Commentary for Kelim 21:1
הַנּוֹגֵעַ בַּכֹּבֶד הָעֶלְיוֹן, בַּכֹּבֶד הַתַּחְתּוֹן, בַּנִּירִים, וּבַקֵּירוֹס, וּבְחוּט שֶׁהֶעֱבִירוֹ עַל גַּבֵּי אַרְגָּמָן, וּבְעִירָה שֶׁאֵינוֹ עָתִיד לְהַחֲזִירָהּ, טָהוֹר. בְּנֶפֶשׁ הַמַּסֶּכֶת, וּבַשְּׁתִי הָעוֹמֵד, וּבְכָפוּל שֶׁהֶעֱבִירוֹ עַל גַּבֵּי הָאַרְגָּמָן, וּבְעִירָה שֶׁהִיא עֲתִידָה לְהַחֲזִירָהּ, טָמֵא. הַנּוֹגֵעַ בַּצֶּמֶר שֶׁעַל הָאִימָּה, בָּאַשְׁוָיָה, טָהוֹר. הַנּוֹגֵעַ בַּפִּיקָה, עַד שֶׁלֹּא פֵרְעָהּ, טָמֵא. מִשֶּׁפֵּרְעָהּ, טָהוֹר:
One who touches the upper beam [of a loom], the lower beam, the heddles, the warp fringe, the thread that they draw over the purple material, or thread on the shuttle which will not be woven in, remains pure. [If he touches] the woof, the standing warp, the double thread that is drawn over purple material or thread on the shuttle that will be woven in, he becomes impure. One who touches the wool that is on the distaff, or on the spool, he remains pure. If he touches the spindle's coil: Before it was uncovered he is impure; after it was uncovered he remains pure.
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
הנוגע בכובד העליון (he who touches the upper beam from which the warp depends) –the weaver has two round pieces of wood, the first that the warp (i.e., longitudinal) thread is wrapped around, and the second that is in front of it that all the while that he continues to weave, he wraps the woven curtain. And because they are heavy, they are called כובד. And the upper beam from which the warp depends is what is in front of him, and the lower beam (כובד התחתון – the roller on which the web is wound as it advances) is distant one from him for all the warp (longitudinal thread) is wrapped on it.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
Introduction
Our mishnah deals with a situation where a completed unclean woven garment is on a loom and a person touches various parts of the loom. Parts that are considered to be connected to the woven garment defile the person who touches them, whereas parts that are not considered to be as connected do not.
I am not all that familiar with looms. I did find a decent illustration on the web of a "treadle loom" that seems to be the type referred to in the Mishnah. I will try my best to describe some of the parts. The main issue is the principle, which should be clear after the mishnah is learned.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
הנירין (the cross-beam of the loom – the leashes or thrums to which the threads of the warp are attached) – they are the woven threads on the reed, and for them, they raise slightly the threads and make a path that the weaving of the thread goes.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
One who touches the upper beam, the lower beam, the harnesses, the sley, the thread that is drawn over purple material, or a spool which is not to be shot back, remains clean. A loom has two beams, an upper and a lower one. These are used to move the warp up and down. The heddles are the strings attached to the reeds laid across the loom. The sley is a reed used to straighten the warp. When making purple cloth, weavers would pass a string over the cloth and then remove it. A spool that is not shot back refers to strings that will not be brought back and woven into the garment. All of these things are not considered to be attached to the garment. Therefore, one who touches them is pure, even if the garment is unclean.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
קירום (the row of slips or thrums in the loom to which the threads of the warp are attached) – comb/strigil that one strikes on the weaving and fastens the threads
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English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
If he touches the woof, the standing warp, the double thread that is drawn over purple material or a spool which is to be shot back, he becomes unclean. The "woof" refers to the strings of the woof that have already been put into the warp strings but have not yet been straightened out properly. The "standing warp" refers to the strings of the warp stretched out between the upper and lower beams. The double string passed over the purple cloth will not be removed. And the spool that will be shot back is attached to a string that will be part of the garment. One who touches any of these things is defiled, because these are connected enough to the garment to be considered already as being part of the garment.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
בחוט שהעבירו על גבי ארגמן – after the embroidered garment is made, they place threads on it that it should not become soiled, and those threads were not attached to the cloth.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
If one touches the wool that is on the distaff, or on the spool, he remains clean. The wool that is on the distaff or on the spool is not considered to be connected, and therefore one who touches it is pure.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
ובעירא (white substance, undyed wool or cotton – this is the "אירא" /undyed wool or cotton that is mentioned in the first chapter of [Tractate] Shabbat [11b]: "ולא גדרי באירא שבאזנו"/nor a common weaver with undyed wool in his ear. And this is a small piece, from wool or flax or from wool of the vine that they weave within the wraps for beauty, and he throws it into the warp/longitudinal direction of the latitudinal direction/woof that is wrapped within it, and there are some of them that are black and red, and if it will not be eventually restored, such as for example that it is red and now he wants to bring in undyed black wool, and even those it has not split the cloth, there was no attachment/combination.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
If he touches the spinner: Before it was uncovered he is unclean, After it was uncovered he remains clean. If the spindle was impure, one who touches the spinner on the head of the spindle is impure if he touches it before he removes the string and uncovers the spinner. But if he touches it after the string was removed and the spinner is uncovered, remains clean.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
בנפש המסכת (the woof) – the threads of the woof/latitudinal direction that go within the warp/longitudinal direction within the body [of the garment], and every thing that the weaver places within the woof to repair his weaving is called "נפש" /the soul of the woof, and when he comes in contact with them it is coming into contact with the clothes – which is attachment.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
שתי העומד (the warp of the standing loom) – that he needs still for the clothing and stands to be woven.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
וככפול שהעבירו על גבי ארגמן (the double/folded over thread which one passed over fine purple) – a piece of the cloth that they sew on the purple so that it doesn’t become soiled, it is like it is attached to the cloth.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
עירא שעתיד להחזירה (the spool which is going to be returned [to the web]) – as I have explained above.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
בצמר שעל האימה (with the wool that is on the distaff) – there are those who have the reading [of the word אימה as] עימה with an "ע" and it is all the same. And it is a long staff or a reed that the women tie up the wool and spin.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
באשוויא (the staff around the which the wool is put, spool) – the wool that is on the spool, and the distaff and/or the spool both of them are made for spilling, but each is different from the other in their shape/form.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
טהור – for it is not attached.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
פיקה (whorl, spinner) – a kind of small round piece of metal that has an incision, that the women put into the top of the spindle/distaff to make it heavy, and they call it a POSROLAV in the foreign language.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
עד שלא פירעה (until they didn’t lay it bare) – before releasing it.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
משפירעה – once he released it.
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