Kommentar zu Oholot 2:1
אֵלּוּ מְטַמְּאִין בְּאֹהֶל. הַמֵּת, וְכַזַּיִת מִן הַמֵּת, וְכַזַּיִת נֶצֶל, וּמְלֹא תַרְוָד רָקָב, הַשִּׁדְרָה, וְהַגֻּלְגֹּלֶת, אֵבָר מִן הַמֵּת וְאֵבָר מִן הַחַי שֶׁיֵּשׁ עֲלֵיהֶן בָּשָׂר כָּרָאוּי, רֹבַע עֲצָמוֹת מֵרֹב הַבִּנְיָן אוֹ מֵרֹב הַמִּנְיָן. וְרֹב בִּנְיָנוֹ וְרֹב מִנְיָנוֹ שֶׁל מֵת, אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵין בָּהֶם רֹבַע, טְמֵאִין. כַּמָּה הוּא רֹב מִנְיָנוֹ, מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים וַחֲמִשָּׁה:
Folgendes wird durch Überschatten verunreinigt: eine Leiche, ein olivgroßes Stück einer Leiche, ein olivgroßes Stück einer verflüssigten Leiche, eine Kelle voll zersetzter Leiche, die Wirbelsäule, der Schädel, ein Glied einer Leiche oder ein Glied eines Lebenden Person, auf der je nach Bedarf Fleisch ist, eine Rova [spezifische Volumeneinheit] von Knochen, die die strukturelle Mehrheit oder die numerische Mehrheit oder die strukturelle Mehrheit oder die numerische Mehrheit einer Leiche umfasst, auch ohne eine Rova zu sein , verunreinigt. Wie viele ist die zahlenmäßige Mehrheit? Einhundertfünfundzwanzig.
Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
אלו מטמאין באוהל, המת וכזית מן המת -and if this is difficult, an olive’s bulk of a corpse defiles, from that which is defiled from contact with the dead, all the more so, this matter is resolved in the Gemara in [Tractate] Nazir [50a, it is needed only for [the case of] a premature/non-viable birth whose limbs were not connected with sinews as it lacks an olive’s bulk of flesh.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
Introduction
Our mishnah lists what things cause impurity through overshadowing (an ohel). These things defile even if they are not touched or are not carried.
Below I have explained only terms that are not clear through translation.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
נצל (decayed matter – liquid and coagulated portions of a corpse) – the flesh of a corpse that swelled up like a kind of ill-smelling secretion.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
c) Nezel refers to flesh from a corpse that has begun to decompose. It can also refer to liquid that was emitted from the dead body that has begun to congeal. Hope you're not reading this while eating! d) Corpse-mold is a later stage of decomposition. The amount required to defile is greater than that for regular flesh or nezel. e) The spine or the skull causes impurity even if there is no flesh on it. g + h) Bones can cause impurity even without the flesh on them as long as one of two requirements is met. 1) There is a quarter kav (about half of a liter) of bones collected from the structural or numerical majority of the body. The "structural majority" refers to the large leg bones, the ribs and the spine. In other words, it doesn't include most of the smaller bones. 2) The structural or numerical majority is actually present, even if there is not a quantity of a quarter of a kav of bones.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
מלוא תרוד (A tarvad/spoon-full of dust) – a spoon, and its measurement is two handfuls.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
How many [bones] form the numerical majority? One hundred and twenty-five. The mishnah assumes you're not too good at math, so it lets you know that a majority of 248 is 125. Thanks!
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
רקב – the body of a corpse when its moisture has departed and it becomes like a kind of dust. But a handful of a a mass of earth from a grave containing parts of a decaying human body doesn’t defile other than from a corpse that was buried naked in a coffin/bier of marble and covered with a covering of marble, until it is known with certainty that there is combination of decayed matter of cloth or wood or other dirt. But a corpse that was buried in its covering or in a wooden ark or in dust, has no decayed matter. And similarly, a corpse that was buried missing a limb has no decayed matter.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
אבר מן המת ואבר מן החי – as it is written (Numbers 19:16): “[And in the open, anyone who touches a person who was killed or who died naturally,” a limb that the sword separated from the living is like the corpse.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
ורובע עצמות – one quarter of a Kab (i.e., 24 egg-bulks) of bones.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
מרוב המנין או מרוב הבנין – My Rabbis/Teachers explained, that they are small/minute from having in them the majority of the number [of bones] and/or the majority of the frame, for even though that they don’t have the majority of the number [of bones] nor the majority of the frame, they defile.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
ורוב בנינו ורוב מנינו (the greater portion of a corpse as to the size of limbs and the greater number of joints/limbs)– the majority of the frame of the body, or the majority of the number of the bones even though it is not the majority of the frame of the body, they defile, and even though there isn’t a quarter [of a Kab] in them. And the majority of the frame, such as the legs and the thighs/haunches, and the ribs [and the spine]. And the greater number of joints/limbs, such as the tops of the fingers of the hands and the feet, and similar kinds of things to them, and provided that there will be one-hundred and twenty-five limbs, they defile.
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