Commentaire sur Tohorot 7:3
הַמַּנִּיחַ אֻמָּנִים בְּתוֹךְ בֵּיתוֹ, הַבַּיִת טָמֵא, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי מֵאִיר. וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים, אֵין טָמֵא אֶלָּא עַד מְקוֹם שֶׁהֵן יְכוֹלִין לִפְשֹׁט אֶת יָדָם וְלִגָּע:
Si l'on laisse des artisans dans sa maison, la maison est impure, selon le rabbin Meir. Et les Sages disent: les choses ne sont impures que dans la mesure où elles pourraient étendre leurs mains et toucher.
Bartenura on Mishnah Tahorot
המניח אומנים וכו' – because artisans rely upon touching/feeling everything that is in the house, and I might think that in this, the Sages agree with Rabbi Meir that the entire house is ritually impure, it comes to tech us that even with artisans, the Rabbis dispute him and state that there is no impurity other than up to the place where they are able to stretch forth their hands and to touch. And the Halakha is according to the Sages.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Tahorot
One who left craftsmen in his house, the house is unclean, the words of Rabbi Meir. The craftsmen that he left in his home are amei haaretz (plural of am haaretz). Just as he held in yesterday's mishnah, so too here Rabbi Meir holds that all of the items in the house are considered defiled. The owner of the house does not sit there and guard them to make sure they don't touch anything.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Tahorot
But the sages say: the only part that is unclean is where they can stretch out their hand and touch it. This is the same as their opinion in yesterday's mishnah. Only the things that they can reach out and touch from the place where they are doing their work are impure.
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