Commentaire sur Kéilim 3:10

שיעור כלי חרס ליטהר (the measure – of the perforation/hole in an earthenware vessel to render it clean) – that it further not be susceptible to receive defilement. And if it was impure, it was purified as if it was broken entirely, that further it is not appropriate/fit for its matter and its inside is not considered. Even if it was an arched, pouched vessel/jug for dried figs and/or nuts and it was perforated when removing olives, it is pure, all the while that he did not go back and designate it afterwards to receive in it pomegranates and things like them. But if he went back and designated it to receive in it pomegranates, it is impure until a perforation is made when removing a pomegranate, and from when it was perforated while removing a pomegranate, it no longer becomes susceptible to receiving [ritual] impurity.

Introduction As we have learned previously, if an earthenware vessel is broken, it becomes clean. "Broken" would include a vessel that has a hole in it. The general rule is that if the hole is large enough to make the vessel unusable, it is clean. Our mishnah begins discussing how large the holes need to be in various vessels for them to be rendered pure.

שיעורו במשקין – the hole/perforation that when they place the vessel over the liquids, the liquids enter through that hole into the vessel, and it is a larger hole from that which releases liquids.

The size of a hole that renders an earthen vessel clean:
If the vessel was made for food, the hole must be big enough for olives [to fall through]. If the vessel was made to hold food, it is impure until the hole is big enough to let out olives. Olive's are often the standard size used in food measures.

לכך ולכך – such as a pot that they cook meat in, even though they don’t place in it food without liquid, for the liquid is not recognized for it was perforated for the entrance of liquid, even so, we follow the stringent position, that it is not [ritually] pure until it will be perforated for the removal of olives.

If it was used for liquids it suffices for the hole to be big enough for liquids [to go through it]. If the vessel was used for liquids, then the hole must be large enough to let the liquids escape.

And if it was used for both, we apply the greater stringency, that olives must be able to fall through. If a vessel was used for both food and liquids, then the rule is stringent. If the hole is big enough to let out liquid but not food then the vessel is still partially usable, so the vessel is still susceptible to impurity.

חבית שיעורה בגרוגרות – it was the regular practice that they would place dried figs in a jar.

A jar: the size of the hole must be such that a dried fig [will fall through], the words of Rabbi Shimon. Rabbi Judah said: walnuts. Rabbi Meir said: olives.
A stew-pot or a cooking pot: such that olives [will fall through].
A bucket and a pitcher: such that oil [will fall through].
A tzartzur: such that water [will fall through].
Rabbi Shimon says: in the case of all three, [the hole] must be such that seedlings [will fall through].
A lamp: the size of the hole must be such that oil [will fall through]. Rabbi Eliezer says: such that a small perutah [will fall through].
A lamp whose nozzle has been removed is clean.
And one made of earth whose nozzle has been burned by the wick is also clean.
Section one: There are three different opinions as to how big the hole in a jar must be for the jar to become pure: big enough to let fall through, dried figs, walnuts or olives. Of these three the fig is the largest, then the walnut then the olives. So Rabbi Meir is the most lenient (the jar is pure even if it can still hold figs or walnuts) and Rabbi Shimon is the most stringent (the jar is impure until it can no longer hold even the larger figs).
Sections three and four: This section lists vessels used for liquids. Since the bucket and the pitcher are usually used for oil, the hole must be big enough to let out oil, which flows thickly and contains considerable sediment.
As I explained in 2:8, a tzartzur is some sort of bottle whose mouth is covered with netting made of earthenware. It is pure once it can no longer hold water. It seems that such a vessel was usually used to hold water. This is a smaller hole than the one required to purify the bucket or the pitcher.
Section five: Rabbi Shimon refers to the vessels mentioned in sections three and four. While the earlier opinion held that when these vessels can no longer hold liquid they are pure, Rabbi Shimon is more stringent and holds that the hole must be large enough to let out seedlings. If the vessel cannot be hold oil/water but can still be used for seedlings, it is still impure or at least susceptible to impurity.
Section six: There is a debate about the hole needed to render a lamp pure. According to the first opinion, since a lamp usually holds oil, the measure of the hole is such to hold in oil. If it no longer holds in oil it is unusable and therefore pure. Rabbi Eliezer is more stringent and holds that the hole must be sufficient to let out a small coin (a perutah). It seems that according to Rabbi Eliezer, lamps are occasionally used to store such coins, and therefore they continue to be useful until even small coins fall out.
Section seven: Since the mishnah began to discuss lamps, we have a small digression on the purity of lamps (sounds like the title of a nineteenth century book "A Small Digression on the Purity of Lamps"). If the nozzle, the place where the wick rests, of a lamp is removed, the lamp can no longer be used and it is pure.
Section eight: A lamp made of earth must be forged for it to become susceptible to impurity. Forging is the completion of its manufacturing process and vessels are generally not susceptible to impurity until they have been completed. If the nozzle has been burned by the heat of the fire of the wick, the lamp's manufacturing is still not complete and therefore the lamp is pure.

