Commentary for Makhshirin 3:1
שַׂק שֶׁהוּא מָלֵא פֵרוֹת וּנְתָנוֹ עַל גַּב הַנָּהָר, אוֹ עַל פִּי הַבּוֹר, אוֹ עַל מַעֲלוֹת הַמְּעָרָה, וְשָׁאֲבוּ, כֹּל שֶׁשָּׁאֲבוּ, בְּכִי יֻתַּן. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, כֹּל שֶׁהוּא כְנֶגֶד הַמַּיִם, בְּכִי יֻתַּן. וְכֹל שֶׁאֵינוֹ כְנֶגֶד הַמַּיִם, אֵינוֹ בְּכִי יֻתַּן:
[If] a sack full of fruit is put on a riverbank, or on the edge of a cistern, or on the steps of a cave and it absorbs [moisture], whatever it absorbs achieves <i>BeKhi Yutan</i> [a state where liquid put upon food makes it susceptible to impurity]. Rabbi Yehudah says: Whatever is against the water achieves <i>BeKhi Yutan</i>, and whatever is not against the water does not achieve <i>BeKhi Yutan</i>.
Bartenura on Mishnah Makhshirin
שק שהוא מלא. מעלות המערה – that is filled with water.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makhshirin
Introduction
Chapter three (finally) returns to the subject of our tractate when does contact with liquid cause food to be susceptible to impurity?
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makhshirin
כל ששאבו (all that absorbed) – the fruit from the moisture of the water, therefore, it is [under the law of] “when water is put on” (Leviticus 11:38), for it is satisfactory for him that the fruit absorbs from the water, and through this, they appear thick and swollen.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makhshirin
If a sack full of produce was put by the side of a river or by the side of the mouth of a cistern or on the steps of a cavern, and [the produce] absorbed water, all [the produce] which absorbed the water comes under the law of ‘if water be put’. A person put a sack of produce near a source of wetness, either a river, a cistern or a cavern in order for it to stay moist. The produce in the sack, even the side of the sack that didn't really get all that wet, has been made susceptible to impurity. This is because he wanted the produce to get wet.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makhshirin
רבי יהודה אומר כל שהוא כנגד המים וכו' (Rabbi Yehuda says: Whatever is over against the water) - But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makhshirin
Rabbi Judah says: all [the produce] which faced the water comes under the law of ‘if water be put’, but all [the produce] which did not face the water does not come under the law of ‘if water be put’. Rabbi Judah limits the susceptibility to the side of the sack that actually faced the water. This side absorbed the water so it is susceptible. The other side didn't really absorb any water so it is not susceptible.
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