Si uno se bañaba en las aguas de una cueva o en las aguas de Tiberíades, y se limpiaba, incluso con diez toallas, [una tras otra —A pesar de que no se absorbió mucha agua en cada uno, todavía,] no puede traerlos en su mano a su casa, incluso por medio de un eiruv. Porque no hay problema de llevarlo aquí, sino un decreto, para que no lo olvide y los exprima al entrar]. Pero diez hombres pueden limpiarse la cara, las manos y los pies con una toalla y llevarla en sus manos. [porque como son muchos, se recordarán mutuamente. Incluso con una toalla para diez hombres, donde se absorbe mucha agua, aún así, pueden traerla en sus manos, y no tememos que puedan escurrirla.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
ונסתפג – to wipe off/cleanse.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
Introduction
This mishnah discusses drying oneself off with a towel after bathing and the potential problem involved in wringing the towel.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
אלונטיות – sheets that we cleanse with them and dry off with them one after another even though there is not a lot of water on them, nevertheless, he should not he should not bring them in his hand into his house, even through an Eruv, for there is no prohibition of taking it out here but rather a decree lest he wring it out/squeeze it since they are many.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
One who bathes in the water of a pit or in the waters of Tiberias and dries himself even with ten towels, he must not bring them [back] in his hand. After the bather has dried herself, she may not bring the towel back to her home, lest in doing so she wrings it in order to squeeze out the water. This is true even if she uses ten towels to dry herself and the last one has almost no water in it and doesn’t need to be wrung out. It too may not be carried back to her home.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
But ten men may dry their faces, hands, and feet on one towel and they may bring it [back] in their hands. However, a towel which has been shared by a large group of people, and has therefore become very wet, may nevertheless be carried by the group. Since there are many people together, they will remind each other that it is forbidden to wring a towel on Shabbat and they won’t come to transgress. Note how the mishnah purposely exaggerates each section. In the first section the tenth towel is barely wet, and nevertheless, it may not be carried. In the second section the towel is soaked and nevertheless it may be carried.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
פניהם ידיהם ורגליהם – it the manner of the thing that the Mishnah took [in using these terms] and the same law applies for their entire body. But, the Halakha is not according to this Mishnah but rather, even if one brings a wrapping cloth/sheet in his hand that he dried off with, and we don’t suspect lest he will wring it out/squeeze it.
