One washes his hands for chullin, tithe (ma'aser), and terumah. [Washing them from a vessel which contains only a revi'ith of water is sufficient.] And for kodesh (consecrated food), he immerses them [i.e., To eat peace-offerings, sin-offerings, and guilt-offerings, he requires a higher purification. He must immerse his hands in (a mikveh of) forty sa'ah — even if they are only stam yadayim ("plain hands"), not having touched an unclean object which makes the entire body unclean by Torah ordinance.] And for chatath — if his hands become unclean, his body becomes unclean. [In order to touch the waters of chatath (purification), the water sanctified with the ashes of the red heifer, to sprinkle therefrom upon those who have become unclean by (contact with) a dead body, he requires a higher (level of) purification, viz.: If his hands became unclean through one of those things which impart uncleanliness to the hands but not to the body — such as a scroll, unclean foods, unclean liquids, or anything else declared unclean by rabbinic ordinance — his body, too, becomes unclean, and his entire body requires immersion. All of these levels (of purification), one higher than the other, are rabbinically ordained. They are mentioned here together with the laws of the festival offering by virtue of their concluding (in the next chapter) with the laws of the festival, i.e., that the unlearned are regarded as clean on a festival, but not on the other days of the year.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Chagigah
נוטלין לידים לחולין ולמעשר ולתרומה – for profane things, Second Tithe and Priest’s due, it is sufficient for them by washing [hands] with a utensil which does not have within it other than one-quarter of a log of water.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Chagigah
Introduction
From here until the end of the tractate the mishnah teaches laws of purity and impurity. The reason why these laws are here is that when Israel would come to Jerusalem and to the Temple for the festival they had to be pure in order to eat their sacrifices. They would immerse their vessels to purify them before Yom Tov. During the festival all of the people of Israel acted like the Pharisees and were extra stringent on eating only while in a state of ritual purity.
Our mishnah deals with the topic of washing hands versus washing one’s whole body. There are some foods which only required one’s hands to be washed while holier foods required one to immerse one’s entire body.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Chagigah
ולקדש מטבילין – the explanation is to consume peace-offerings, sin-offerings and guilt-offerings. There is a greater degree/level, that it is necessary to immerse one’s hands in one-hundred Seah, and even though they are not other than mere hands, that did not come in contact with impurity that defiles the entire body according to the Torah.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Chagigah
They wash hands for [eating] unconsecrated [food], and [second] tithe, and for terumah [heave-offering]. One of the things that the Pharisees were famous for was washing their hands before they ate even regular unconsecrated food. There is nothing wrong with eating impure food but the Pharisees wished to preserve the laws of purity on a higher level than was required. During the festival, in Jerusalem everyone was expected to purify their hands before eating, even unconsecrated food. Second tithe and terumah are holy and therefore they certainly require one to wash one’s hands before being touched. The handwashing referred to here is done with water poured over one’s hands with a vessel.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Chagigah
ולחטאת – to come in contact with the water of the sin-offering, sanctified water with the ashes of the red heifer to sprinkle from them upon those who are defiled through contact with the dead. There is a greater level/degree that if one’s hands became defiled through one of the things that defile the hands but not the body, such as a [sacred] book, or impure foods and impure liquids, and all defilements that [come] from the words of the Scribes the body is also defiled and the entire body requires ritual immersion. And all of these levels/degrees one higher than the next are from the words of the Scribes. But the fact that these were taken here concerning the laws of the Hagigah/Festival offering is because at their conclusion the laws of the Festival, for the ignoramuses/Amei HaAretz are considered ritually pure on the Festivals, but not on the rest of the days of the year, at the conclusion of [the third chapter of Hagigah], “There is a greater stringency regarding hallowed things.”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Chagigah
But for sacred food they must immerse [their hands in a mikveh]. Before eating sacred food, such as the thanksgiving offering eaten by Israelites and the sin and guilt offerings eaten by the priests the hands must be immersed in a valid mikveh. In the Talmud they debate what this section refers to. According to one opinion this clause refers only to hands which were certainly made impure. Unless one knows that one’s hands had become impure, it would be sufficient to wash them with a vessel. According to the other opinion, in all cases before one eats sacrificial meat one must wash hands by immersing them in the mikveh.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Chagigah
With regard to the [water of] purification, if one’s hands became impure, one’s [whole] body is impure. The “water of purification” refers to the water with the red heifer’s ashes in it used to purify people who had contracted a serious level of impurity. One who comes to prepare the waters must be completely pure. If his hands had become impure then his whole body was also considered impure and he would have to immerse his whole body.
