Commentary for Mikvaot 10:9

כל ידות הכלים – as for example, the handle of hatchet/mattock and those of a similar manner he inserted it with an iron tool.

Any handles of vessels which have been fixed not in their usual manner, or, if fixed in their usual manner, have not been fixed firmly, or, if fixed firmly, have been broken, they block. Handles of vessels that have not been attached properly, or were attached properly but broke, block successful immersion. However, if the handle is properly attached to the vessel, it does not block immersion.

שלא כדרכה – in a curve.

If a vessel was immersed with its mouth downwards, it is as though it had not been immersed. If the vessel is immersed with its mouth downwards, water will not fully enter it. Therefore, the immersion does not count.

ולא מירקן (but did not finish them off – so that it fitted accurately) – but he did not complete their insertion. It is the language of "ומירק אחר שחיטה על ידו" /and another completed the ritual slaughter on his behalf, in Tractate Yoma 32b (but also in the Mishnah found in Tractate Yoma 31b or Chapter 3, Mishnah 4).

If immersed in the regular manner but without the attachment, [it becomes clean] only if turned on its side. The attachment referred to here seems to be some sort of drainage pipe placed on the side of the vessel. If he immerses it in the normal manner, the water will not enter this attachment. Therefore, it is not pure until he immerses it on its side so that water will enter the drainage pipe.

או שמירקן – that he completed their insertion but they broke.

If a vessel is narrow at each end and broad in the center, it becomes clean only if turned on its side. The water will enter this vessel only if it is immersed on its side.

כלי שהטבילו דרך פיו כאילו לא טבל – for every utensil that at the beginning of its insertion in water, he turns it upside down/inverts it on its mouth, the water does not enter in it ever even if he inserts all of it until he turns it [on its side].

A flask which has its mouth turned inwards becomes clean only if a hole is made at the side. Water will not enter this vessel through its mouth, therefore to successfully immerse it he must make a hole in its side.

בלא הזיבורית (if the vessel to be immersed has no saucer – a rim at the bottom, wider than the belly of the vessel, and which forces the water into the belly) – that he did not immerse the handle or something additional that is the utensil has on one of its ends, and for this they call it זיבורית that it is not of the essence of the utensil, and the water does not come on them until he turns it on its side. And all of these of our Mishnah the reason for all of them is that water will come on all of them.

An inkpot of laymen becomes clean only if a hole is made at the side. The inkpot of Joseph the priest had a hole at its side. The inkpot used by laypeople will not allow water into its mouth, if it is immersed. Therefore, one must make a hole in it to allow the water in. It would seem that the inkpots of professional scribes were made differently. Joseph the priest seems to have been well-known for making a permanent hole in his inkpot so that it would be easy to immerse. Assumedly, when using it, he would plug it up temporarily.

קלמרין (inkstand – of ordinary men with a rim bent inside to prevent spilling) – a utensil that one places in it the ink. And similarly, we call it in the Roman language KALMARO. And there are of them where their mouths are sunk within them in order that the ink does not spill, even if it will be turned upside down on its mouth. But if he immersed it in its appropriate manner, the water does not enter into the sunken space that surrounds the mouth from inside, therefore, one needs to make an incision from the side.

הכר (mattress)– that he lies down upon.

A bolster and a cushion of leather it is necessary that the water enter inside them. This section lists coverings which one regularly puts stuff in and takes stuff out of. Therefore, the insides must be immersed as well as the outsides.

הכסת (pillow [cases] of leather) – that he places underneath his head.

A round cushion or a ball or a bootmaker's last or an amulet or a phylactery, it is not necessary that the water enter inside them. In contrast, these items have something inside of them which is not customarily removed. Therefore, they do not need to be opened up in order to be immersed.

שיבואו בהן המים – inside them. For it is the manner of the mattress and pillow cases of leather to insert and to remove what is within them.

This is the general rule: any article the filling of which is not usually taken out and put in may be immersed unopened. This is the general rule that explains the distinction between the items in sections one and two.

כסת עגולה – [round] and small [pillows] that the princes make under their heds.

הכדור – PALUTA

והאמום (shoe-maker’s last) – the frame/mold that they make upon it the shoe. And it is made of leather and they fill it with hair or hackled wool (i.e., to soften them).

והקמיע (and an amulet) – of writing [of names/verses] or sterile covered with leather.

