Comment rendre le Beit Pras pur? Ils en prennent trois largeurs de main [de terre] ou elles ajoutent trois largeurs de main. S'il a pris trois longueurs de main sur une moitié de celui-ci et posé dessus, sur l'autre moitié, trois largeurs de main, c'est pur. Le rabbin Shimon dit que même s'il en a pris une et demie et y a ajouté une et demie longueurs de main d'ailleurs, c'est pur. Si on a pavé le Beit Pras avec des pierres qui ne peuvent pas être déplacées, c'est pur. Le rabbin Shimon dit que même si l'on cultive le Beit Pras , cela devient pur.
Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
כיצד מטהרין בית הפרס – it (i.e., the Mishnah) refers to the first area of a square Pras declared unclean on account of crushed bones carried over it from a ploughed grave, which is a field in which a grave was ploughed.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
Introduction
Today's mishnah deals with various ways that a bet peras can be purified.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
נוטלין ממנו שלשה טפחים – like the measure of the depth of the plough that rolls/turns over the bones.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
How is a bet haperas purified? They remove [soil to a depth of] three handbreadths, or [soil to a height of] three handbreadths is placed upon it. Basically, the way to purify a bet peras is to either remove the top soil or to add new top soil. Each of these must be done to a depth of three handbreadths, which is the depth of soil that a typical plow overturns.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
ר' שמעון אומר כו' – but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Shimon.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
If they removed [soil from a depth of] three handbreadths from one half [and upon the other half they placed three hand breadths [of soil], it becomes clean. It is possible to purify half the field by adding topsoil and half the field by removing topsoil.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
הרוצף(if one paves) - the language of a floor of stones.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
Rabbi Shimon says: even they removed one handbreadth and a half and placed upon it one handbreadth and a half from another place, it becomes clean. Rabbi Shimon is even more lenient. It is possible to remove 1.5 handbreadths of topsoil and then add 1.5 handbreadths of new topsoil. Note that in reality, when he plows he will plow into the old topsoil because the plow goes to a depth of three handbreadths. In other words, Rabbi Shimon's rule is basically a legal fiction. As long as the adding/removing totals up to a sum of 3 handbreadths, it purifies the field.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
טהור – since he is not able to move them, for if he would walk on top of them and, and they would be moved, there is a concern regarding movement (even without actually coming into contact with it) of a human bone that is underneath them.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
One who paves a bet peras with stones that cannot [easily] be moved, it becomes clean. If one paves a bet peras with stones, the soil underneath will not be easily moved. Therefore, the field which was a bet peras can be considered pure.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
אף העוזק (even someone who beaks clods suspected of containing human bones – and levels it) – he who digs and casts away the stones, if he did this in all of the Bet HaPras/a square Pras declared unclean on account of crushed bones carried over it from a ploughed grave, it is pure. [The word] עוזק – is the language of (Isaiah 5:2): “He broke the ground, cleared it of stones.” But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Shimon.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
Rabbi Shimon says: even if one digs up [the soil of] a bet peras [and doesn’t find any bones] it becomes clean. According to Rabbi Shimon if one digs up a bet peras and finds no bones, the field is pure, for this is considered the best kind of check possible.
