Positive Commandment 90 (Digest)
Burning Sacrifices that Contracted Ritual Impurity
"The flesh that touches any impurity shall not be eaten; it shall be burnt with fire"—Leviticus 7:19.
We are commanded to burn any sacrifice that has become ritually impure.
This mitzvah also includes the obligation to burn Terumah oil that has become ritually impure.
The 90th mitzvah is that we are commanded to burn sacrifices which have become impure.
The source of this commandment is G‑d's statement (exalted be He), "Any [sacrificial] meat which comes in contact with something impure may not be eaten; it must be burned in fire."
When explaining the reason why on a holiday one may not burn oil of terumah which became impure, the Talmud in Shabbos says, "Refraining from work [on a holiday] is a positive commandment, giving the holiday both a positive commandment and a prohibition. A positive commandment alone cannot push aside both a positive commandment and a prohibition."
The explanation of this is as follows: Doing work on a holiday is prohibited, and if one does work, he transgresses a positive commandment, because he violated the positive commandment regarding the holiday, "It shall be for you a day of rest." He also transgresses a prohibition, namely, "No work may be done on these [days]," i.e., the holidays.
Burning holy things that became impure, however, is only a positive commandment. Therefore, because of the principle just mentioned, that "a positive commandment alone cannot push aside both a positive commandment and a prohibition," one may not burn them on a holiday.
Another statement there indicating the same point is, "Just as it is a commandment to burn sacrifices that have become impure, so too it is a commandment to burn terumah that has become impure."
The details of this mitzvah have been explained in tractate Pesachim and at the end of Temurah.
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