Question: Just a simple pshat question today. In R' Chiah's approach that the mishna is referring to a half a zayis of tumah he seems to distinuish between someone who cuts a piece from a live person (which is mkabel tumas ochlin with machshava) and meat from a corpse where Rashi explains even machshava will not help because botlah daatoh. What is the svarah to distinguish between the two cases? If anything I would think that a dead person is "more edible". ( I did notice that the RaDa"L mentions that Rashi seems to go with the Ra'vad's shita and the Rambam would hold that even a corpse's meat could be mkabel tumah kalah with machshava and the gmarah just meens that a dead animal doesn't need machshava ( in certain cases) where a human corpse needs machshava.) But what is pshat with Rashi? I must be missing something.

Thank you for your help.

Yakov

Excellent question. The ARUCH L'NER discusses your point, and suggests an answer based on the fact that Basar ha'Mes is Asur b'Hana'ah, as opposed to Basar min ha'Chai (take a look). The simple meaning of the Gemara, though, appears to have to do with the eating habits of cannibals...

Be well, Mordecai