Commentary for Kelim 18:4
מַלְבֵּן שֶׁנְּתָנוֹ עַל לְשׁוֹנוֹת, רַבִּי מֵאִיר וְרַבִּי יְהוּדָה מְטַמְּאִין, רַבִּי יוֹסֵי וְרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן מְטַהֲרִין. אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹסֵי, מַה שָּׁנָה זֶה מִמַּלְבְּנֵי בְנֵי לֵוִי, שֶׁמַּלְבְּנֵי בְנֵי לֵוִי טְהוֹרִין:
A bed frame that is put on props: Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yehudah say it is susceptible to impurity, but Rabbi Yose and Rabbi Shimon say that it is pure. Rabbi Yose said: Why is this different from the bed frames of the Levites, which are pure?
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
מלבן שנתנו על לשונות – wood made like a longue that the bed frame is lying upon.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
A bed frame that was put on props: Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Judah say it is susceptible to uncleanness. But Rabbi Yose and Rabbi Shimon say that it is clean. The rectangle frame was not put into a proper bed but rather propped up so that it stood off the ground. According to Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Judah this setup is enough like a bed that it is susceptible to impurity. Rabbi Yose and Rabbi Shimon disagree and say that it is clean.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
ר' מאיר ור' יהודה מטמאין – that even this is carried with the bed like the frame.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
Rabbi Yose said: Why is this different from the rectangle frames of the Levites which are clean? Here Rabbi Yose argues out his point, by referring to the end of yesterday's mishnah, where we learned that the rectangle frames used by the Levites are clean. Rabbi Yose says that if those frames are clean since they were not put into a bed, then the frames put on props should also be clean because they too were not put into a bed.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
ר' יוסי ור' שמעון מטהרין – that it is not carried with the bed all that much. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yossi and Rabbi Shimon.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
שמלבני בני לוי טהורין – for even though that they are fixed in the legs of the bed, since that ultimately they are taken off, they are ritually pure, these tongues are also sometimes removed from the frames of the bed, and are not considered like the bed.
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