ותפלה – either of the hand or of the head.

אינו צריך שיבואו בהן מים – for it is not the practice to insert or to remove what is within them (i.e., parchments).

קשרי העני – the clothing of a poor man that were torn and knotted, this knot is not made to be release/undone ever, therefore one does not need to loosened it at the time of ritual immersion in order that the water would come upon it.

The following do not require that the water shall enter inside them:
Knots [in the clothes] of a poor man,
or in tassels,
or in the thong of a sandal,
or in a head-tefillin if it is fastened tightly,
or in an arm-tefillin if it does not move up or down,
or in the handles of a water-skin,
or in the handles of a wallet.
This mishnah lists things that don't require the water of the mikveh to enter into them in order to be cleansed.
Section one: The poor man will not undo the knots, therefore water need not enter inside the knot.
Section two: Tassels on the fringes of garments are not generally undone.
Section three: This is the knot that attaches the sandal to attach the forefoot. The straps on the other side would be tied and untied but the thong part would not.
Section four: As we know, straps are attached to the tefillin. If the strap is attached tightly to the head tefillin, it does not need to be loosened to be immersed in the mikveh.
Section five: If the strap on the arm-tefillin is tight enough so that the box doesn't move up and down on its own, then the water need not go inside the connection between the two. This is a lesser connection then the connection required for the head-tefillin because the arm-tefillin must be adjusted in order to put it on one's arm.
Sections six and seven: One never removes these handles. Therefore, water need not enter in between the handle and the skin or wallet.

הנימין (cord,string) – the cords/string and the twisted threads on the rim of the sheet for beauty and they make knots with them, and they are not made to be loosened ever.

חבט של סנדל (thongs of a sandal joined in a knot) – the handles that the straps of a sandal have, one does not have to loosen their knot at the time of ritual immersion, for this knot is not made to be loosened.

בזמן שהיא חוצה – that the knot interposes, that the water does not enter into it. And when will this be? At the time when the knot is fastened well, and then it is not made to be loosened. But since it is made to last, one does not need to release/loosen it at the time of ritual immersion.

ושל זרוע – the knot of the phylactery/tefillin of the hand.

בשמן שאינה עולה ויורדת – and the knot is fasted a great deal and the strap does not ascend or descend upon it.

ואזני החמת (handgrip of a waterskin) – the handgrip of the leather bottle that in them tight connections.

תורמל – a large leather pouch that the shepherds carry. And in the language of Scripture it is called a ילקוט/receptacle, wallet (see First Samuel, Chapter 17, Verse 40: “[He took his stick, picked a few smooth stones from the wadi,] put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag [and sling in hand, he went toward the Philistine].”

פרקסין (underwear/shirt) – the underclothes that are upon the skin, and this is open at the shoulders, and when he wears it, he ties it on the shoulder, and at the time of removal/stripping, he loosens it.

The following require that water shall enter inside them:
The knot in an undergarment which is tied to the shoulder.
The hem of a sheet must be stretched out.
And the knot of head tefillin if it is not fastened tightly,
Or of the arm-tefillin if it moves up and down.
And the laces of a sandal.
Clothes which are immersed when they have just been washed must be kept immersed until they bubble up; But if they are immersed when already dry, they must be kept immersed until they throw up bubbles and then cease to bubble up.
Today's mishnah is the opposite of yesterday's. It deals with situations in which water does need to come into contact with the insides of knots or other such cases.
Section one: The undergarment was attached to the shoulders by a knot. Since this knot would regularly be undone, it needs to allow water inside when immersed.
Section two: Before one immerses the hem of a sheet which has wrinkles and folds in it, one must stretch it out so that the water comes into contact with every part.
Sections three and four: These were explained in yesterday's mishnah.
Section five: While the thong of a sandal did not need to let the water inside it, the laces are regularly undone. Therefore, they need to be undone to allow water in and out.
Section six: The mishnah requires a sign that the water has come into contact with the clothes for the immersion to be efective. If the clothes are already wet, then all that needs to happen is for the clothes to sort of bubble up, meaning they pop up to the surface.
If they are already dry, then the clothes must first bubble up and then stop bubbling up to the surface. Only this is a sign that they have been successfully immersed.

ושפה של סדין צריך למתה – the folds/creases that are in the upper rim/hem in order that the water can come between those folds/creases.

למתח (to stretch) – to stretch them and to draw them out/extend them, like (Isaiah 40:22): “Stretched them out like a tent to dwell in.”

ושנץ של סנדל (laces of a sandal) – straps that one ties/knots them.

עד שיבעבעו (of garments dipped in water until they are soaked thru and cease from bulging) – when a person immerses clothing in the water, they emerge like kinds of bubbles/bulges and when they are launder and liquid drips from them, when the water begins to bulge, they have been purified, because they have been in contact with the water that has been absorbed by them to the waters of the Mikveh, but when they are dried, the water does not come into all of it until they have ceased from bulging. That when a person immerses a sheet and is not able to stretch it out, for the Mikveh is not that wide, he inserts it in the water when it is folded up, and through it the water bulges/bubbles, but when they rest from bulging it is known that the waters came through all of it.

מטבילן עד מקום המדה (one immerses them up to the point of their proper measure) – and the rest does not require ritual immersion, for all that are stand to be cut off is considered as something cut off. And there is no interposition to the place of the cutting itself, for the covered parts of utensils do not require being in water like that of a human being, and they permit the covered parts of utensils on the covered parts of humans, for whereas the covered parts of a person, assuming that they don’t require water coming on them, we do need that they are worthy for water to come on them, but the covered pars of utensils, even if they are worthy for water to come upon them, it is not necessary, for a person is not particular/mindful there.

Any handles of vessels which are too long and which will be cut short, need only be immersed up to the point of their proper measure. Rabbi Judah says: [they are unclean] until the whole of them is immersed. If the handle of a vessel is too long and is supposed to be cut off, but has not yet been cut off, it needs to be immersed only up to the point at which it will be cut off. We consider the remainder of the handle as if it had already been cut off. Rabbi Judah says that since the extra part of the handle is connected to the part that will remain, he must immerse the whole thing.

ר' יהודה אומר כו' – but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.

The chain of a large bucket, to the length of four handbreadths, and a small bucket, to the length of ten handbreadths, and they need only be immersed up to the point of their proper measure. Rabbi Tarfon says: it is not clean unless the whole of the chain-ring is immersed. Up until four cubits, the chain of a large bucket is considered to be its handle. But longer than that, it is not necessary for the bucket and is not considered to be part of it. Therefore, it doesn't need to be immersed beyond four cubits. The small bucket must be immersed up until 10 handbreadths because it is lowered using this chain into the well. (See Kelim 14:3). Rabbi Tarfon adds that if the proper measure (4 or 10) ended in the middle of a chain ring, then the whole ring must be immersed. A bit nit-picky, but no one's asking my opinion, are they?

מטבילין עד מקום המדה – until [a length] of four [handbreadths] for a large [bucket] and up to ten [handbreadths] for a small [bucket], and the remainder is ritually pure and does not require ritual immersion, and even if the measure ended at half of ring in the chain, there is no need to immerse other than up until one-half of the ring.

The rope bound to a basket is not counted as a connection unless it has been sewn on. A rope attached to a basket is not considered to be connected to the basket, so it need not be immersed with the basket.

ר' טרפון אומר עד שיטבול את כל הטבעת – for the measure had ended at its half. And the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Tarfon.

אין מטבילין חמין בצונן – that food and liquid do not have ritual purity in a Mikveh, but rather, only the water that had been defiled only, because of contact and connection between liquids, but contact between liquids is only effective in cases of one [kind of liquid] mixed with something similar, warm with warm, fresh [water] with fresh [water] and bitter [water] with bitter [water], but one type mixed with another type, the contact between liquids is not effective and the waters were not purified.

Introduction The first half of our mishnah discusses the purification of impure water through a process known as "kissing." This is when the edge of a vessel with impure water is brought up and allowed to "kiss" or "touch" a body of purifying water. The second half deals with immersing a vessel that has some sort of liquid already in it.

מלא משקין – as for example, wine and oil and fruit juice and all liquids other than water.

Bet Shammai say: hot water may not be immersed in cold, or cold in hot, foul in fresh or fresh in foul. But Bet Hillel say: it may be immersed. According to Bet Shammai, when one does "kissing" in order to purify water, both the pure and the impure water must be the same. If one is of a different temperature or a different quality from the other, then the immersion doesn't work. It is as if by having the waters touch, they become one body and this can only be true if they are of the same quality. Bet Hillel says that this is not essential. To Bet Hillel, all water is the same, be it foul or fresh, cold or hot.

כאילו לא טבל – because they interpose. And especially, that their appearance didn’t change, that they were not abolished in the water.

A vessel full of liquids which one immersed, it is as if it has not been immersed. If it was full of urine, this is reckoned as water. If it contained hatat waters, [it is unclean] unless the water [of the mikveh which enters the vessel] exceeds the hatat waters. Liquids other than water cannot be immersed in order to purify them. Therefore, a vessel full of liquid cannot be immersed. If the vessel is not full, however, it can be immersed because the water that enters swishes around and has contact with the whole vessel. Interestingly, urine is treated like water in this manner. A vessel can be immersed even if full of water. Hatat waters are the waters used in the red heifer purification ritual. If the vessel needs to be purified then the waters of the mikveh that enter the vessel must be greater than the hatat waters that are already in the vessel. In other words, the law is more stringent here than it is with other types of liquids.

מלא מי רגלין רואין אותן כאילו הן מים – for urine is a kind of water, and when the waters of the Mikveh come in contact with them, a connection is made to them, and they do not interpose and the utensil is purified. But there are books that have the reading: "רואין אותן כאילו הם יין"/we see them as if they are wine, but if their appearance would change and they return to the appearance of water, they are nullified in the water and the utensil is purified. And like this reading is found in the Tosefta [Mikvaot, Chapter 7, Halakha 4].

Rabbi Yose says: even if a vessel with the capacity of a kor contains but a quarter-log, it is as if it had not been immersed. Rabbi Yose adds that it doesn't matter how large the vessel is---if there is even a small amount of liquid in it, it cannot be immersed. Rabbi Yose seems to be speaking about all liquids, not just water. Whereas the previous opinion allowed the immersion of vessels with liquids in them, as long as the vessel wasn't full, Rabbi Yose is stricter. The vessel must be completely empty.

מלא מי חטאת – water that had been sanctified in the ashes of the [Red] Heifer. And from them we sprinkle on those who are [ritually] impure through contact with the dead.

עד ירבו המים על מי חטאת – that most of the utensil will be empty in order that the waters of the Mikveh that enter the utensil will be greater than the waters of purification [from the Red Heifer] that would be within it. For if not, he still remains in his [ritual] defilement and they (i.e., the waters) are like the rest of the liquids that interpose between the utensil and the waters of the Mikveh.

כור – thirty Seah.

ואין בו אלא רביעית – waters of purification [from the Red Heifer], or the rest of the liquids.

כאילו לא טבל – for Rabbi Yossi holds that a quarter [LOG] of liquids or a quarter [LOG] of waters of purification [from the Red Heifer], invalidate ritual immersion, and interpose even within a large utensil, until he removes the quarter [LOG] of liquids or of the waters of purification [from the Red Heifer] and he returns and immerses them empty. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yossi.

כל האוכלים מצטרפין – [if] one consume impure foods from several kinds and there is in all of them like one-half of a furrow (i.e., a field of a square P’ras, declared unclean on account of crushed bones carried over it from a ploughed grave) which is two eggs [bulk] according to Rashi and an egg-and-a-half according to the words of Maimonides (see also Tractate Meilah, Chapter 4, Mishnah 5), they combine to invalidate his body from consuming heave-offering [if he is a Kohen]. And similarly, if he drank from several kinds of the seven liquids which are water, wine, olive oil, honey, milk, blood and dew, for these alone are called liquids. All of these combine one with the other to invalidate the body with one-quarter of a LOG, as it is written (Leviticus 11:34): “As to any food that may be eaten, it shall become unclean if it came in contact with water, or to any liquid that may be drunk, [it shall become unclean if it was inside any vessel],” it teaches on the food-stuffs that they all combine and on all the liquids that all of them combine.

All foods combine together to make up the half of a half-loaf which makes the body unfit. One who eats a impure food that is equivalent in volume to 1/4 of a loaf of bread (=volume of two eggs) is disqualified from eating terumah. If one eats several different types of impure food, they combine together to disqualify him (note that he is not impure, just disqualified).

שעשו בו שאר משקין – to invalidate the body.

All liquids combine together to make up the quarter-log which makes the body unfit. Similarly, different types of liquid combine together to constitute the quarter-log of liquid that is required to disqualify a person from eating terumah.

כמים – but the rest of the liquids invalidate the Mikveh with three LOG like water. Alternatively, the rest of the liquids complete the measurement of the Mikveh for forty Seah like water, as it is written (Leviticus 11:36): “[However, a spring or cistern] in which water is collected [shall be clean],” but not a Mikveh of the rest of the liquids.

This is more of a stringency in the case of one who drinks unclean liquids than in the case of the mikveh, for in this case they have made all other liquids like water. The mishnah now notes, as it likes to do, that this makes the rules governing the drinking of unclean liquids more stringent than the rules governing a mikveh. For when it comes to a mikveh, only three logs of drawn water disqualify it. Other liquids do not. But when it comes disqualifying a person from eating terumah, where all liquids can join together.

Introduction The last mishnah in Mikvaot! This mishnah deals with purifying things that have been swallowed up in the body.

שתה משקין טמאין – other liquids other than water.

If one ate unclean foods or drank unclean liquids and then he immersed and then vomited them up, they are still unclean because they did not become clean in the body. The unclean foods or liquids that were in a person's body while he immersed in the mikveh, and then were subsequently vomited up, do not become clean. There are two reasons for this. First of all, they did not come into contact with the waters of the mikveh. Second, unclean food and liquid cannot be purified in a mikveh.

שאינן טהורים בגוף – the [ritual] immersion did not count for them through the immersion of the body, for food and liquid outside of water do not have ritual purity in the Mikveh.

If one drank unclean water and immersed and then vomited it up, it is clean because it became clean in the body. In contrast, the water that he swallows is purified in his body. This is not because the water came into contact with the mikveh, but rather because water is immediately purified upon swallowing.

אבל שתה מים טמאין וטבל – they are [ritually] pure in the body, and they have purity in the Mikveh through contact between liquids [placing iit in a container and submerging the container in a ritual bath so that the water of the ritual bath comes in contact with the impure water].

If one swallowed a clean ring and then went into the tent of a corpse, if he sprinkled himself once and twice and immersed himself and then vomited it up, behold, it remains as it was before. A person has swallowed a pure ring (I'm sure this has happened to someone you know). He then goes into a tent with a corpse in it and becomes impure. He goes through the purification ritual and has the hatat waters sprinkled on him on the third and seventh day, and thereby becomes pure. Then he vomits up the ring. The ring is clean as it was before (well, at least ritually clean, I hope he washes it off first). Not because it was purified in the mikveh, but because it was never defiled in his body.

הרי הוא כמות שהיתה – pure like it was, that saves it while it is still absorbed so that it would not become defiled.

If one swallowed an unclean ring, he may immerse himself and eat terumah. If he vomited it up, it is unclean and it renders him unclean. The impure ring that he swallowed does not become pure in the mikveh, but neither does it disqualify him from eating terumah. In other words, it is ignored. If he vomits it up, the ring remains unclean and will now disqualify him from eating terumah.

טובל ואוכל בתרומה – for impurity that is absorbed doe not defile others.

If an arrow was stuck into a man, it blocks so long as it is visible. But if it is not visible, he may immerse himself and eat terumah. An arrow stuck in a person blocks him from being able to immerse, as long as it is visible (although he might consider having it removed first). If it has fully entered his body and can no longer be seen from the outside, then he may immerse. Congratulations! We have completed Tractate Mikvaot! As I always write, it is a tradition at this point to thank God for helping us finish learning the tractate and to commit ourselves to going back and relearning it, so that we may not forget it and so that its lessons will stay with us for all of our lives. Tractate Mikvaot is one of the tractates of Seder Toharot that does have some practical significance in the modern world. Mikvaot are still used in the modern world, by women immersing after the menstrual periods, by those converting to Judaism and by men who have taken upon various immersion customs. I hope that learning the tractate has given you an appreciation of what a mikveh actually is, what disqualifies a mikveh and what disqualifies a valid immersion in a mikveh. As always, a hearty yasher koach upon completing the tractate and keep up the good work. Tomorrow we begin Niddah.

בזמן שהוא נראה – on his body from the outside.

טובל ואוכל בתרומה – it doesn’t make a difference whether it is an impure arrow or whether it is a pure arrow, it does not interpose through [ritual] immersion all the while that it is not seen.