If one [a chaver] opened his jug [to sell wine in Jerusalem for a festival] or began (to sell) his dough for a festival [and it was touched by amei ha'aretz] — R. Yehudah says: He may finish (selling it after the festival). The sages say: He may not finish. [For even though amei ha'aretz are clean at the time of the festival, it is not that their cleanliness is permanent, but that all are (considered) chaverim at the time of the festival. But after the festival, their touch renders (objects) unclean retroactively. As stated in our Mishnah: After the festival, they would immerse the vessels of the azarah, for amei ha'aretz had touched them on the festival. And R. Yehudah, who says that he may finish holds that if he is not permitted to finish he will not begin, and food will not be available for the festival pilgrims. The halachah is not in accordance with R. Yehudah.] After the festival, they would remove them [the vessels from their places to immerse them] to cleanse the azarah of the uncleanliness of the amei ha'aretz, who had touched them on the festival.] If the festival ended on Friday, they did not remove them because of the honor of the Sabbath, [i.e., because the Cohanim had to tend to their Sabbath needs in their houses.] R. Yehudah says: They also did not (remove them if the festival ended) on Thursday [They would not immerse them until after Shabbath]; for the Cohanim were not free [the day after yom tov to immerse them. For they were busy removing the ashes from the pile in the middle of the altar, which had accumulated there all the days of the festival from the (burning of) the wood-pile. The halachah is not in accordance with R. Yehudah.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Chagigah
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.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Chagigah
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.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Chagigah
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.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Chagigah
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.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Chagigah
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.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Chagigah
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.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Chagigah
מפני כבוד שבת – for the Kohanim/priests had to engage in the needs of [preparation for] the Sabbath – each person and his household.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Chagigah
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.