רבי מאיר אומר בזיתים – like the anonymous Mishnah of above (i.e., Tractate Kelim, Chapter 3, Mishnah 1). And this is anonymous Mishnah followed by a dispute (i.e., between Rabbis Shimon, Yehuda and Meir) but the Halakha is not according to the anonymous [Mishnah]. But the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yehuda (i.e., the measurement is with nuts).

הלפס והקדרה (the stew-pot/tightly covered pot and cooking pot) – to be stringent, as is explained above (see Mishnah 1 of this chapter).

הפך והטפי (oil cruise and the vessel with a narrow neck/dripper) – they are utensils for oil, but the mouth of the ewer/dripper is very narrow, for this [reason], it is called a טפי/dripper for it (i.e., the oil) only descends from it drop by drop and the טפי/dripper as it is taught in the Mishnah in the chapter above (see Tractate Kelim, Chapter 2, Mishnah 3) is [ritually] pure, that is, that they (i.e., the Sages), ordained to cover with it a basket of grapes as we explained above (see Tractate Kelim, Chapter 2, Mishnah 3).

בשמן – that is the would bring in the liquid of oil [of olives]. But its measurement is not equivalent to that of water, for that which is of oil is thin, for the vessel that holds water or wine does not hold oil.

הצרצור (stone vessel containing a strainer and having an indented – comb-like- rim/a sort of cooler) – a vessel made to drink water from it and through its mouth, is a matting/net-work so that nothing bad can enter into it and soil the liquids.

שלשתן – the oil cruise and the dripper and the comb-like cooler, their measure is with a hole that lets out seeds, like beans. For Rabbi Shimon holds that they are also made for seeds, and they are like that which is made for this and that, like above (see Chapter 3, Mishnah 1), they subject it for the more stringent rule. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Shimon.

נר שיעורו בשמן – when one brings in liquid of [olive] oil. For a mere lamp is designed for oil.

רבי שמעון אומר בפרוטה קטנה – that he held that it was made to place in it פרוטות/drops (see Mishnah 6 of this chapter) and they pour it for its stringency. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Shimon.

נר שנטל פיו – the designation of lamp is nullified.

ושל אדמה – it is not susceptible to receive defilement all the while that it is not smelt in a kiln. But even though that the nozzle of the lamp is burned by the wick, this is not considered as if it was smelt in a kiln, and it is pure.

חבת שניקבה – when it releases olive [oil]. And it is pure, and when it was repaired with pitch, it becomes susceptible to receive defilement from here onwards.

A jar that had a hole and was mended with pitch and then was broken again: If the fragment that was mended with the pitch can hold a quarter of a log it is unclean, since the designation of a vessel has never ceased to be applied to it. A jar had a hole in it and thereby became pure, as we learned in mishnah two. When someone fixed it, it again became susceptible to impurity. Then it was broken yet again, leaving a fragment that had been fixed with the pitch. As long as this fragment can still hold a quarter of a log, it is susceptible to impurity. The reason is that although the jar broke, it is still considered a vessel, and when it was fixed it could receive impurity again. Therefore broken pieces of it that can hold a quarter of a log are susceptible to impurity.

חזרה ונשברה – into many pieces. That shard which has in it pitch holding one-quarter [of a LOG] and it sits without being supported/propped up is impure. But are dealing with a jar that holds from a LOG to a SEAH [the uncleanness will persist if the remnant will hold] a quarter of a LOG as is taught in the Mishnah in the previous Chapter (Tractate Kelim, Chapter 2, Mishnah 2). But even though the closing up (through repair with pitch) has no effect on the hole that comes after breakage, this closing up is different because it was done prior to having nullifying the designation of a vessel from it, for a jug that was perforated, its designation as a jug is upon it even though it is pure, but earthenware that departs from the jug, nullifies the designation of the name of a vessel from it even though it is not perforated. Therefore, closing up its hole has no benefit.

