A mirror is pure. A cauldron which one fashioned into a mirror is [susceptible to being rendered] impure but if from the outset it was made to serve as a mirror, it is pure. Regarding a large [glass] spoon which one places on a table, if it can hold any amount [when it stands on its own], it is [susceptible to being rendered] impure; but if not, Rabbi Akiva considers it [susceptible to being rendered] impure, and Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri considers it pure [i.e. insusceptible].
Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
אספקלריא (window-glass) – a glass mirror that a woman sees her face in. And in the foreign language ISPAKLAV. But even if it has a receptacle, it is ritually pure, for it is not used to receive anything, but only to look at the shape/form of the face.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
A mirror is pure. A mirror is pure because it is a glass vessel without a receptacle.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
תמחוי – like a kind of large glass tray.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
A tray that was made into a mirror remains susceptible, but if it was originally made to serve as a mirror it is pure. A glass tray is susceptible to impurity. Therefore, even if he backs it up with some metal to be able to use it as a mirror, it is still considered a tray and it is still susceptible to impurity. However, if he made it to be a mirror from the outset, it is pure, even if it could be used as a tray. Reading this mishnah made me a bit curious concerning the history of mirror making. I found the following in Wikipedia: Metal-coated glass mirrors are said to have been invented in Sidon (modern-day Lebanon) in the first century AD,[6] and glass mirrors backed with gold leaf are mentioned by the Roman author Pliny in his Natural History, written in about 77 AD.[7] The Romans also developed a technique for creating crude mirrors by coating blown glass with molten lead.[8] It would seem that our mishnah would serve as additional evidence for the existence of glass mirrors during the first two centuries C.E. If any of you out there are Wikipedia editors, maybe you should even write this reference in!
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
תרוד (spoon – pointed on top and curved at the end) – a glass spoon.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
A large [glass] spoon that has been placed on a table is susceptible to uncleanness if it can hold anything whatsoever. The test of whether this spoon is susceptible is whether it can stand on a table and still retain its liquid. If it can, everyone considers it a vessel and it is susceptible to impurity.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
ואם לאו – if when he places it on the table or on a flat surface it rolls to here and there and what is in it spills, because it is sharp underneath and does not stand.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Kelim
But if it cannot do so: Rabbi Akiva says that it is susceptible, And Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri says that it is pure. If the spoon cannot hold liquids when placed on the table, Rabbi Akiva still considers it impure. Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri says that it is pure.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Kelim
ר' עקיבא מטמא – for since it has a receptacle. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Akiba.
