Commentary for Chagigah 3:13

חומר בקודש. שמטבילין כלי בתוך כלי – when both of them are ritually impure.

Introduction In the previous two mishnayot we learned that the rules regarding eating “sacred things,” namely sacrifices, are more stringent than the rules regarding eating terumah. Our mishnah teaches several more aspects in which eating sacred things is treated more stringently.

אבל לא לקודש – since we say that the heaviness of the inner utensil which weighs upon the outside which is placed within it, leaves a space before the defilement (tit must say, “before the water, and so it is in Rashi and in the Gemara – Tractate Hagigah 21a), for Ritual immersion is not effective for either one (i.e., Terumah/Priest’s due or Holy things).

Greater stringency applies to sacred things than to terumah, that they may immerse vessels within vessels [together] for terumah, but not for sacred things. When it comes to immersing impure vessels in order to purify them, if they are going to be used to hold terumah, one vessel may be immersed inside another vessel. If the vessel is going to be used for sacrifices, then the vessels cannot be immersed one inside the other.

אחוריים ותוך ובית הצביטה לתרומה – a utensil that is appropriate to use inside it and at its back/outside and its handle. Each and every usage with it is considered a utensil in and of itself with regard to Terumah/priest’s due, for if one part became defiled, the other part did not become defiled. And we are speaking of Rabbinic defilements, for if the back/outside became defiled win ritually impure liquids, the inside is not defiled, nor the handle, but if the handle was defiled, the back and insides were not defiled. And the explanation of בית הצביטה – is something you grab hold of, such as the language of (Ruth 2:14): “He handed her roast grain, [and she ate her fill and had some left over].” But there are those who have the reading "בית הצביעה" – from the language for a finger – that they for the utensil a handle to place one’s finger inside it. When he drinks, in order that he not place hand inside the utensil proper.

The outside and inside and handle [of a vessel are regarded as separate] for terumah, but not for sacred things. When it comes to terumah, each part of the vessel is considered as being separate. So if an impure thing touches the handle of the vessel, only the handle is impure and the contents inside the vessel are still pure. If something touches the outside of the vessel, only the outside is impure and not the inside. Finally, if something impure touches the inside only the inside is impure. When it comes to sacred things, if one part of the vessel is impure, the whole vessel is impure and will cause other things to become impure as well.

אבל לא לקודש – for if one of them became ritually defiled in Rabbinic defilements, it is entirely impure for Holy things.

One that carries anything possessing midras-uncleanness may carry [at the same time] terumah, but not sacred things. I explained “midras-impurity” in yesterday’s mishnah. Today’s mishnah teaches that if someone is holding an object that had become impure through midras (someone sat, stood, lied or applied pressure on it) he can hold in his other hand terumah. The vessel does not make him impure such that he makes the terumah impure. However, he cannot hold sacred things at the same time.

הנושא את המדרס – [A person who comes in contact with] the shoe of the individual with a flux.

The garments of those who eat terumah posses midras-uncleanness for [those who eat] sacred things. This is the exact same halakhah as that found in section three of yesterday’s mishnah.

נושא את התרומה – [he can carry priest’s due] if he wants in an earthen wine-jug, which does not touch its airspace.

The rule [for the immersion of garments] for [those who would eat terumah is not the same as the rule for [those who would eat] sacred things: for in the case of sacred things, he must [first] untie [any knots in the unclean garment], dry it [if it is wet, then] immerse it, and afterwards retie it; but in case of terumah, it may [first] be tied and afterwards immersed. When one wants to immerse something to be used for sacred things must first untie all of the knots, dry them all off, then he may immerse it and then once it’s been immersed he may retie the knots. In contrast, if a vessel is going to be used for terumah, the knots don’t have to be taken out before it is immersed.

אבל לא את הקודש – because of an incident that had taken place with an individual who had been carrying a jug of wine of drink-offerings, and his sandal-strap of his shoe broke that had Levitical uncleanness arising from an individual with a flux’s immediate contact by treading/leaning against, etc., and he took it in his hand and as a result, it fell into the atmosphere of the jug, and the Holy thing was ritually defiled; at that hour they said that whomever carries Levitical uncleanness arising from an individual with a flux’s immediate contact by treading/leaning against, should not carry any Holy thing, and because I was an incident that happened with something that was considered a Holy thing. Therefore, they did not make a decree other than with something that was Holy and not priest’s due.

