According to Halachah 1, for which penalties does the olive-sized (k'zayit) measure apply?
Halachah 1 explicitly states the k'zayit threshold applies whether for lashes, karet, or death at the hand of heaven — all three penalties share the same minimum measure.
Question 2
If fat was originally the size of an olive, was left in the sun and shrank, then placed in the rain and re-expanded to an olive's size, what is the liability?
Halachah 4 rules that if it originally was a k'zayit and later re-expanded after shrinking, one is liable for karet or lashes. The original size is what governs.
Question 3
Within what time window must small sub-k'zayit portions be consumed to combine into a single liable k'zayit (Halachah 8)?
Halachah 8 establishes k'dei achilat p'ras — the time to eat a portion of bread with relish the size of three eggs — as the maximum window in which separate bites combine into a single liable k'zayit.
Question 4
Why is one liable for eating a bitter mixture cooked with meat and milk, even though no pleasure was derived (Halachah 11)?
Halachah 10–11 explains that meat-and-milk (and kilayim of the vineyard) are prohibited in non-eating language ('cooking'; 'become hallowed'), which means they are forbidden even without normal pleasure — unlike other prohibitions that require derech hana'ah.
Question 5
When a person seized by bulmos (severe hunger crisis) has both tevel and nevelah available, which should be fed first and why (Halachah 17)?
Halachah 17 rules that nevelah is fed first, because tevel (produce from which terumot have not been separated) is punishable by death at Heaven's hand — making it the more severe prohibition. The general principle is always to feed the most leniently-prohibited substance first.