A potsherd that had a hole and was mended with pitch, it is clean though it can contain a quarter of a log, because the designation of a vessel has ceased to be applied to it. In contrast, a potsherd that had a hole in it and was then fixed, cannot become impure because a potsherd is not a vessel, even if it can contain a quarter of a log. The rule in this matter is as follows: if a broken piece of earthenware gets a hole in it, it can never become impure again because even if it is fixed, it is not considered a vessel.

חבית שנתרועעה – like a broken/shattered wall. That is earthenware did not fall out, but it is so cracked that if he carried it and one-half of a KAB of dried figs that are in it would break completely. And it is [ritually] pure as we state in the other (i.e., next) chapter (i.e., Tractate Kelim, Chapter 4) [Mishnah 2].

If a jar was about to be cracked but was strengthened with cattle dung, although the potsherds would fall apart were the dung to be removed, it is unclean, because the designation of vessel never ceased to apply. The jar was about to fall apart, but dung was applied to the outside as glue and the pieces were held together. Although the jar would fall apart were the dung removed, it is still susceptible to impurity because the jar never broke, and therefore never lost its designation as a vessel.

וטפלה (to paste/plaster) – that he plastered its facing.

If it was broken and some of its pieces were stuck together again, or if he brought other pieces of clay from elsewhere, and it was also lined with cattle dung, even though the potsherds hold together when the dung is removed, it is clean, because the designation of vessel ceased to apply. In this case the jar actually broke, thereby ceasing to be a vessel. Although it has been repaired, the jar can no longer receive impurity, because once a vessel has been completely broken (and not just pierced) it can no longer receive impurity.

בגללים – in order that the potter’s clay would not fall off.

If it contained one potsherd that could hold a quarter of a log, all its parts contract impurity by contact, but that potsherd contracts impurity through its air-space. If one potsherd was large enough to hold a quarter of a log, then if a defiling agent touches the inside of the jar, the entire jar is impure, even if it touched a different potsherd. Since one potsherd was large enough to be considered a "vessel" the entire repaired vessel can still be defiled. The large potsherd can become impure even through something defiling entering its airspace. So if a piece of something impure enters the airspace opposite that piece, then the entire jar is impure. But if something impure enters the airspace opposite the other potsherds, nothing is impure.

נשברה – that the earthenware fell off and he glued the shards with the glue that scribes use (to paste together strips of papyrus – see Tractate Pesahim, Chapter 3, Mishnah 1). Or that he brought potter’s clay from another place and glued them and afterwards plastered them over with dung, it is pure, and the same law applies when he plastered them with clay/mud, all the while that he did not go back and smelt it in a kiln.

חרס מחזיק רביעית – and such as that the earthenware comes from a jar [that is susceptible to become impure] that holds from a LOG until a SEAH, that its measurement is with a quarter-of-a-LOG as was explained above (see Tractate Kelim, Chapter 2, Mishnah 2).

כולן מטמאין במגע – and all of them are made into a handle for that potsherd and defile because of that handle. And [the part] opposite it only defiles through its airspace, for there is no airspace to the handle of an earthenware vessel.

כלי חרס הבריא – that is not shattered or broken.

One who lines a sound vessel: Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Shimon say: [the lining] contracts impurity.
But the sages say: a lining over a sound vessel is not susceptible to impurity, and only one over a cracked vessel is susceptible.
And the same dispute applies to the hoop of a pumpkin shell.
Section one: The debate in this mishnah concerns a person who lined the outside of a vessel that was in sound shape. According to the Tosefta, he did this so that he could cook with this vessel.
Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Shimon rule that if the vessel becomes defiled from the inside (earthenware vessels can only be defiled from the inside), the lining on the outside is also impure. The lining can then subsequently defile any food or drink that touches it on the outside.
The other sages say that the lining is susceptible to impurity only if it is necessary to hold the vessel together. So the lining of a sound vessel is not susceptible, whereas the lining of a cracked vessel is.
Section two: Dried pumpkin shells were used to draw water. They would attach a hoop to the shell in order to strengthen it. This is similar to the previous case, in that both are cases of strengthening a vessel that is in sound shape. According to Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Shimon the hoop is susceptible to impurity, whereas the sages hold that it is not.