לא כמדת הקדש – with the interposition (of an intervening object) of his ritual immersions, is the measure of the priest’s due.

שבקדש – if there is a ritually impure cloth and he comes to ritually immerse it, if it is tied, he releases the knot, because it is similar to an interposition [of an intervening object].

ומנגב – if it is moist, he dries it first for the fatty, oily substance that is upon it is like an interposition [of an intervening object] of his ritual immersion.

ובתרומה – if he desires, he can tie it up and afterwards he immerses it while it is tied and it has no effect.

כלים הנגמרים בטהרה – that were completed by a Haver/a member of the order for the observance of Levitical laws in daily intercourse and he was careful with them when they came close to being completed, for they would susceptible to receive ritual defilement; and despite this, they require ritual immersion for Holy Things, for we suspect lest spittle flew off the mouth of an ignoramus on the utensil at the time that the Haver was holding it. But even if at that time,, the utensil was not completely finished, and would not receive defilement lest it was after it had been completed, and it was worthy of receiving defilement, still the spittle was moist and it defiles as is taught in the Mishnah of Tractate Niddah (Chapter 7, Mishnah 1) that flux and spittle defile when moist.

Introduction This mishnah continues to provide aspects of purity/impurity in sacrifices are treated with greater stringency than terumah.

הכלי מצרף מה שבתוכו – there many pieces of food in one utensil, and someone who had immersed but must wait for sunset to be perfectly clean/Tevul Yom came in contact with it, who defiles the Terumah with one of them, the utensil combines them so that all of them are considered like one piece and all if is defiled, as it is written (Numbers 7:14 and eleven other examples throughout the chapter): “One gold ladle of ten shekels [filled with incense].” The Biblical verse makes it like everything that is in the ladle.

Vessels that have been finished in purity require immersion [before they are used] for sacred things, but not [before they are used] for terumah. Once the production of a vessel has been completed the vessel can now receive impurity. Even if the artisan was careful not to defile the vessel it still requires immersion before it can be used with sacred things. In contrast, if the vessel is going to be used with terumah then it doesn’t need to be immersed unless it has been defiled.

אבל לא לתרומה – but only that piece which touched it is impure, while the rest are pure.

A vessel unites all its contents [for impurity] in the case of sacred things, but not in the case of terumah. If there are a bunch of separate food items in a vessel, say some fruit or separate pieces of meat, and one becomes impure, then all of them are impure, if they are sacred things. The vessel causes the impurity to travel from one piece to the other. However, if they are terumah, then the vessel does not convey the impurity from one to the other.

הרביעי בקודש פסול – but does not defile.

Sacred things become invalid [by impurity] of a fourth degree, but terumah [only by impurity] of a third degree. There are different levels of impurity, the higher the number the closer the item is to the source of impurity, which is called a “father of impurity.” A “father of impurity” that touches something give it first degree impurity, and a first degree conveys second degree impurity, and so on. Sacred things can become invalid through contact even with a third degree of impurity, meaning that these things cannot be put on the altar, because they have “fourth degree” of impurity. There is no such thing as fifth degree of impurity. Terumah becomes disqualified only by something with a second degree of impurity. If something of third degree impurity touches terumah it does not affect it.

אם נטמאת אחת מידיו – through the Rabbinic defilements such as with impure food-stuffs and liquids and similar things that do not defile anything other than the hands, but not the body.

In the case of terumah, if one hand of his hands became impure, the other remains clean, but in the case of sacred things, he must immerse both [hands], because the one hand defiles the other for sacred things but not for terumah. If one of one’s hands becomes impure, he cannot use the other hand to touch a sacred thing, even if one hand didn’t touch the other. But when it comes to terumah, if one of one’s hands is impure he can use the other hand to touch terumah.

ובקדש מטביל את שתיהן – it is dealing when it remains moist in the defiled hand at the time that it was defiled. But if it there was no moistness in the impure hand, the other hand does not become defiled until it touches it.

