Commentary for Oholot 10:7
הָיְתָהּ נְתוּנָה בְצַד הָאַסְקֻפָּה שֶׁאִם תַּעֲלֶה הִיא נוֹגַעַת בַּמַּשְׁקוֹף פּוֹתֵחַ טֶפַח, טֻמְאָה תַחְתֶּיהָ, בְּתוֹכָהּ אוֹ עַל גַּבָּהּ, טֻמְאָה בוֹקַעַת וְעוֹלָה, בּוֹקַעַת וְיוֹרָדֶת. הָיְתָה גְבוֹהָה מִן הָאָרֶץ טֶפַח, טֻמְאָה תַחְתֶּיהָ אוֹ בַבַּיִת, תַּחְתֶּיהָ וְהַבַּיִת טָמֵא, תּוֹכָהּ וְגַבָּהּ טָהוֹר. בְּתוֹכָהּ אוֹ עַל גַּבָּהּ, הַכֹּל טָמֵא. שֶׁאִם תַּעֲלֶה אֵינָהּ נוֹגַעַת בַּשְּׁקוֹף פּוֹתֵחַ טֶפַח, אוֹ מֻדְבֶּקֶת בַּשְּׁקוֹף, טֻמְאָה תַחְתֶּיהָ, אֵין טָמֵא אֶלָּא תַחְתֶּיהָ:
If it [the pot] was placed next to the doorway so that, if raised, it would touch the lintel a handbreadth's space, if there was impurity beneath it, inside it, or on top if it, the impurity pierces and goes up, pierces and goes down. If it was a handbreadth above the ground and the impurity is beneath it or in the house, beneath it and the house is impure and its inside and on top of it is pure. [If it was] inside it or on top of it, everything is impure. [If it was placed so that] if raised it would not touch the lintel a handbreadth's space or [if it was] attached to the lintel, if the impurity was beneath it, only what is beneath it is impure.
Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
היתה נתונה – it refers to the pot.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
[In the case where the pot was] placed on the side of the threshold [of the house] such that if it was raised it would touch the lintel over a [space of a square] handbreadth: Today's mishnah deals with a pot that is placed on its side outside of a house, on the threshold of the house. The pot is placed such that if it was lifted up, at least one handbreadth square of the pot would touch the lintel.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
בצד אסקופה (at the side of the lintel/threshold, lower door-sill) – that it was placed on the threshold from the outside and stretched inwards so much that if you would ascend there is from it a handbreadth underneath the lintel. And as for example, that the pot was very wide from the bottom and narrow from the top towards its mouth, for when there exists a handbreadth underneath the lintel, still all of its mouth is outside.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
If there is uncleanness below, within or above [the pot], the uncleanness cleaves upwards and downwards. In this case, no matter where the impurity is, it goes only up and down. If it is below the pot, then it is not in an ohel that is one cubic handbreadth in size. If it is in the pot or on its side, then the house remains pure because the impurity is not within the lintel (which would place it in the house).
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
טומאה תחתיה – it speaks of pressed ritual impurity (i.e., when there is less than a handbreadth between the corpse and the roof or covering, and the ritual impurity passes through the roof and rises upward indefinitely).
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
[In the case] where it was one handbreadth high off the ground: As the mishnah always seems to do, it now discusses what happens if the pot is a one handbreadth off the ground.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
בוקעת ועולה – but the house is pure. And for example, that the defilement is from the lintel and outward. For if it was stretched a handbreadth inside, the house is impure.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
If there is uncleanness below it or in the house, what is below it and in the house becomes unclean. In this case there is an ohel (under the pot) that is immediately connected to the house (because there is no space between it and the house). The wall of the pot, if lifted, would connect at the length of a handbreadth with the lintel of the house. Therefore, if the impurity is either under the pot or in the house, it spreads from one to the other and both are unclean.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
תחתיה והבית טמא – since that there is a handbreadth from it inside that brings the defilement into the house.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
If the uncleanness is within or above [the pot], everything becomes unclean. If the uncleanness is within or above the pot, then the pot is defiled and it doesn't form a barrier to protect the house (see mishnah six).
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
תוכה וגבה טהור – that it (i.e., the inside and on top of it) is protected with the wall of the house.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
[In the case where the pot] if raised would not touch the lintel over a [space of a square] handbreadth, or is joined to the lintel, if there is uncleanness below it, nothing is unclean except what is below [the pot]. In this case, the pot is again one handbreadth off the ground. In this case, if it were lifted, it would not touch a space of one square handbreadth of the lintel. Alternatively, the pot is raised all the way to the lintel, but it comes into contact with less than one handbreadth of the lintel. In these cases, if impurity is below it, it remains there. The pot does form an ohel over the impurity and therefore the entire area below the pot is impure. However, the house is pure since the pot touches the lintel for a space less than one handbreadth. In order for two ohels to be connected to convey impurity the contact must be at least a handbreadth. The inside of the pot and above the pot are pure for the pot joins with the walls of the house to serve as a barrier, even though it is connected at a point of less than a handbreadth.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
הכל טמא – that the pot was defiled and it doesn’t interpose. But we view the defilement as if it is beneath it and that the house is impure.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
מודבקת – that the pot is not underneath the lintel at all, but rather above it joined at the side of the lintel, and the width of its joining is not a handbreadth.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
אין טמא אלא תחתיה – since there isn’t a handbreadth underneath the lentil, it doesn’t bring defilement to the house, and the house, and what is within it and what is above it, all are ritually pure.
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