מטמאין – if the vessel is defiled from its airspace, food and liquids that came in contact with its plaster are impure, because it is considered like the vessel itself (according to Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Meir).

הטופל את הבריא טהור – that specifically the vessel that is shattered that needs that plastering, that one (i.e., the vessel) is where the plastering is like the vessel and the foods that came in contact with it are defiled when the vessel is impure. But the plastering of a healthy/whole vessel is not considered like a vessel. And the Halakha is according to the Rabbis.

וכן בחידוק קרויה (the lining of a pumpkin that has been hollowed out – to be used as a drawing vessel – i.e., the earthen vessel or clay that has been fitted as a protection) – just as Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Shimon disputed with the Sages with the plastering of a whole vessel, so they disputed with regard to the lining of a pumpkin that has been hollowed out, and this is a dry and hollow gourd that they draw water with, and they regularly fasten around it in a circle of wood or of iron in order that it would not break if it is corked with a stone. For Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Shimon who make unclean the plastering of a whole [earthenware vessel] (i.e., unbroken or unshattered) also make unclean even this, and even if it was a pure pumpkin-shell used as a drawing vessel. But the Sages state that if it was a pure pumpkin-shell used as a drawing vessel and it doesn’t have a need for this hoop, this hoop is not like the body of the pure pumpkin-shell used as a drawing vessel, and if the pure pumpkin-shell became defiled, the hoop did not become defiled.

יבלית (a pulp made of Cynodon leaves and used for lining large water vessels) – a kind/species of grass that its name is יבלא/a species of grass (Cynodon. And they regularly plaster with it the large jugs so that the wine will not escape when it drips.

As to dog's tooth which which they line large jars: anything that touches it becomes unclean. Dog's tooth is a type of grass that was used to line jars. If the large jar becomes defiled, then the grass is defiled as well. If food or liquids then touch the lining they too are impure.

פטסין (large cylindrical vessel, cash or tub of earthen material) – large jugs, like those (the first to leave the lecture room) who are owners of tubs of wine that is in Tractate Betzah 15b.

The plug of a jar is not regarded as connected. The jar's impurity does not affect the plug of the jar because the plug is meant to be removed.

That which touches the lining of an oven is unclean. The lining of an earthenware oven is an integral part of the oven. Therefore, if the oven becomes impure the lining is impure as well and it will subsequently cause food or drink that comes into contact with it to become impure.

מיחם – a vessel that they heat water in (i.e., a boiler).

A cauldron which was lined with mortar or with potter's clay: That which touches the mortar is unclean; But that which touches the potter's clay is clean. The mishnah presents an earthenware cauldron which was lined with either of two materials: mortar or potter's clay. The mortar is thick and is a permanent coating. Therefore, if the kettle is defiled the coating is as well and it will subsequently affect food or liquid as well, as if they touched the kettle. But the potter's clay is not permanent and is thinner than the mortar. Therefore the lining is not affected by the impurity of the kettle.

בחומר- thick plaster.

A kettle which was punctured and the hole was stopped with pitch: Rabbi Yose rules that it is clean since it cannot hold hot water as cold. According to Rabbi Yose the pitch used to stop up the hole is not sufficient to make the kettle useful again. Since it cannot be used for its main purpose, to hold hot water, it is not considered to be a vessel and it cannot contract impurity. This is true even though it can be used to hold cold water.

חרסית (potter’s clay) – thin like earthenware. But there are those who explain/interpret it as crushing/pounding of earthenware.

The same ruling he also gave concerning vessels made of pitch. Copper vessels which were lined with pitch the lining is clean, But if they are used for wine, it is unclean. Rabbi Yose issued the same ruling with regard to all vessels coated with pitch. If the vessel was meant to be used with hot water, the pitch cannot be made impure by the impurity of the vessel. This is illustrated with regard to copper vessels. If the copper vessel was designed to be used with hot liquids, the impurity of the vessel is not transmitted to the coating. But if the vessel is used to hold wine which is cold, the vessel can transmit impurity to the lining because the lining is sufficient for holding wine.

הנוגע בחומר טמא – because it Is joined and attached to the kettle and is considered like the essence of the vessel. Therefore, if the boiler is defiled, the thick plaster surrounding it is defiled like it, and those eating who touch the thick plaster are impure.