אוכלין אוכלים נגובים בידים מסואבות בתרומה – this is how it should be read: they eat dry foods of Hullin/non-holy, fully tithed with soiled/unwashed hands with Priest’s due/Terumah, but not with Holy/sanctified things. He whose fellow inserted/stuck sanctified foods into his mouth with ritually pure hands. But this one who is eating had soiled hands or that he inserted by himself sanctified foods in his mouth with a reed or a whorl [of the spindle], and he requested to eat a radish or an onion of Hullin/non-holy, totally tithed produce with them, for the soiled hands which are second degree of Levitical uncleanness do not defile the Hullin; nevertheless, the Rabbis decreed that he should not eat them with the sanctified foods, lest his soiled hands come in contact with the sanctified food that is in his mouth. But regarding the matter of Priest’s due/Terumah, even though soiled hands do defile, they do not make this gradation, but we say that he is careful and doesn’t come in contact. And for this reason, [the Mishnah uses the word "נגובים /”dried” for if he were now to place liquid upon them, these liquids would become first-degree of Levitical uncleanness on account of the hands, and makes the Hullin/non-holy, totally tithed produce second-degree of Levitical uncleanness and when he touches the Terumah/priest’s due that is in his mouth, he defiles it.

Introduction Another two stringencies for sacred things.

האונן – who did not become defiled through his dead [lying before him – i.e., yet unburied].

They may eat dry foods with impure hands when it comes to terumah, but not when it comes to sacred things. Wet food is susceptible to impurity whereas dry food is not (see Leviticus 11:34, 38). This is true in all cases except for the case of sacred food. The idea is that “the love of the sacred makes it susceptible to impurity.” [This is a fascinating concept, demonstrating well that the concept of sacredness and susceptible to impurity are intimately connected.] Therefore one cannot eat sacred food with impure hands, even if the hands are dry. Terumah is like normal food and doesn’t receive impurity unless it becomes wet.

ומחוסר כפורים – he immersed and sunset had occurred, but he had not brought his sacrifices.

The one who has not yet buried his dead (an and one who lacks atonement require immersion for sacred things but not for terumah. When one of a person’s seven close relatives dies, he/she is an onen on that day and the night thereafter. An onen may not eat sacrifices. Similarly a person who needed to bring certain sacrifices in order to complete his period of impurity (such as a leper, see Leviticus 14:10) cannot eat other sacrifices until he brings these mandated sacrifices. The rabbis decreed that before these people can eat sacrifices they must go to the mikveh. This immersion would aid in the transition between their former state of not being able to eat sacrifices to a state of being able to eat sacrifices. In contrast, an onen and a formerly impure person who had not brought sacrifices can eat terumah, therefore upon the completion of the period of being an onen and after bringing the sacrifice he may continue to eat terumah without another immersion.

צריכין טבילה – for after he will bring his sacrifice, if he wants to eat sanctified food, since for up to the present time, they were prohibited to consume sanctified things, the Rabbis required of him ritual immersion. But those lacking atonement defiles the sanctified food through contact, and the mourner before the burial of a kinsman/Onen is prohibited [to consume] Second Tithe, but is permitted [to consume] Terumah [assuming that he is a Kohen or she is married to one], for we include him from [the verse] (Leviticus 22:10): “No lay person shall eat of the sacred donations.” I said to you, those who are “foreign” but not those who are in the status of mourning before the burial of a kinsman.

שביהודה נאמנים וכו' – for this reason, the Mishnah took [the words} “in Judea” because a strip of the land of the Cutheans interrupted between the Galilee and Judea but Jerusalem was part of the land of Judea and it was not possible to bring sanctified things from the Galilee to Judea, because they (i.e., the Rabbis) decreed ritual defilement on the land of idolaters, and even on that of Haverim/those who observed the Levitical laws of purity in the Galilee, they could not bring it for libations.

Introduction This mishnah begins to teach ways in which terumah is treated with greater stringency than sacrifices. The central issue in this mishnah is how much to trust an am haaretz, an unlearned person, when he tells you that he preserved the purity of a food item. As we shall see, if he says that he preserved its purity so that it would be used for a sacred thing (wine for a libation or oil for a minhah offering) than he is believed because the am haaretz respects the purity of sacred things. He would not allow an impure thing to be offered on the altar of the Temple. However, if he says he preserved its purity because it is terumah then the am haaretz is not believed.

