An individual rendered impure through contact with a dead body, who squeezed olives or grapes, if [the fruits he squeezed were] equivalent to exactly an egg [in volume], it [the liquid coming out of them] is pure, as long as he does not touch the part of the [fruit that was already squeezed into] liquid. [If they are] more than the equivalent of an egg [in volume], it is impure, since once the first drop emerged it was rendered impure by an egg's volume [of fruit, which is a sufficient amount to render impurity; but when there is only exactly an egg's volume of fruit, the first drop that emerges is not rendered impure by it, since there is no longer a sufficient measure of food left to render it impure]. If the individual was a <i>zav</i> or <i>zava</i> [a male or female, respectively, with a genital discharge that renders them an Origin of impurity], even with [the squeezing of] one berry, it [the liquid from the fruit] is impure, since when the first drop emerged it became impure through carrying [since a <i>zav</i>/<i>zava</i> also renders impure anything he or she carries or moves]. A <i>zav</i> who milked a goat, the milk is impure, because when the first drop emerged, it became impure through carrying.
Bartenura on Mishnah Tahorot
ובלבד שלא יגע במשקין – as for example, that he pressed them with flat wooden implements that do not become defiled , for now there is nothing here that would defile the liquids other than the husk/pomace of grapes that someone defiled by a corpse had touched , for he was not careful regarding their contact other than when liquid exudes, and when the liquids come in contact with the husks/pomace of grapes there is already missing the measurement of an egg’s bulk. But food does not defile with less than an egg’s bulk.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Tahorot
Introduction
Today's mishnah continues to deal with cases where one drop comes out of something, becomes impure through contact with the food from which it came and then conveys uncleanness back to the food.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Tahorot
יותר מכביצה טמא - that since the first drop had exuded, it became defiled with the equivalent of an egg’s bulk, for even though the liquid that is absorbed in the food is not susceptible to receive ritual defilement with it, it completes its measurement. For like it, we find adjacent (in the next Mishnah) regarding an olive’s bulk from a corpse or from a carrion that had been reduced/shrank in the sun and he placed them in the rain and they swelled up, for the rains that are absorbed/swallowed up complete to make up the measurement.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Tahorot
A man who had corpse uncleanness who pressed olives or grapes: If its bulk was exactly that of an egg, the juice remains clean provided he does not touch the place on which the liquid is; But [if the bulk was] more than that of an egg, the juice becomes unclean, for as soon as the first drop came out, it became unclean by contact with an egg's bulk. The impure person is pressing olives or grapes, and we need to know whether he conveys his impurity to the grape juice or olive oil. If the amount of juice or oil is exactly the volume of an egg, then the juice or oil remains pure, for the same reason we learned in the first two mishnayot of our chapter. Once the first drop is removed, there is less than an egg's worth of food and less than an egg's worth of food is not susceptible to impurity. However, the mishnah notes, if the person with corpse impurity touches the liquid then the liquid is impure and all subsequent drops will be impure as well. But if there is more than an egg's worth of liquid then all of the juice (or oil) will be unclean because the first drop is defiled by contact with the impure olives or grapes.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Tahorot
If the person was a zav or a zavah [the juice] becomes unclean even if only one berry [was pressed out], for as soon as the first drop came out it became unclean by carrying. The difference between a zav (person with abnormal genital discharge) and a person who has corpse impurity is that a zav or zavah defiles through carrying, even if they don't touch that which they are carrying. So in this case, it doesn't matter how many berries (of grapes or olives, both are called "berries") the juice will be impure by virtue of its being carried by a zav or zavah.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Tahorot
If a zav milked a goat, the milk becomes unclean, for as soon as the first drop comes out it becomes unclean by carrying. Similarly, if a zav milks a goat (notice, goat and not cow) the milk will immediately be defiled even if the zav doesn't touch it because a zav conveys impurity by carrying.
