Commentaire sur Tohorot 7:2
הַמַּנִּיחַ עַם הָאָרֶץ בְּתוֹךְ בֵּיתוֹ עֵר וּמְצָאוֹ עֵר, יָשֵׁן וּמְצָאוֹ יָשֵׁן, עֵר וּמְצָאוֹ יָשֵׁן, הַבַּיִת טָהוֹר, יָשֵׁן וּמְצָאוֹ עֵר, הַבַּיִת טָמֵא, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי מֵאִיר. וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים, אֵין טָמֵא אֶלָּא עַד מְקוֹם שֶׁהוּא יָכוֹל לִפְשֹׁט אֶת יָדוֹ וְלִגָּע:
Celui qui laisse un ha'aretz dans sa maison éveillé et le trouve éveillé, [ou le laisse] endormi et le trouve endormi, [ou le laisse] éveillé et le trouve endormi, [dans ces trois cas] la maison est pure. Si [quelqu'un le laisse] endormi et qu'il le trouve éveillé, la maison est impure, selon le rabbin Meir. Et les Sages disent: les choses ne sont impures que dans la mesure où il [le am ha'aretz ] pourrait tendre la main et toucher.
Bartenura on Mishnah Tahorot
ישן ומצאו ער הבית טמא – everything that is in the house is ritually impure, for we are concerned that perhaps when he woke up from his sleep he touched utensils that are in the house for he didn’t see them initially when he was asleep, for it is the manner of people to touch/feel and check that which they had never seen. But someone who is awake and he was found awake, we are not concerned, for he already saw everything that is in the house while he was awake.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Tahorot
Introduction
Today's mishnah deals with an am haaretz who was left in the house of a person who wished to preserve the purity of the objects in his house. The question is whether we have to be concerned lest he touched anything in the house and thereby defiled it.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Tahorot
עד מקום שהוא יכול לפשוט את ידו – all the vessels that he is able to reach them when he stretches forth his hand from the place where he was sleeping, we are concerned lest he touched them, but we are not concerned that perhaps he walked in the house and touched vessels. And the Halakha is according to the Sages.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Tahorot
If he left an am haaretz in his house awake and found him awake, or asleep and found him asleep, or awake and found him asleep, the house remains clean. If he left him awake and found him awake in the same place where he left him, then the owner need not worry that the am haaretz has moved around and touched other objects. According to the mishnah, an am haaretz is concerned lest the owner of the house come back suddenly and catch him touching his stuff. If he left him asleep and found him asleep, he need not be concerned lest he woke up in the meanwhile and touched something. Similarly, if he left him awake and he fell asleep he need not be concerned that his stuff was touched.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Tahorot
If he left him asleep and found him awake, the house is unclean, the words of Rabbi Meir. But the sages say: the only part that is unclean is where he can stretch out his hand and touch it. However, if the owner left him asleep and when he came back the am haaretz was awake, Rabbi Meir says that all of the vessels in the house are considered defiled. According to Rabbi Meir, the am haaretz reasons that since the owner left him asleep he will think that he is still asleep and he won't come back to make sure that he doesn't touch any of his stuff. Since the am haaretz is not afraid of getting caught, he won't hesitate to make himself feel at home. The sages say that only things that can be touched by the am haaretz while stretching out his hand are unclean. It is interesting sociologically to note that the mishnah does anticipate a rabbi (or someone else who is cautious about the purity laws) leaving an am haaretz alone in his house. However, it is equally interesting to note that the mishnah does not afford the am haaretz a full degree of trust.
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