נאמנים על טהרת יין ושמן – all the days of the year, ignoramuses who said that this wine is ritually pure and is for libations; that this oil is ritually pure as it is for meal-offerings are always believed/deemed faithful because of the stringency of sanctified things, they take care and do not lie, but if he said that this wine and oil were pure and it was for Terumah/priest’s due, he is not believed, for the prohibition of ritual impurity of Terumah is not severe in the eyes of the ignoramuses and we suspect that perhaps they are lying.

Greater stringency applies to terumah [than to sacred things], for in Judah [the people of the land (amei] are trusted in regard to the purity of [sacred] wine and oil throughout the year; and at the season of the wine-presses and olive-presses even in regard to terumah. The farmers in Judah would have known that some of their produce, namely wine and oil would need to be pure so it could be used as libations and to accompany the minhah sacrifice. They respected this and would not have allowed it to become impure. Since sacrifices are needed all year round, they are believed all year if they say that they preserved its purity for it to be used as sacrifices. However, they are not believed if they say that they preserved the produce because of the terumah that would have to be separated from it. However, during the main time of the year when everyone presses their grapes and olives they are believed because everyone purifies their vessels at that time of the year, in anticipation of having to take terumah out of the wine and oil. One could think of this as sort of the “high holiday season” of purity, at least for farmers. Although they may not be particularly meticulous in their observance during the rest of the year, they are during these two periods.

ובשעת הגיתות והבדים – at the time of the harvesting /vintage and at the time that when the olives are stored away in the vat for pressing, they are believed even about Terumah/priest’s due, because everyone purifies their utensils at the time of the making of wine and oil in order to separate the Terumah in [a state of] ritual purity.

If [the season of] the wine-presses and olive-presses passed, and they brought to him a jar of wine of terumah, he [the priest] should not accept it from him, but [the am ha-aretz] may leave it for the coming [season] of the wine-press. If the time of wine and olive pressing has passed, a priest who is meticulous about his observance should not accept wine or olive oil from an am haaretz. However, the am haaretz can leave over that wine until the next wine pressing and then the priest can accept it from him, even if the priest knows that this was not made during the current pressing. It’s as if we are willing to believe the am haaretz because he was willing to hold onto his wine for so long.

עברו הגיתות וכו' – after the time of the vintage, or the time of the storing of the olives in the building containing the tank and the implements for the pressing of the olives and an ignoramus brings a jug of wine or of oil, it is for a Kohen who observes the laws of Levitical purity and he states that they are ritually pure. לא יקבלנה ממנו – that they are considered ritually pure, for after the vats for wine-pressing and the presses for olives, he is not believed.

But if he said to him, “I have set apart a quarter log [of wine] as a sacred thing,” he is believed [in regard to the purity of the whole jug]. If the am haaretz says that he set apart some of the wine to be used in the sacrificial service, then he is believed to say that the whole jug is pure, even for the terumah in the jug. Since he is believed when it comes to the sacred part of the wine, he is believed for the terumah as well.

אבל מניחה לגת אחרת – the ignoramus who knows that after the vats for wine-pressing and the presses for olives that he is not believed, he leaves this jug for another vat for wine-pressing and then gives it to a Kohen who at that time is believed concerning it.

[When it comes to] jugs of wine and jugs of oil that are meant for terumah, they are believed during the season of the wine-presses and the olive-vats and prior to [the season of] the wine-presses seventy days. The am haaretz is trusted when he says he preserved the purity of the empty wine and oil jugs both in the time of the pressing and before the pressing for seventy days. Evidently, they would begin preparing the jugs to hold the wine and oil for seventy days before the pressing. However, for the terumah itself they are only believed to have preserved its purity during the time of the pressing.

רביעית – one-quarter of a log (i.e., a log equals the volume of six eggs) for libations is believed for his entire jug, for if he had intended to tell a lie, he would have invented one more advantageous to his case, for since he is believed for sanctified things, he is believed also for priest’s due/Terumah.

כדי יין וכדי שמן המדומעות – He who ritually purifies his otherwise improvised meal that had been made without separating priestly or Levitical shares for libations, and now, there is non-holy produce with priest’s due and sanctified foods mixed in where the priestly and Levitical shares had not been separated out, and he comes to say all on the pitchers that they are ritually pure, even though an ignoramus is not believed at the time regarding the pitchers the season for wine pressing. Today, we believe him regarding the pitchers even seventy days prior to the season for wine pressing, for since if he had intended to tell a lie, he would have invented one more advantageous to his case, so just as we believe him regarding sanctified things, we believe him also regarding Terumah/priest’s due and the pitchers, for it is a disgrace for the sanctified things that the pitchers that were intertwined were considered as ritually impure it was offered. And [the Rabbis] took seventy days prior because it was the way of the world to designate the utensils for use and ritually purify them seventy days prior to the wine-pressing.

