Commentary for Oholot 8:3
The following spread but do not block [impurity]: a chest, a box, a cabinet, a straw basket, a reed basket, and the water tank of an Alexandrian ship - if they do not have a base or cannot contain forty <i>Se'ah</i> of liquid, which is two <i>Kor</i> of dry, a curtain, an apron, a bed cover, a sheet, an inferior mat, a mat - if they have not been made into tents - a domesticated or wild animal that died, and impure food. In addition to these things is the man powered mill.
Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
ואין מחזיקים ארבעים סאה בלח – for since they are susceptible to receive ritual defilement, they do not interpose.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
The following bring [impurity] but do not protect against it: Today's mishnah deals with objects that bring impurity but do not serve as a barrier against it.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
שאין עושיין אהלים – they are not insert/planted similar to a tent, but rather are flattened/spread according to the aperture in the roof looking to the ground floor.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
A chest, a box, a cupboard, a beehive of straw, a beehive of reeds, or the water tank of an Alexandrian ship, such of which [objects] have [flat] bottoms but cannot contain forty se'ahs of liquid measure or two kors dry measure. This is the same as the list in mishnah one except the boxes are smaller. Since they cannot contain forty seahs of liquid or two kors of dry goods, they are susceptible to impurity. Things that are susceptible to impurity do not act as barriers to impurity.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
מוסף עליהם הריחים של אדם – that is the hand millstone, which are carried and susceptible to receiving ritual impurity. This excludes the millstone of cattle that are not carried and are not susceptible to receiving ritual impurity.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
A curtain, a leather apron, a leather undercover, a sheet, a matting underlay or a mat when not made into tents. This is also the same list as in mishnah one except here the curtains are are laying flat over the hatch between an upper story and a bottom floor and they are not set up as a tent. As we learned in 7:2, in such a situation these things can bring impurity, but they do not act as a barrier against it.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
Cattle or wild animals when they are dead, and foodstuffs that are [liable to become] unclean. Since these animals or foods are unclean, they do not protect against impurity.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
In addition to these, a human-powered mill. Hand-mills which can be carried from place to place are susceptible to impurity, and therefore cannot act as a barrier. In contrast, mills operated by animals are heavy and immovable. Therefore they can act as a barrier against impurity.
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