the flesh, from the moment the blood has been thrown a person bears karet for eating them in a state of pigul, of notar, or of tumah. This is a second severity flowing from the zerikah. In kodashim kalim, then, no leniency emerges whatsoever. The zerikah releases nothing from me'ilah; it only creates fresh liabilities.
The Conclusion
"Nimtza", it emerges, that in kadshei kadashim the blood service cuts both ways, "lehakel ulehachmir": leniently, in that the flesh is released from me'ilah, and stringently, in that from now on a person bears karet should he eat the offering as pigul, as notar, or in a state of tumah.
"Uvkodashim kalim", and in an offering of lesser sanctity, the blood service runs in one direction only: "kulo lehachmir". Once the blood is thrown, me'ilah begins to apply to the imurin, and karet becomes possible for whoever eats the offering as pigul, as notar, or while tamei.