Commentaire sur Tevoul Yom 2:8

בעבוע שבחבית – when they smelt an earthenware vessel in a furnace/kiln, kinds of bubbles go out in their walls, that they have two walls – one to the inner side of the jar and one to the outer side, and an empty cavity in the middle, and sometimes, there is in a bubble of two incisions/holes, one in the wall of the bubble of the inner side which is to the side of the hollow cavity of the jar, and one in the wall of the outer side, and the jar is filled with liquids, the liquids enter through the incision that is in the inner wall and it breaks through/bursts forth and leaves through the incision that is in the outer wall from above, if it was a jar placed in the tent of a corpse, and is surrounded by a closely covered lid in its mouth and is not surrounded with incisions of bubbles, or that someone who is a primary source of ritual defilement touched/came in contact with the liquid that is in the outer incision, all the liquids are defiled that in the jug, but if the inner part from above them and the outer part from below them, assuming that in a tent of a corpse it becomes defiled, that the tent of the defilement enters into the jar through the incisions, however with a primary source of ritual defilement it is ritually pure, for if a primary source of ritual defilement came in contact with liquids that are in the outer incision that is in the bubble from below, after the inner part from above was like an uninterrupted flow of a liquid poured from vessel to vessel and like blows/lashes (i.e., downward strokes) and it is not a connection.

Introduction Today's mishnah discusses a jug that has a bubble in the clay on the side. The bubble is pierced such that there is a passageway from the inside of the jar to the outside. The question is whether or not impurity can come from the outside and get in.

A bubble on a jug which was pierced with holes on its inner side and on its outer side, whether above or below: This section describes the scenario.

If [the holes are] opposite one another, it becomes unclean [if touched] by a "father of uncleanness" and it becomes unclean if it is in a tent in which there is a corpse. If the two holes are opposite one another, then the entire contents are susceptible to impurity. If a "father of uncleanness" touches the liquids at the hole, then the entire contents of the jug are impure. And if the jug is found in a tent in which there is a corpse, the contents are unclean even if the jug is tightly sealed up top. Since there is an opening, the jug is considered to be open and not protected from impurity.

If the inner hole is below and the outer above, it becomes unclean [if touched] by a "father of uncleanness," and it becomes unclean in a tent in which there is a corpse. The same is true if the inner hole is below and the outer hole is above. This is because the liquid the father of uncleanness touches on the outside would go down and defile all of the liquid on the inside.

If the inner hole is above and the outer below, it remains clean if touched by a "father of uncleanness," but it becomes unclean in a tent in which there is a corpse. However, if the inner hole is above and the outer hole is below, the liquid he touches will not go up and defile the inner liquid. Therefore, the contents remain pure. But in all cases since the jug is open through both sides, the contents are defiled by being in a tent with a corpse.