Mishnah
Mishnah

Commentaire sur Tohorot 6:2

אַרְבָּעָה סְפֵקוֹת רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ מְטַמֵּא וַחֲכָמִים מְטַהֲרִין. כֵּיצַד. הַטָּמֵא עוֹמֵד וְהַטָּהוֹר עוֹבֵר, הַטָּהוֹר עוֹמֵד וְהַטָּמֵא עוֹבֵר, הַטֻּמְאָה בִרְשׁוּת הַיָּחִיד וְטָהֳרָה בִרְשׁוּת הָרַבִּים, טָהֳרָה בִרְשׁוּת הַיָּחִיד וְטֻמְאָה בִרְשׁוּת הָרַבִּים, סָפֵק נָגַע סָפֵק לֹא נָגַע, סָפֵק הֶאֱהִיל סָפֵק לֹא הֶאֱהִיל, סָפֵק הִסִּיט סָפֵק לֹא הִסִּיט, רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁע מְטַמֵּא, וַחֲכָמִים מְטַהֲרִין:

Il y a quatre cas d'impureté incertaine que Rabbi Yehoshua déclare impure et que les Sages déclarent pure. Comment? Si une personne impure se tenait [dans une zone couverte, comme sous un arbre, constituant une "tente" ou une zone d'impureté,] et une personne pure passait par là; ou une personne pure se tenait [dans une zone couverte] et une personne impure passait; ou si quelque chose d'impur était dans un domaine privé et [c'était à côté de] quelque chose de pur dans le domaine public [adjacent]; ou si quelque chose de pur était dans le domaine privé et [il était à côté de] quelque chose d'impur dans le domaine public [adjacent]; s'il y a une incertitude quant à savoir si quelqu'un a touché [l'objet impur] ou ne l'a pas touché, ou s'il [c'est-à-dire la zone couverte] recouvrait [à la fois la personne impure et la personne pure] ou ne l'a pas recouvert, ou si quelqu'un a déplacé [l'objet impur, même indirectement] ou ne l'a pas déplacé; [dans tous ces cas d'incertitude] Rabbi Yehoshua le déclare impur, et les Sages le déclarent pur.

Bartenura on Mishnah Tahorot

הטמא עומד – a leper stands underneath the tent or underneath the tree.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy

English Explanation of Mishnah Tahorot

There are four cases of doubt which Rabbi Joshua ruled are unclean and the sages rule are clean.
How so? If an unclean man stood and a clean man passed by or the clean man stood and the unclean one passed by; or if an unclean object was in a private domain and a clean one in the public domain or the clean object was in the private domain and the unclean one in the public domain, and there is doubt whether there was contact or not, or whether there was overshadowing or not, or whether there was shifting or not: Rabbi Joshua rules that the clean becomes unclean, But the sages rule that the clean remains clean.
There are four cases here:
1) An unclean man is standing and a clean man passes by him and he may have been defiled by contact, overshadowing or shifting.
2) The same situation but the clean man is standing and the unclean one is moving.
3) There is an unclean object in the private domain and an clean one in the public domain and the clean one may have had contact with the unclean one.
4) The same situation but the positions are reversed.
Rabbi Joshua says that since at least one of the elements was in the private domain, the doubt is impure.
The other sages say that for impurity to occur both elements have to be in the same situation within the private domain both must be moving or both must be standing. Since in all of these cases one element is either not in the private domain or one element is moving and the other standing, there is no impurity.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy

Bartenura on Mishnah Tahorot

וטהור עובר – on the path there, it is doubtful if he touched [the impure leper] or didn’t touch, or it is doubtful if the tent overshadowed him or the tree [overshadowed] over both of them and the ritually pure person was defiled, [and] it is doubtful if it didn’t overshadow and he wasn’t defiled. Or the ritually pure person was standing and the leper was passing. Another explanation, as for example, the creeping animal is in the mouth of the weasel or the carrion in the mouth of the dog passed between the ritually pure individuals or the ritually pure individuals passed between them, the Sages declare ritually pure if there is doubt if he touched or a doubt that he didn’t touch, because the defilement doesn’t have a place, as is taught above in the Chapter "הזורק טומאה" /He who throws defilement [Tractate Taharot, Chapter 4, Mishnah 3] (see also Tractate Negaim, Chapter 13, Mishnah 7). But according to this explanation, if he doubtfully overshadowed or doubtfully did not overshadow, it is impossible to establish to this first clause [of the Mishnah] that the impure person is standing and the ritually pure person is passing by, for regarding the defilement of a tent, there is no distinction between whether there is a place for defilement or whether there isn’t place for defilement, as we proved above in the chapter "הזורק טומאה"/He who throws defilement (Tractate Negaim, Chapter 13, Mishnah 7).
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy

Bartenura on Mishnah Tahorot

טומאה ברה"י וטהרה ברה"ר – as for example, a store that is open to the public domain, it is doubtful whether he entered or whether he didn’t enter.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy

Bartenura on Mishnah Tahorot

ר' יהושע מטמא – for he holds that doubtfully in the private domain and many are engaged with him, we follow after the private domain and his manner of doubt is ritually impure. But the Rabbis hold that we follow after the public domain and his manner of doubt is ritually pure. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehoshua.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Verset précédentChapitre completVerset suivant