מן המודיעית ולפנים – Modin is a city fifteen miles [northwest] from Jerusalem. From it and inwards to the side of Jerusalem, the ignorant potters are believed to take thin earthenware, such as cups, pots and ladles, because it is impossible [to exist] without them. But in Jerusalem they do not erect furnaces (see Talmud Bava Kamma 82a) neither for plaster nor for pots; therefore, they believed them and didn’t make a decree against them, for we must not impose a restriction on the public which the majority cannot endure (see Tractate Bava Batra 60b).

Introduction The previous mishnah discussed when a person is trusted with regard to the purity of his things. Today’s mishnah discusses another such rule when is a pottery maker trusted that he has preserved the purity of his pots.

הוא הקדר – whomever brought them from outside of Modin to him alone, they believed him, for it is impossible not to believe him, but if he transferred them to another ignoramus potter who dwells in Modin or inside of Modin [towards Jerusalem], they did not believe him.

From Modi’im inwards [the potters] are trusted in regard to [the purity of] earthenware vessels; from Modi'im outwards they are not trusted. Modiim is famous for being the city where the Maccabees lived. It is about 30 kilometers northwest of Jerusalem, about a day’s travel by foot. (It is also where I live, but that won’t really help you understand this mishnah). The closer a pottery maker is to Jerusalem the more it will be in his best interests to preserve the purity of his pottery because it is likely that people buying his goods may want to use them in connection with the sacrificial service. Therefore, if the pottery-maker lives from Modiim and inwards toward Jerusalem, he is believed to say that his pots are pure. We should note that the Temple would have required many clay pots because they could be used only one time. Once a clay pot was used to cook sacrificial meat it could no longer be used because the meat that was absorbed into the pot would become remnant (leftover sacrifice) which is forbidden. Therefore the pots had to be disposed of after one use.

והן הקדרות – on those selfsame pots that he brought, he is believed, but he is not believed to combine with the pots of another potter who dwells in Modin or inside [towards Jerusalem].

How so? A potter who sells the pots entered inwards of Modi'im, then the same potter, the same pots and the same buyers are trusted [to be pure]. But if he went out [from Modi’im outwards] he is not trusted. In this section we learn that the rule that the potter is believed when he is inside of the Modiim border is an absolute rule. The same potter, pots and buyers that are trusted to be pure when they are between Modiim and Jerusalem are no longer believed to be pure when they go out beyond Modiim.

והן הלוקחין – members of the order who observe Levitical laws in daily intercourse who saw that he brought them, the potter is considered reliable with them, but not with other purchasers.

יצא – [but if he left] from Modin to return back [home], he is not believed.

הגבאים – Jewish tax collectors of a king from the nations of the world who collect taxes and taxes from crops and other farmer’s produces delivered in kind, and they entered into the house to seize his pledge.

Introduction Our mishnah continues to deal with the question of when to trust a person when he says that he has not made vessels impure.

וכן הגנבים – who stole earthenware and restored/returned them.

Tax-collectors who entered a house, and similarly thieves who restored [stolen] vessels are believed if they say, “We have not touched [anything].” The mishnah refers to a tax collector who has taken someone’s possessions in order to use them as collateral for a tax debt. When he returns the object to its owner he is believed if he says that he didn’t make the object impure. The same is true for the thief who is returning something he had stolen. It seems that these people are believed specifically because they are doing “teshuvah”, repentance, by returning the stolen/collected item. Since they are repenting, they are at the same time believed with regard to other aspects of religious law. Some commentators say that these people are believed if the item is going to be used for sacrifices, because even tax collectors and thieves respect the purity of sacrifices. But they are not believed with regard to terumah. Other commentators say that they are believed for both.

נאמנים לומר לא נגענו – [we did not touch] inside them, and they returned them on account of repentance that they did on their own and not on account of fear [of punishment].

