Una mujer puede sentarse y separar su Jalá [y hacer la bendición] mientras está desnuda, ya que tiene la capacidad de cubrirse [cruzando las piernas], pero un hombre no puede hacerlo. Quien no puede amasar la masa con pureza, debe hacerlo en porciones más pequeñas de Kabim [sing., Kav , una unidad de volumen específica, cada una menos que la cantidad mínima obligada en Jalá ], en lugar de hacer la masa en un estado de impureza. El rabino Akiva dice, que uno lo contamine y lo haga en un estado de impureza en lugar de hacerlo en un Kabim separado , porque así como uno designa a [ Jalá ] como puro, uno designa lo que es impuro. Él / ella designa a uno [el impuro] como Jalá , y él / ella designa a uno [el puro] como Jalá , pero las cantidades separadas de Kabim no tienen parte en el nombre [de Jalá ].
Bartenura on Mishnah Challah
וקוצה חלתה ערומה – she separates the Hallah and makes the blessing on its separation, while the facing of the bed is downwards fastened to the ground and all of her nakedness is covered. But the contact of her posterior (i.e., buttocks) does not come into the class of indecency regarding the [recitation of the] blessing. But a man cannot recite the blessing while naked, for it is impossible for him to cover his nakedness as the sacks and the membrum virile project.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Challah
Introduction
This mishnah deals with two topics.
The first is separating hallah while naked perhaps there was a nudist colony?
The second is how to make dough while ritually impure. This is a problem because ritually impure hallah cannot be eaten it must be burned.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Challah
מי שאינו יכול לעשות עיסתו בטהרה – like the case when he is ritually impure, and there isn’t [water] of forty Seah in which he can immerse [himself].
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English Explanation of Mishnah Challah
A woman may sit and separate hallah while she is naked, since she can cover herself but a man may not. A person’s whose nakedness, meaning genitalia, are showing cannot separate hallah from dough because doing so requires the recitation of a blessing, and it is forbidden to recite a blessing while naked. A woman can separate hallah while sitting naked because she can hide her nakedness with her legs. However a man cannot hide his nakedness while sitting, therefore he cannot separate hallah. I realize that some of you men reading this may be saying to yourselves, “I can cover my nakedness while I sit.” I implore you don’t try this at home!
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Bartenura on Mishnah Challah
יעשנה קבין – He should make all of his dough into individual Kabs, in order that they would not become liable for Hallah and then need to separate them while ritually impure.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Challah
If one is not able to make one's dough in cleanness he should make it [in separate] kavs, rather than make it in uncleanness. Dough is liable for hallah only if there are 1 ¼ kavs. One who kneads a lesser quantity is not liable to separate hallah. According to the first opinion in this mishnah, if one is unable to separate dough in a state of purity, she should knead it in quantities smaller than 1 ¼ kavs, and this way she can avoid becoming liable for hallah.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Challah
יעשנה בטומאה – for this is more preferable than from what [he must do] so that he can be exempt his dough from Hallah, and there would be no part to be [designated] by name. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Akiva.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Challah
But Rabbi Akiva says: let him make it in uncleanness rather than make it [in separate] kavs, just as he calls the clean, so too he calls the unclean; this one he cals hallah with the Name, and the other he also calls hallah with the Name, but [separate] kavs have no portion [devoted] to the Name. Rabbi Akiva says that it would be better for him to knead the dough in a state of impurity, rather than making it in separate kavs. For when he kneads it in impurity, he will separate hallah and recite a blessing over it using God’s name, even though the hallah is impure. Rabbi Akiva says that the most important thing is that the blessing is recited because this is what sanctifies God’s name. In contrast, when he kneads each kav separately in order to avoid separating hallah, no blessing is recited and God’s name is not sancitified. I find this debate fascinating. According to Rabbi Akiva, God’s name is sanctified, even over impure hallah. It seems that sanctity and impurity are not polar opposites, at least not in this case. In contrast, the first opinion wishes to avoid a situation where one will be forced to create impure hallah. While one might still have to recite a blessing over this hallah, it seems to be more problematic in the eyes of the author of this section.
