Commentary for Kelim 11:9
נֶזֶם שֶׁהוּא עָשׂוּי כִּקְדֵרָה מִלְּמַטָּן וְכָעֲדָשָׁה מִלְמַעְלָן, וְנִפְרַק, כִּקְדֵרָה טָמֵא מִשּׁוּם כְּלִי בֵית קִבּוּל, וְכָעֲדָשָׁה טָמֵא בִפְנֵי עַצְמוֹ. צִנּוֹרָא, טְהוֹרָה. הֶעָשׂוּי כְּמִין אֶשְׁכּוֹל, וְנִפְרַק, טָהוֹר:
If an earring was shaped like a pot at its bottom and like a lentil at the top and it fell apart, the pot-shaped section is susceptible to impurity because it is a receptacle, while the lentil shaped section is susceptible to impurity in itself. The hook is pure. If it was in the shape of a cluster of grapes and it fell apart, they are pure.
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
כקדרה מלמטה (like a pot-shape from the bottom) – wide from below and it has a receptacle.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
Introduction Today's mishnah deals with the purity of earrings.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
וכעדשה מלמעלה – on the top of the earring from the above, it has a globule/kernel of gold or of silver made like a lentil.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
If an earring was shaped like a pot at its bottom and like a lentil at the top and the sections fell apart, the pot-shaped section is susceptible to impurity because it is a receptacle, while the lentil shaped section is susceptible to impurity in itself. The earring described here has two parts: the top is shaped like a lentil and the bottom like a pot (maybe someone should go into designing Talmudic jewelry might make a good business). When the earring is whole, all of it is of course susceptible to impurity. If it falls apart both parts are still susceptible to impurity. The bottom part is no longer considered a piece of jewelry, but since it has a receptacle, it is still susceptible. The top part has no receptacle, but it is still susceptible because it is still considered a piece of jewelry.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
ונפרק (dislocated) – the lentil from the pot.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
The hooklet is clean. However, the hooklet thread used to attach the earring to the ear is pure.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
הקדירה טמאה – for it has a receptacle. But not because it is women’s ornaments, for it is not worthy of being an ornament as it is.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
If the sections of an ear-ring that was in the shape of a cluster of grapes fell apart, they are clean. The individual pieces of this type of earring are not considered to be jewelry, and therefore when it falls apart they are clean. To summarize: if the parts of a larger piece of jewelry are considered to be jewelry in their own right, they are still susceptible to impurity.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
צינורא (hook of a detached earring) – the top of the earring that enters into the incision in the ear or the incision of the nose. And because it is made like a fork, it is called a צנורא. The Aramaic translation of מזלגותיו (see Exodus 27:3)/flesh hooks is צנורייתיה/its hooks.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
טהורה – because it does not have a name of its own.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
העשוי כמין אשכול – an earring made like four or five globules/kernels one on top of another like a kind of cluster.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
ונפרק טהור – because each globule/kernel does not have a name of its own and it is not worthy of use from when it became detached.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy