Beginning when do fish become susceptible to being rendered impure? Beit Shammai say: once they have been captured; and Beit Hillel say: once they have died. Rabbi Akiva says: if they could still live [they are not susceptible]. Regarding a branch of a fig tree which was broken off but is still attached by its bark, Rabbi Yehuda considers it to be pure; but the Sages say: if it could still live [and produce fruit, the figs on the branch are not susceptible to being rendered impure, as they are still connected to the earth]. Grain which was uprooted but is still attached [to the soil], even by a small root, is pure [i.e. is insusceptible to being rendered impure].
Bartenura on Mishnah Oktzin
דגים מאימתי מקבלים טומאה – and whenever they are living they are not susceptible to receive defilement.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oktzin
When do fish become susceptible to uncleanness? Bet Shammai say: after they have been caught. Bet Hillel say: only after they are dead. Rabbi Akiva says: if they can still live. Fish can be eaten without first being slaughtered. Indeed, theoretically one could catch a fish from the sea and immediately eat it even while it's still alive (there definitely are cultures that do this). Therefore, Bet Shammai says that fish are immediately susceptible to impurity, once they have been caught, for they are immediately considered food. Bet Hillel says they are not food until they are dead, because that's when they are generally eaten. Rabbi Akiva takes a position somewhere between the two houses. If the fish is still currently alive but will die even if it were thrown back into the water, then it is already considered food and is susceptible to impurity. But if the fish has been caught but could still be thrown back into the water and live, then it is not susceptible.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oktzin
משיצודו (from when they are caught) – they are considered as dead.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oktzin
If a branch of a fig tree was broken off, but it was still attached by its bark: Rabbi Judah says: [the fruit] is still not susceptible to uncleanness. But the sages say: [it all depends] whether they could still live. A similar case is brought with regard to branches that have been cut off a tree but are still hanging by their bark. Fruit on a tree is not susceptible to impurity but once it has been cut off it is. Rabbi Judah says that as long as the fruit is hanging by its bark, meaning it is still attached, it is not susceptible. The other sages say that it all depends on whether the fruit is attached enough such that it could live. Like the fish, if the fruit could still live, it is not susceptible to impurity.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oktzin
אם יכולים לחיות – that if he would return them to the water they would live, they don’t defile. But if they are not able to live when they return them to the water, even though they still had not died, they are susceptible to receive ritual defilement. And the Halakha is according to the School of Hillel.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oktzin
Grain that had been uprooted, but is still attached to the soil even by the smallest of roots, is not susceptible to uncleanness. Grain is not susceptible to impurity until it has completely been severed from the soil
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oktzin
יחור של תאנה שנפשח (a young shoot of a fig tree that was stripped/split) – a branch of the a fig tree and there are figs on it, that had been detached and separated from the place of their connection, but that there remained from its skin and it is attached with the husk/skin/bark of the tree alone.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oktzin
ר' יהודה מטהר – those figs that are on the branch, if the defilement came in contact with them, they are considered as attached, since the branch is attached slightly, and even though it is not attached other than with a skin/husk.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oktzin
וחכמים אומרים אם יכול לחיות – if they will tie and attach the branch with the tree, the branch will live and produce fruit, and it is considered as attached and pure. But if it will not live when they retie it with the tree, the figs that are on the branch are considered like they are detached and are susceptible to receive defilement. And the Halakha is according to the Sages.
