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Text Excerpt
אמר ליה: כי קא מקיש רחמנא – לבל תשקצו, אבל לשיעורין – לא.
Rava said to Rav Adda bar Ahava: When God juxtaposes kosher and non-kosher animals to creeping animals, this is referring to the prohibition of: “You should not make your souls detestable” (Leviticus 20:25), teaching that they are all included in that prohibition. But with regard to measures the Torah does not juxtapose those animals to creeping animals. For this reason there is no difference between the measure of impurity of carcasses of kosher animals and non-kosher animals.
מתני׳ דם השרץ והבשר – מצטרפין זה עם זה. כלל אמר רבי יהושע: כל שטומאתו ושיעורו שוין – מצטרפין.
Mishnah: The blood of one of the 8 creeping animals listed in the Torah and their flesh join together to constitute the lentil-bulk measure to impart impurity. R' Yehoshua stated a principle: With regard to any items whose impurity, in terms of degree and duration, and measure to impart impurity, are equal, e.g., two halves of an olive-bulk from two corpses or two animal carcasses or two halves of a lentil-bulk from two creeping animals, they join together to constitute the requisite measure.
טומאתו ולא שיעורו, שיעורו ולא טומאתו, לא טומאתו [ולא] שיעורו – אין מצטרפין.
R' Yehoshua continued: By contrast, with regard to items whose impurity is equal but their measure is not equal, e.g., a creeping animal and an animal carcass, each of which renders one impure until the evening, but the measure of a creeping animal is a lentil-bulk, whereas that of an animal carcass is an olive-bulk; or items whose measure is equal but whose impurity is not equal, e.g., a corpse and an animal carcass, with regard to which the measure of each is an olive-bulk, but the duration of the impurity imparted by a corpse is one week and the duration of the impurity imparted by an animal carcass is until the evening; or items that are equal neither in terms of their impurity nor in terms of their measure, they do not join together to constitute the requisite measure.