And likewise regarding a piece of cloth which one wove to be three by three [fingerbreadths] which contracted corpse impurity, and one then completed the whole garment upon it, and then afterwards removed a thread from its initial portion, it is pure of corpse impurity, but is still impure from contact with corpse impurity. If one removed a thread from its initial portion and then afterwards completed the whole garment upon it, it is pure; for They said: a [piece of cloth of] three by three [fingerbreadths] which was diminished is pure. But one of three by three [handbreadths] which was diminished, even though it is pure of <i>midras</i> impurity, is [susceptible to being] impure from all the [other] impurities.
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
וכן בגד שארג בו שלש אצבעות – in close confinement, that this is its measure to be defilement in all of the defilements together except for that of leaning, but with this, it is not defiled in any defilement that is in the world.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
Similarly, if a piece of cloth was woven to the size of three [fingerbreadths] square, and it contracted corpse uncleanness, and afterwards he finished the entire piece, and then he removed a single thread from its original part, it is free from corpse uncleanness but is still unclean from contact with corpse uncleanness. This is virtually the same halakhah as was found in section one of yesterday's mishnah, except that today's mishnah deals with a smaller piece of cloth, three fingerbreadths square. A piece this size cannot contract midras, but it can contract corpse impurity.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
שלש על שלש שנתמעט טהור – it is completely [pure], and is not appropriate for anything, neither for the poor nor the rich, therefore, it is pure from all defilements.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
If a thread was removed from the original part and then all the cloth was finished it remains clean, for the sages have ruled: if a piece of three [fingerbreadths] square is lessened it becomes clean. If a three fingerbreadths piece of cloth contracts corpse uncleanness and then is reduced, it is completely pure. Even if he then enlarges the cloth, there is no impurity left, so the whole cloth is pure.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
But if one of three handbreadths square is lessened, even though it is released from midras, it is still susceptible to all other forms of uncleanness. This is the difference between the type of impurity contracted by a three fingerbreadths piece of cloth, and one that is three handbreadths. A three handbreadths piece of cloth is still susceptible to other forms of impurity, such as corpse impurity. In contrast, something smaller than three fingerbreadths square is completely pure.
