Commentaire sur Zavim 4:6
הַזָּב בְּכַף מֹאזְנַיִם וְאֳכָלִין וּמַשְׁקִין בְּכַף שְׁנִיָּה, טְמֵאִין. וּבַמֵּת, הַכֹּל טָהוֹר, חוּץ מִן הָאָדָם. זֶה חֹמֶר בַּזָּב מִבַּמֵּת. חֹמֶר בַּמֵּת מִבַּזָּב, שֶׁהַזָּב עוֹשֶׂה מִשְׁכָּב וּמוֹשָׁב מִתַּחְתָּיו לְטַמֵּא אָדָם וּלְטַמֵּא בְגָדִים, וְעַל גַּבָּיו מַדָּף לְטַמֵּא אֳכָלִין וּמַשְׁקִין, מַה שֶּׁאֵין הַמֵּת מְטַמֵּא. חֹמֶר בַּמֵּת, שֶׁהַמֵּת מְטַמֵּא בְאֹהֶל וּמְטַמֵּא טֻמְאַת שִׁבְעָה, מַה שֶּׁאֵין הַזָּב מְטַמֵּא:
[Si] un zav était sur une casserole une balance et de la nourriture ou du liquide dans la deuxième casserole, ils sont impurs. [Dans le cas d'un] cadavre, tout [dans l'autre casserole] est propre sauf pour un homme [si un homme est dans l'autre casserole et sa casserole est tombée et le cadavre a été soulevé]. C'est [un cas de] plus grande rigueur appliquée à un zav qu'à un cadavre, [mais il y a un autre cas de] plus grande rigueur appliquée à un cadavre qu'à un zav . Pour un zav rend impur par le mensonge ou assis tout ce qui est en lui, de transmettre malpropreté aux personnes et aux vêtements, et [confère en] tout ce qui est au- dessus de lui madaf , afin qu'ils rendent la nourriture malpropreté [malpropreté résultant d' un contact indirect de l'impur] et les liquides impurs, [tandis que] un cadavre ne les rend pas impurs. Une plus grande rigueur est trouvée par un cadavre, car le cadavre transmet l'impureté en éclipsant et confère l'impureté pendant sept jours, ce qui n'est pas le cas d'un zav .
Bartenura on Mishnah Zavim
טמאין – whether the person with gonorrhea/the Zav went down/bowed or whether the foods and drinks went down, they were defiled through movement/shaking.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Zavim
If a zav [sat] in one scale of the balance, while food and liquids were in the other scale, [the latter become] unclean. The food or liquids that are on the other side of the scale are lifted up by the weight of the zav. However, they do not have midras impurity, even if they are heavy enough to lift up the (lightweight) zav because midras impurity is only conveyed to objects that are designed to be sat or laid upon. Food and liquid are never susceptible to midras impurity. However, they are impure with first degree impurity, which is lighter than midras impurity.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Zavim
ובמת הכל טהור – whether sitting or lying, whether foods or liquids, whether the corpse went down [on the balancing scale] whether they (i.e., foods, liquids, sitting, lying) went down. For all of the defilements of movement are pure, except for the movement of a person with gonorrhea/a Zav (with a flux). But if they went down [on the balancing scale], they are also ritually pure, for all that the corpse is lifted up over him, as for example, on the balancing scale other than a tent, it is ritually pure (see also Tractate Zavim, Chapter 5, Mishnah 3)ssb, except for a human, for at the time that it outweighs the corpse, it is impure because it moved/shook it, as we state in the last chapter of [Tractate] Niddah (folio 69b) do you think that a corpse does not defile through carrying?
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English Explanation of Mishnah Zavim
In the case of a corpse, everything remains clean except for a man. The mishnah now begins to compare impurity conveyed by a dead body with the impurity conveyed by a zav. When a dead body is on one side of a balance and something else is on the other side, whatever is on the other side is not defiled because a dead body does not defile by sitting, laying or shifting without contact.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Zavim
מדף (indirect contact by shaking – the uncleanness of an object arising from an unclean person’s indirect contact) – it the language of minor uncleanness, as it is written (Leviticus 26:36): “The sound of a driven leaf [shall put them to flight].” But Maimonides explained that [the word] "מדף" is from the language of "ריחו נודף"/so that its fragrance spreads (see Tractate Menahot, Chapter 8, Mishnah 7), that the fragrances of the defilement of a Zav/person with gonorrhea/flux goes from afar to defile all the vessels that upon it even though it did not come in contact with them. But not like the defilement of the vessels that are underneath it, for the vessels that are on top of the person with gonorrhea/flux even though they are things that interpose between them and the person with gonorrhea/flux, all of them are unclean with a minor defilement to defile foods and drink, but not to defile humans and vessels, whereas vessels that are underneath him, even if they are one hundred one on top of the other, the lowest of all of them have a greater defilement to defile humans and to defile clothing like the upper one.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Zavim
This is [an example of] the greater stringency applying to a zav than to a corpse; and there is a greater stringency in the case of a corpse than a zav. This is the general statement that sums up this mishnah sometimes the rules are stricter for a zav and sometimes they are stricter for a corpse. This is typical of the Mishnah it loves to compare laws governing different yet similar cases.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Zavim
מה שאין המת מטמא – hat what is below it (i.e., the corpse), even if it will be Levitical impurity/defilement breaking through the ground and descending, nevertheless, nothing lying and sitting that is underneath it defiles humans and to defile clothing.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Zavim
For whereas the zav defiles all objects on which he sits or lies upon, so that these likewise convey uncleanness to people and garments, and he conveys to what is above him madaf uncleanness, so that these in turn defile food and liquids. Whereas in the case of a zav no such uncleanness is conveyed. There are two types of uncleanness conveyed by a zav that are not conveyed by a corpse. The first is that a zav conveys uncleanness by sitting or lying on things, such that those items now convey uncleanness even to people and clothing. Furthermore, a zav defiles things that are placed on top of him even if he doesn’t touch them. This impurity is called "madaf" and it probably comes from the word for "shelf" madaf in Hebrew. This impurity is relatively light for these items defile other food and liquids but they wouldn't defile clothing and people. Again, a dead body wouldn't defile in this way.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Zavim
ועל גביו מדף – assuming that the corpse defiles vessels that are on top of it the uncleanness of a minor degree to defile foods and drinks, that defilement breaks through the ground and rises, nevertheless if [the corpse was on an upper floor and the uncleanness caused by unclean persons lying on an object and sitting on an object in the house until the top of the beam, and the planed board that is bent from the weight of the corpse and which make heavy those lying down, or] the corpse is in the house near/adjacent to the top of the beam, and those that are lying are in the upper story, and the planed boards are bent from the weight of those lying and weigh down upon the corpse, in that manner with an impure person with a flux/gonorrhea (i.e., a Zav) below to defile humans [and] to defile clothing, and above it to defile foods and drinks, but with the corpse, whether above it or whether below it, is pure.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Zavim
Greater stringency is also found in the case of a corpse, since it can convey uncleanness by overshadowing, and it defiles seven days’ defilement, whereas in the case of a zav no such uncleanness is conveyed. A dead body does defile by overhanging (an ohel). We learned about this extensively in Tractate Ohalot. This means that if something hangs over both a corpse and a clean object the impurity of the corpse goes to the clean object. A zav doesn't defile in this way.
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