כל אשר יגע בבשרה יקדש
“Whatever touches its flesh becomes holy.” (Vayikra 6:20)
והבשר אשר יגע בכל טמא לא יאכל
“The flesh that touches any contaminated thing may not be eaten.” (Vayikra 7:19)
Twice, in adjacent perokim, we have pasukim that detail the consequence of the contact of foodstuffs with meat that is kodesh.
In the first instance (6:20), we have negiah with kedushah, where the halachah is that any food having contact with what is considered holy meat becomes holy and takes on the properties of that kind of kodesh. The flipside is also true. As Rashi explains, if the kodesh meat is tahor and fit for eating, the food that had contact with it must be eaten with the same rules and regulations governing the eating of the original kodesh meat.
In the second instance (7:19), we have negiah with tumah, where the halachah is that kodesh meat that has contact with an item that is tamei becomes impure and is forbidden to be eaten.
But there is a subtle, yet significant, difference between the two. In the second case, mere contact, mere negiah with tumah, is enough to render the holy meat unholy. However, in the case of negiah with kodesh — where the chullin, the unholy item, acquires the status of the kodesh — mere contact is insufficient, and actual absorption from the kodesh item must take place. This, Rashi says (6:20, citing Zevochim 97a), is derived from the extra word bivsarah, its flesh.
Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the Ba’al HaTanya (brought down in Vayakhel Moshe), derives a fundamental principle from this distinction. When it comes to contact with tumah and the resulting impurity, even a drop is damaging. The mere contact, however short and casual, will render the meat and, homiletically, a person, tamei. When it comes to safeguarding our sanctity and spiritual condition, we cannot be too careful and must assiduously avoid the spiritual contaminants and contagions of the world.
On the other hand, connecting to kedushah, where one is transformed by the event, cannot be accomplished with mere contact. Just putting my foot in the pool and testing the waters of holiness is not enough. For the kedushah to transform a person, one must immerse himself, and like the unholy meat, absorb the kedushah. Only then can one transcend to a higher and holier level. While tumah can be contracted by osmosis, purity must be worked on. (R’ Avraham Bukspan, Classics and Beyond 1)