And in Jerusalem they are believed in regard to sacred things, and during a festival also in regard to terumah. Amei Haaretz (uneducated people) are believed when they are in Jerusalem to say that their vessels are pure so that they could be used with sacrifices. During a festival their trustworthiness is even greater because everybody, even the uneducated, would purify themselves before the festival. Therefore they are even believed with regard to terumah.

ובירושלים נאמנים על הקדש – they are believed on all earthenware utensils, whether big or small, to state that they are pure for sacred things, because they do not make kilns in Jerusalem. Therefore, they were believed and did not make decrees against them.

But during the season of the Festival/Jewish holy day(s), even on the Terumah/priest’s due [they are assumed to be ritually pure], as is said in Scripture (Judges 20:11): “So all the men of Israel, united as one man, massed against the town.” The Biblical verse called them “united” at the time of gathering, and the Festival was a time of gathering together/being united.

הפותח את חביתו – a Haver/someone punctilious in the observance of laws of Levitical cleanness who opened his jar/cask to sell wine in Jerusalem during the Festival (i.e., the Intermediate Days), and those who service him are ignoramuses.

Introduction During the festival the am haaretz, the uneducated “person of the land” is believed with regard to issues of purity far more than he is during the rest of the year. The first part of our mishnah deals with how far this trustworthiness extends. The second part deals with the period after the festival has passed and with the question of how to cope with the fact that there have been people in the Temple courtyard who may have been impure.

לא יגמור – [he should not complete it] after the Festival, for even though at the time of the Festival, they were ritually pure, their being in a state of ritual purity is not forever, but at the time of the Festival, everyone is punctilious in the observance of the laws of Levitical cleanness but after the festival, they are retroactively ritually impure, as we state in our Mishnah, that after the Festival, they would immerse the utensils of the Courtyard, for ignoramuses had come in contact with them during the Festival. But Rabbi Yehuda who said that he should finish [to sell what was left over], for he held that if one said that he could not finish, he would not have even begun, and there wouldn’t be food for those who came up on Festival pilgrimage, but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.

One who opened his jar [of wine] or broke into his dough [to sell them] on account of the festival [and an am haaretz touched the wine or dough]: Rabbi Judah says: he may finish [selling them after the festival]; But the sages say: he may not finish. The mishnah is addressed to a store owner who is cautious about matters of purity. He is what is called a haver or an associate, a member of the rabbinic circle, the opposite of an am haaretz. During the festival he opens up jugs of wine and he breaks into prepared dough to sell these products to customers for their use during the festival. Some of the customers are amei haaretz and they touch the wine and dough. We have already stated that during the festival the am haaretz is trusted to say that he is pure. The question is, can the store owner continue to sell these items after the festival as if the amei haaretz really were pure. Rabbi Judah says that he can. According to Rabbi Judah, since we assume that the am haaretz was pure during the festival, we can assume that the wine and dough are pure even after the festival. The other sages disagree. During the festival they are believed not so much because we are sure that the am haaretz is pure but because the sages wished to be lenient during the festival. We might even say that the sages wished to be lenient in order to encourage all of the people from the land to participate in the festival and its sacrifices. However, when the festival was over the rules return to normal and we must be concerned lest the wine or dough had been made impure.

מעבירין על טהרת עזרה – they remove the utensils from their places, to ritually immerse them and to purify the Courtyard from the impurities of the ignoramuses who touched them during the Festival.

When the festival was over, they undertook the purification of the Temple court. If the festival ended on Friday, they did not undertake [the purification of the Temple court] because of the honor of the Shabbat. Rabbi Judah said: even not on Thursday, for the priests are not free. When the festival was over they had to face the fact that the people may have made the Temple’s vessels impure. The trustworthiness bequeathed to everyone during the festival was over. They would then begin to purify the Temple’s vessels. How they did so will be described in tomorrow’s mishnah. If the festival was over on Friday, meaning that Thursday was the last day of the festival, the priests would not have had time on Friday to purify the vessels because they were busy preparing for Shabbat. Therefore they would wait until Sunday to purify the vessels. According to Rabbi Judah, even if the festival was over on Wednesday, they wouldn’t begin the purification until Sunday. On Thursday the priests were not available because they were cleaning out all of the ashes that had accumulated on the altar during the entire festival. They would not have had time on Thursday to purify the vessels. On Friday they were busy preparing for Shabbat.

