According to the Mishna on yesterday’s daf a person can eat a single olive-size bit of meat and be liable for four separate sin offerings (ḥatat) as well as a guilt offering (asham). The case would be if the person was ritually impure and he ate Ḥelev (forbidden fat) that was notar (it was left over from a sacrifice past the time that it could be eaten), so it was from an animal that was sanctified for the altar, on Yom Kippur.
This person would be obligated to bring separate sin offerings:
- for eating forbidden fats,
- for eating meat from a sacrifice after the time that it was permitted,
- for eating sanctified meat while ritually impure, and
- for eating on Yom Kippur.
He is also obligated to bring a guilt offering for having taken from the sanctified animal (me’ila).
Rabbi Meir adds that if it was Shabbat and he walked into the public domain with the meat in his mouth, he would be obligated to bring a fifth sin offering, for carrying in the public domain on Shabbat.
Today’s daf opens with a question: This appears to be a case of issur ḥal al issur – that the prohibitions are being piled one upon the other – and Rabbi Meir rejects such a possibility! (The Ramban explains that the assumption of the Gemara is that the entire anonymous Mishna is the opinion of Rabbi Meir.) In response the Gemara explains that although Rabbi Meir does not believe that issur ḥal al issur, nevertheless he does accept the idea of issur mosif – that when the new prohibition has an added element of prohibition, it can be added to the existing prohibition.
In our case, the basic prohibition is that it is forbidden to eat the forbidden fat. When the man became ritually defiled he cannot eat any sanctified meat. And while the forbidden fat was initially forbidden only for consumption, once he consecrated the animal, it became forbidden to derive any benefit from that meat. Finally, when the meat became “left over” it became forbidden to all, not just an ordinary person. Since each of these includes more than the previous prohibition, all of the prohibitions take effect.