Commentary for Kelim 13:5
מַחַט שֶׁנִּטַּל חֲרִירָהּ אוֹ עֻקְצָהּ, טְהוֹרָה. אִם הִתְקִינָהּ לְמִתּוּחַ, טְמֵאָה. שֶׁל סַקָּיִין שֶׁנִּטַּל חֲרִירָהּ, טְמֵאָה, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהוּא כוֹתֵב בָּהּ. נִטַּל עֻקְצָהּ, טְהוֹרָה. שֶׁל מִתּוּחַ, בֵּין כָּךְ וּבֵין כָּךְ טְמֵאָה. מַחַט שֶׁהֶעֶלְתָה חֲלֻדָּה, אִם מְעַכֶּבֶת אֶת הַתְּפִירָה, טְהוֹרָה. וְאִם לָאו, טְמֵאָה. צִנּוֹרָא שֶׁפְּשָׁטָהּ, טְהוֹרָה. כְּפָפָהּ, חָזְרָה לְטֻמְאָתָהּ:
A needle whose eye or point was removed is pure. If he fixed it for stretching [a garment] it is susceptible to impurity. A pack-[needle] whose eye was removed is still susceptible to impurity since one writes with it. If its point was removed it is pure. A stretching-pin is in either case susceptible to impurity. A needle that has become rusty: If the rust blocks it from sewing it is pure, but if not it remains susceptible to impurity. A hook that was straightened out is pure; if it is bent back it resumes its susceptibility to impurity.
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
חרירה (the eye-needle) – like its hole. The hole that one threads/brings the thread through (see also Tractate Shabbat 52b for a similar expression).
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
A needle whose eye or point is missing is clean. If he adapted it to be a stretching-pin it is susceptible to impurity. If the needle is missing its eye or point it is pure because it cannot be used. However, if he fixed this needle to use it as a stretching-pin (to stretch out canvases or laundry for them to dry), it is susceptible because stretching-pins don't need points or eyes to be usable.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
עוקצה (whose point is broken off) – the sharp head that they bring into the clothing when they sew. Like the peduncle of a fig (that is attached to the tree when it is cut off).
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
A pack-needle whose eye was missing is still susceptible to impurity since one writes with it. If its point was missing it is clean. A "pack-needle" is generally used to sew packs. However, due to its large size it can be used to write with on wax, and therefore it is still susceptible to impurity even without an eye through which to thread it. But if its point is missing, it is not at all usable and is clean.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
אם המתינה למתוח (if he made it into a stretching pin) – it is the manner of weavers that take a broken needle and place it into the rim of the cloth in order to stretch its rims.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
A stretching-pin is in either case susceptible to impurity. As we learned in section one, a pin without an eye or a point can still be used as a stretching pin. Therefore it is susceptible in all cases.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
מחט של סקאים (sack-maker’s needle) – a large needle that they sew with it the sacks that are made from the hair of goats and similar animals from the thick clothing.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
A needle that has become rusty: If this hinders it from sewing it is clean, But if not it remains susceptible to impurity. A needle which has become rusty is susceptible to impurity as long as the rust does not hinder it from use.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
שהוא כותב בה – on a tablet of wax.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
A hook that was straightened out is clean. If it is bent back it resumes its susceptibility to impurity. The hook loses its usability if it is straightened out. Thus it is pure. If he bends it back to make it a hook, it is again susceptible to impurity. The Rambam explains this line as meaning that it returns to its original state of impurity, as is the rule with metal vessels that are broken and then fixed (see 11:1).
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
של מתוח – if he prepared to stretch with it the rim of the cloth in the manner that the weavers do.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
בין כך ובין כך טמאה – for it is appropriate for stretching without its point and without its eye [of the needle].
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
אם מעכבת את התפירה – that he is unable to sew with it because of the rust. But there are those who interpret, all the while that the rust makes a known impression in the cloth, that is the delaying of sewing, and it is ritually pure, and this is implied in the Chapter [Five of Tractate Shabbat], “With what does a beast [go out on the Sabbath – folio 52b].”
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
צנורא – a curved small fork at its head and it is customary to turn over the meat with it over the coals, but some of them are small that they trim the wicks with them and cleanse/wipe off the candles. But when it is straightened/flattened it is like a needle whose needle-eye or point is removed and it is ritually pure.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy