Commentary for Mikvaot 9:9

אלו חוצצין. חוטי צמר וחוטי פשתן והרצועות – and the daughters plait the hair that is on their head, and they are fastened in the hair that is in the head and they prevent the water from entering the hair.

Introduction The ninth chapter deals completely with the issue of what blocks immersion. Today's mishnah begins with what blocks immersion for a person. The end of the chapter (5-7) deals with what blocks immersion in vessels.

של צמר ושל שער אין חוצצים – but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda regarding wool, but threads of hair, the Sages agree with him, because the water enters in them, and especially the threads that are in the head interpose, but that of the neck do not interpose, for the woman does not chock herself.

The following block [immersion] in the case of a person: threads of wool, threads of flax and the ribbons on the heads of girls. If a girl wears threads of wool, flax or other types of ribbons in her hair, they block her immersion.

Rabbi Judah says: those of wool or of hair do not interpose, because water enters through them. According to Rabbi Judah, threads of wool or hair do not block the water from entering. Therefore, her immersion is successful

קלקי הלב (matted hair on the chest) – hair that is on the chest corresponding to the heart that became entangled and made similar to chains , and they are detestable from the sweat.

The matted hair on the heart and on the beard and on a woman's hidden parts; pus outside the eye, hardened pus outside a wound and the plaster over it, dried-up juice, clots of excrement on the body, dough under the finger nails, sweat-crumbs, miry clay, potter's clay, and road-clay.
What is meant by 'miry clay’? This means the clay in pits, for it is written: "He lifted me out of the miry pit, the slimy clay" (Psalms 40:3).
"Potter's clay" according to its literal sense. Rabbi Yose declares potter's clay clean, but clay for putty unclean.
And "road-clay."
These become like road-side pegs in these [kinds of clay] one may not immerse oneself nor immerse [other things] with them;
But in all other clay one may immerse when it is wet.
One may not immerse oneself with dust [still] on one's feet.
One may not immerse a kettle with soot [on it] unless he scraped it.
Section one: This section is a list of things that block successful immersion.
Most of these are self-explanatory. Sweat-crumbs are formed on your hands when they are dirty and you rub them together and little balls are formed (this is actually quite a clever description of those little things).
The various types of clay are explained in the continuation of the mishnah.
Section two: Miry clay is clay found in pits the word comes from the verse in Psalms.
Sections three and four: These seem to be self-explanatory.
Section five: All of these types of clay become like "road-side pegs." This refers to a person who walks in mud and has around his legs cakes of mud. One is not allowed to immerse with these types of clay on him, nor can one immerse vessels with this type of mud on them.
Section six: Other types of mud do not block immersion, as long as they are wet.
Section seven: The dust on one's feet block immersion.
Section eight: Before one immerses a kettle, one must scrape off the soot. The words "unless he scraped it" can also refer to the dust on one's legs.

ובית הסתרים באשה – because the hair is seized and becomes entangled at that same place on account of the sweat and the fifth and soiling . And especially with regard to a married woman who is stringent with herself so that she doesn’t become repulsive to her husband that the woman’s private parts is an interposition, but with a free woman who is not so stringent, the woman’s private parts are not an interposition.

לפלוף (pus sticking around the eye) – filthy matter of the eye.

גליד (scab of a wound, crust) – spittle/discharge that comes out from the wound when it dries and becomes a scab/crust.

ושרף היבש (dried sap/resin) – if it there was on her flesh from the resin that drips from the trees or from the fruit, and dried up there.

גלדי צואה שעל בשרו – that dried up and became a scab/crust.

והמלמולין (crumb-like particles of dirty or sweaty hands when rubbed against each other) – when the hands of a person are dirty with plaster or with dough or sweat and he rubs his hands one on the other, his hand becomes like grains of barley.

בשל מריקה (a sort of earth used for polishing) – plaster/clay that is steeped in the white of an egg, if is made to repair with it a utensil that was chipped (i.e., like a putty), that the water does not polish/cleanse it. The language of מריקה is (Esther 2:12): “women’s cosmetics.” But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yossi.

יתדות דרכים (way-mark of hardened clay pegs – cross-path laid out with whitened pegs of baked mud or clay) – plaster/clay that was flattened through the walking of people that walk upon it. And it is moist, it is called a white earth/chalk, but when it is dry it is called the way-mark of hardened clay pegs, that is hard to walk upon them and appears as if one is walking upon pegs.

אין טובלין בהם – if plaster/clay like this was in the Mikveh.

ואין מטבילין אותן – if it was on his flesh. And there are those who interpret/explain that we don’t immerse them if their waters were [ritually] defiled, for contact between liquids is not effective in a place of plaster/clay.

הקומקום (kettle) – a copper utensil in which one heats water, and on account of the smoke and the flame that goes up on its sides, it makes charcoals around it.

אלא אם כן ישפשף (unless one scrapes) – the charcoal that is upon it.

ובית הסתרים באיש – for a man is not stringent [concerning this part of his body]. And even a woman is not stringent unless she is married as we have explained (see Mishnah 2 above).

Introduction Today's mishnah deals with clumps of matted hair that do not block successful immersion from occurring.

ושאינו מקפיד עליו אינו חוצץ – and for him as long as it isn’t on the majority of his body. And the legal decision regarding interposition – the majority of the body and he is stringent about it, it interposes according to the words of the Torah. A minority thereof, that is to say, if the thing that interposes is in the minority of the body even though he is stringent/he is mindful of it , it does not interpose according to the words of the Torah. But the Sages decreed that on the majority [of the body] and he is not mindful about it because of the majority that he is mindful about, and on the minority that he is mindful about also because of the majority that he is mindful about. But they did not make a decree regarding the minority that he is not mindful about because of the minority that he is mindful of, for this is the body of the decree and we hold that we make a decree on a preventive measure in order to prevent the violation of another preventive measure.

The following do not block: the matted hair of the head and of the armpits and of a man's hidden parts. These types of matted hair do not block successful immersion from occurring, in contrast with those found in yesterday's mishnah which do. Note that male pubic hair does not block immersion, whereas female pubic hair does.

Rabbi Eliezer says: it is the same with a man or a woman: if it is something which one finds annoying, it blocks; but if it is something which one does not find annoying, it does not interpose. Rabbi Eliezer issues a more egalitarian ruling. No matter the gender, if the person finds the matted hair annoying, then it blocks immersion. This same general rule is found in mishnah seven. Rabbi Eliezer differs from the other sages in that he applies it also to pubic hair.

לפלוף שבעין – with that which is moist that dos not interpose, [but] with dry, it interposes, for outside of the eye that is above (see Mishnah 2), whether dealing with something moist or dry, it interposes. And the reason for this is that outside of the eye, a person is mindful about it whether it is moist or whether it is dry, [whereas] within the eye, a person is mindful of something dry, but something moist, he is not mindful of it.

Introduction Today's mishnah continues the list of things that do not block immersion.

כשות של קטן (downy hair growth of a youth before puberty) – a kind of hair that originates within the flesh of young boys , similar to the hair that originates on cucumbers that we call FAKORS in Arabic. And this hair is called the tuft/fine hairs of cucumbers in the language of the Mishnah (i.e., cucumbers or melons in an early stage when they are pubescent), such is the hair of young boys that is similar to it which is called the down hair growth of a youth before puberty, but the women call it the hair of an imbecile.

Pus within the eye, hardened pus within a wound, juice that is moist, moist excrement on the body, excrement inside the finger nail, and a dangling finger nail and the downy hair of a child. All of the things listed here do not cause immersion to be blocked. Note that some of these should be contrasted with the list in mishnah one, for instance moist excrement, which does not block, and dry excrement, which does.

לא טמא – if ritual impurity did come in contact with that hair, the young child is not defiled.

[These] are not liable to uncleanness and do not cause uncleanness. In addition, all of the items listed above are not considered to be attached to the body. Thus if the body became impure, these things remain pure. And if these things contracted impurity, the rest of the body remains pure.

ולא מטמא – if the young boy was ritually impure with one of the primary forms of ritual impurity, and a person touched that hair but did not touch his flesh, the person who touched him is not ritually impure, for this hair is not considered to be a handle to bring in ritual impurity or to remove it.

The membrane which forms over a wound is liable to uncleanness and causes uncleanness. In contrast, the scab of a wound is part of the body and its purity status goes along with the rest of the body. If it contracts impurity, a person's whole body is impure and if the body is defiled, it too is defiled.

והמור (myrrh)– MOSKO in the foreign tongue. And there are books that have the reading "וחמר".

Introduction Today's mishnah deals with cases in which pitch and myrhh stains block the successful immersion of vessels. The general rule is quite obvious if the person would want to remove the stain of pitch or myrrh, then it blocks immersion. But if we can assume that they don't care, then they do not.

דרגש (footstool in front of a high bed) – a small bed. In the Aramaic translation/Targum, (Ezekiel 23:41): “and you sat on a grand couch [with a set table in front of it -and it was My incense and My oil you laid upon it],” these are דרגשין/footstools in front of a high bed.

In the case of vessels the following block: pitch and myrrh; The entire mishnah deals with when pitch and myrrh (the sap that comes from the myrrh tree), block successful immersion.

על הנקיים חוצציין – because they are mindful of them.

In the case of glass vessels, whether inside or outside; Glass vessels are the most precious and expensive of all vessels. If pitch or myrrh were to be found anywhere, inside or outside of these vessels, the person would wish to have it removed. Therefore they block immersion.

בלוסין (utensils soaked with a mixture of colors (i.e., stains from use) – dirty. Similar to it is what is in the Gemara in the chapter, “The Great Principle”/כלל גדול [Shabbat 76b) – a dough of unsifted flour (with bran).

On a table or on a board or on a couch; On those that are [usually] kept clean they block; On those that are allowed to remain dirty they do not block. If the table is generally kept clean, then one would want to remove the pitch or myrrh. Therefore, they do block immersion. If the table is allowed to remain dirty, then one doesn't care if there is pitch or myrrh on it. Since one doesn't care about it, it doesn't block immersion.

אינן חוצצין – because they are not mindful of them. And that is the reason we are talking about the beds of an houseowner and a poor person.

They block in the case of beds belonging to householders, but they do not block on beds belonging to a poor person. A normal householder would care if there was pitch or myrrh on his bed. Therefore, if the bed belongs to a householder, pitch and myrrh block immersion. But a poor person is probably used to having a bed with some dirt on it. For him, pitch and myrrh do not block immersion.

איכוף – like an אוכף/saddle. And it is [made] of leather and we place it on the donkey when it carries a burden.

They block on the saddle of a house-holder, but they do not block on the saddle of a dealer in water-skins. Again, a regular house-holder cares that there shouldn't be pitch or myrrh on his saddle. But those who deal in water-skins are used to the presence of pitch and myrrh. Therefore, they don't block the successful immersion of his saddle.

זקקין (saddles used by dealers in hose) – those who carry the leather bottles/skins. The language of hose/זיקא whether the tied-up wine skin was filled entirely or whether it was lacking, is permitted in Tractate Avodah Zarah 60a.

They block in the case of a pack-saddle. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: [only if the stain is as big] as an Italian issar. On a pack-saddle, they always block immersion. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says that the stain must have a minimum size that of a coin called the Italian issar.

אינו חוצץ – for they are not mindful about the dirtiness.

עד כאיסר האיטלקי – which is wide like four grains of barley, it interposes; less than this it does not interpose. But the first Tanna/teacher does not give a measurement, but even less than an Issar, it interposes. And the Halakha is according to the first Tanna/teacher.

משני צדדין – that it passes over from two sides of the clothing.

Introduction Today's mishnah talks about when such types of stains block the successful immersion of vessels.

של בנאים – Sages who engage in the building of the world and are mindful of the greasy stains that are on their clothing, for Rabbi Yohanan stated (Talmud Shabbat 114a): Any Sage upon whom grease is found on his clothing is liable for death.

On clothing: if on one side [only] they do not block. But [if found] on two sides they do block. If the stain can be seen on only one side of the clothing, it does not block. But if the stain can be seen on both sides of the clothing then it is a deeper stain and it must be removed before the clothing can be successful immersed.

ושל בור – worse than a common, uneducated person (i.e. more correctly, someone who is not meticulous in his observance of the commandments), for he is not mindful of the dirty that is in his clothes unless it comes out from side to side, and the pack-saddle or cushion that we stated above (i.e., see the previous Mishnah) that it interposes, that is when it passes from both sides. So that there should not be a pack-saddle that is more important than the clothing of a common, uneducated person. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yossi.

Rabbi Judah says in the name of Rabbi Ishmael: on one side also. According to Rabbi Judah, even if the stain can only be seen on one side of the clothing, it blocks immersion.

Rabbi Yose says: in the case of builders they block if on one side, but in the case of the ditch-digger only if on both sides. Rabbi Yose says that when it comes to builders, their clothing cannot be immersed even if the stain can be seen only on one side . According to this interpretation (others interpret the mishnah to refer to bathhouse attendants), builders take care that their clothes shouldn't have any stains on them, and therefore they would wish to remove this stain. But ditch-diggers (this is the interpretation suggested by Albeck others read "the uncultured") do not care if their clothing is stained on one side. Therefore, it blocks immersion only if the stain can be seen on both sides.

זפתין (pitch/asphalt workers) – those who apply pitch to barrels. Alternatively, those who make the pitch/asphalt.

They do not block in the case of aprons belonging to workers in pitch, potters, or trimmers of trees. Rabbi Judah says: the same applies also to summer fruit-driers. Since these people don't care how dirty their aprons become, stains never block successful immersion.

מפסלי אילנות (trimmers of trees) – that take the refuse from the trees. Another explanation: Those who cut down the trees. The language of (Exodus 34:1): “Carve [for yourself] (two tablets of stone like the first),” that he cuts the branches from the tree in order that it should become thick and that the body of the tree will grow.

This is the general rule: if it is something which one cares enough [to remove], it blocks; but if it is something which one does not care enough [to remove], it does not block. This is the general rule that basically explains the entire chapter. If the person is assumed to want to remove the stain from his clothing, vessel or himself, then it does block immersion. But if he doesn't care that it's there, then the person or article/vessel can be immersed even with the substance on it.

של קייצין – who spread them out in the sun to dry out the fruit of the summer. Another explanation: those who collect the summer fruit. But all of these are not mindful regarding the dirtiness of their aprons. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.