מפני כבוד שבת – for the Kohanim/priests had to engage in the needs of [preparation for] the Sabbath – each person and his household.

אף לא ליום ה' – even if the Festival ended on Thursday, they do not ritually immerse them until after the Sabbath, because the Kohanim/priests were not free at the conclusion of the Festival to immerse them, for they were busily engaged in the removing of the ashes that were on the pile (i.e., place on the altar where the ashes were piled up), that gathered there all the days of the Festival, all the ashes of the pile of wood on the altar in the Temple. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.

ואומרים להם – to the ignoramuses on the Festival. Be careful not to touch the Table, because they would not be able to immerse it until after the Festival [had concluded]., for it was impossible to remove it from its place, as it is written (Exodus 25:30): “[And on the table] you shall set the bread of display, to be before Me always.”

Introduction The final mishnah of the chapter, tractate and seder (game, set and match) explains how they purified the Temple’s vessels.

טעונים טבילה – because of the defilement of the Festival.

How did they undertake the purification of the Temple court? They immersed the vessels which were in the Temple, and they say to them: “Be cautious lest you touch the table or menorah and defile them.” All the vessels in the Temple were immersed in order to purify them lest they had become impure during the festival. However, the table upon which the showbread was placed could not be immersed because the showbread had to be on it always (Exodus 25:30). Similarly, the menorah had to always be lit (Leviticus 24:2) and therefore it couldn’t be immersed either. Since these could not be immersed because they were in constant use, they would tell the priests to be very careful to make sure that the impure vessels which they were immersing would not touch the table or the menorah.

חוץ ממזבח הזהב ומזבח הנחשת מפני שהן כקרקע – the copper altar, for the Torah called it the altar of earth (see Exodus 20:21) and the golden altar is written (Numbers 3:31): “[Their duties comprised: the ark, the table,] the lampstand, the altars, [and the sacred utensils that were used with them, and the screen – all the service connected with these],” they juxtaposed the altars (i.e., the copper altar and the golden altar) to each other. But they did not mention the table for they did not touch it.

All the vessels that were in the Temple had second and third sets, so that if the first was defiled, they might bring a second set in its place. All the vessels in the Temple had backups in case the first set became impure. You could think of these as sort of “understudy vessels”, just waiting for their day in the sun!

מפני שהן מצופין – this is how it should be read: And the Sages declared them ritually impure and state that they require ritual immersion even them because they are overlaid [with gold or copper], for if they had been overlaid, it would be necessary to ritually purify them because wooden utensils are made as ornaments. Another explanation: And the Sages state that the reason that they don’t require ritual immersion is because they are overlaid with gold or copper and their overlaying is neutralized concerning them, and they are like wood utensils which do not become ritually defiled, and they don’t dispute Rabbi Eliezer other than on the reason for the matter alone. So also did Maimonides explain in his laws of the uncleanness of couch and seat (Chapter 1, Halakha 11).

All the vessels that were in the Temple required immersion, except the altar of gold and the altar of bronze, for they are like the ground, the words of Rabbi Eliezer. But the sages say: because they were overlaid [with metal]. There were two vessels in the Temple that did not require immersion, the two altars. The bronze altar was used for the sacrifices and the gold altar was used for the burning of the incense. There is a debate between Rabbi Eliezer and the sages why these altars do not require immersion. According to Rabbi Eliezer because they are attached to the ground, they are treated like the ground which cannot become impure. According to the sages their metal covering prevents impurity from getting to the vessel itself. The metal covering itself cannot become impure because it is not a vessel. Congratulations! We have finished Moed Katan and Seder Moed! It is a tradition at this point to thank God for helping us finish learning the tractate and to commit ourselves to going back and relearning it, so that we may not forget it and so that its lessons will stay with us for all of our lives. For those of you who have been following along with Mishnah Yomit from its beginning, you have now learned half of the entire Mishnah! We began with Seder Nezikin, continued with Seder Nashim and now we have finished Seder Moed. This is quite an impressive amount of learning. These are the three orders of Mishnah most learned and for which there exists both Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds. You should feel really good about this accomplishment and hopefully, you are looking at the proverbial glass as half full. However, we still have half the Mishnah to go. Mishnah Yomit never lets up. Tomorrow we begin Seder Zeraim, Tractate Berakhot.