אמר רב ששת מנא אמינא לה דתנן וכן כזית מן המת וכזית מן הנבילה חייב הא חצי זית פטור והתניא חצי זית חייב מאי לאו הא דתניא חייב דאפיק חצי זית מכזית והא דתנן פטור דאפיק חצי זית מכזית ומחצה ורב נחמן אידי ואידי חייב והא דתנן פטור דאפיק חצי זית ממת גדול:
did I then say [that it may be carried out] into the street? I [merely] said, into a <i>karmelith</i>: the dignity of human beings is a great thing, for it supersedes [even] a negative injunction of the Torah.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Hence this is permitted. [Not exactly a Biblical prohibition but an interdict of the Rabbis whose enactments have Biblical force (Rashi). V. Ber. 19b.]
');"><sup>6</sup></span> We learnt elsewhere: If one plucks out the symptoms of uncleanness<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' v., the two whitened hairs which are a proof of leprosy; v. Lev. XIII, 3 (the minimum is two hairs).
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Mishnah Negaim
One who plucks out signs of uncleanness or burns quick flesh transgresses a negative commandment. And as regards cleanness: If they were plucked out before he came to the priest, he is clean; But if after he had been certified as unclean, he remains unclean. Rabbi Akiva said: I asked Rabban Gamaliel and Rabbi Joshua while they were on the way to Narbata, "What is the ruling if the plucking occurred while he was isolated?" They said to me, "We did not hear anything [about this case], but we have heard that if they were plucked before he came to the priest he is clean, and if after he had been certified as unclean he remains unclean." I began to bring them proofs: whether the man stands before the priest or whether he is isolated, he is clean unless the priest had pronounced him unclean. When does he attain cleanness [after he has been certified unclean]? Rabbi Eliezer says: after another nega arises in him and he has attained cleanness after it. But the sages says: only after another nega has spread over his whole body or after his bright spot has been reduced to less than the size of a split bean.
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