ובחרסית טהור – for the potter’s clay is not joined but is scraped/peeled and falls off, and is not considered like the essence of the vessel.

קומקום (kettle) – it is larger than a boiler, and in the foreign language, they call it a KUMKUMO.

שאינו יכול לקבל את החמין – for the pitch is smelted and melts/dissolves in hot water, and even though it is able to hold the cold water, it is not considered as a vessel and is pure.

וכן היה אומר בכלי זפת – vessels that are made from pitch itself, which are pure, since they are not able to hold the hot like they can the cold. But my Rabbis explained, regarding vessels lined with pitch, in pitch vessels of pitch, and it explains further on [in this Mishnah], how so? Vessels of copper that were lined with pitch are pure. If the vessels were impure and a person or foods or liquids touched/came in contact with pitch, they are pure, for the pitch does not combine and is not considered like the essence of the vessel.

ואם ליין – if he lined them with pitch from the outset to place in them wine and it was not his intention to use them for hot liquids at all.

טמאין – for the vessel requires pitch and the pitch is attached/joined.

יותר מצרכה – corresponding to the hole/perforation it needs it, and what is not corresponding to the hole/perforation is more than its needs, and it is not considered an attachment/joining, since it is not needed for the jar. But Maimonides explained that more that is its need as for example that he made the closure most thick until one would be able to remove from it and it would remain closed, and even if everything is corresponding to the hole/perforation.

A jar which which was pierced and the hole stopped up with more pitch than was necessary: That which touches the needed portion is unclean, But that which touches the unneeded portion is clean. If one used more pitch than necessary to stop up an earthenware jar, only the part of the pitch that is necessary to stop up the hole is considered to be part of the jar. The unnecessary part is not part of the jar and therefore even if the jar is impure, this part remains pure.

זפת שנטפה על החבית (pitch which dripped on the jar) – that is not perforated.

Pitch which dripped upon a jar, that which touches it is clean. Pitch that simply dripped onto a jar has no function and is not considered to be part of the jar and therefore it remains pure even if the jar is impure.

הנוגע בה – with the drop of pitch.

A wooden or earthen funnel which was stopped up with pitch: Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah says that it is unclean. Rabbi Akiva says that it is unclean when it is of wood and clean when it is of earthenware. Rabbi Yose says that both are clean. By plugging the funnel with pitch he has now created a receptacle. The rabbis debate whether this makes the funnel (not just the pitch) susceptible to impurity. Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah says that this does indeed turn it into a receptacle, thereby making it susceptible to impurity (a susceptible receptacle this should remind you of a Supertramp song). Rabbi Akiva notes that since pitch is made of wood extract, it can turn a wooden funnel into a receptacle. However, it does not turn an earthenware funnel into a receptacle because it is of a different kind, so therefore the funnel remains pure. Rabbi Yose holds that since the plug is not permanent, in neither case is the funnel susceptible to impurity.

טהור – even though the jar is impure. For the pitch is not in a connection/attachment to the jar, since the jar does not require it.

שפקקן בזפת – he closed up the mouth of the hole/perforation of the funnel that is made to bring wine from it into the jar.

רבי אלעזר בן עזריה מטמא – because it (i.e., the pitch) is considered for it as a closure, whether of wood or whether of earthenware.

ר"ע מטמא בשל עץ – because the pitch is of its [same] species/kind, for the pitch comes out from the tree.

ומטהר בשל חרס – which is not its kind/species and is not considered an attachment. And the closing of the mouth of a funnel is not similar to the closing of the perforation of a jug which is considered an attachment, because the perforation in the mouth of the funnel that was made by the artisan from the outset was smooth and the pitch was peeled from it and does not endure, but the jug that was perforated after it was heated in a kiln, it is impossible to perforate to be smooth and even, and the pitch is not peeled from it, or alternatively, the perforation that is at the mouth of the funnel, its function is to remove its covering/closure when he wants to pour wine from the jug. Therefore, it is not considered a closing other than with a wooden funnel because it is its kind/species, but a jug that is perforated, its function is not to remove the closure.

רבי יוסי מטהר בשניהם – for the closing of the mouth of the funnel is not considered a closure, and it is as if it was not closed and lacks a receptacle. But the Halakha is according to Rabbi Akiva.