פירוש על כלים 1:2

מטמאים את האדם במשא – when he lifts one of them whether by his hand or his fellow lifts it upon his shoulder, and even if he [himself] did not make contact with the defiling substance, or that the defiling substance was tied with a rope and the defiling agent was lifted via the rope. Since he moved the weight of the impure thing on his own, the person is defiled by ritual impurity imparted by carrying [even when not touching them directly] to defile the clothing that is upon him, or all of the garments/clothing and vessels/utensils that he comes in contact with, except for earthenware, all the while that the defiling matter is upon his back. But after he withdrew from the defilement, he does not defile utensils/vessels through touching/contact, for whomever carries the defilement, after he has withdrawn from it is not ought but first degree of ritual impurity, but utensils/vessels do not become susceptible to receive defilement other than from a primary source of ritual impurity. But even at the time that he carries the defilement, he does not defile humans nor earthenware vessels, but rather only other utensils/vessels. And you do not have something that is defiled with ritual impurity imparted by carrying other than a human being alone, but not utensils/vessels and not food and liquids, for if there were may utensils/vessels one on top of the other and a carrion or the waters of lustration in the upper-most vessel, the lower vessels are not defiled by carrying all the while that they did not touch/come in contact with the carrion or with the waters of lustration. And similarly, food and liquids are not defiled with the ritual impurity imparted by carrying, for concerning the ritual impurity imparted by carrying, it is written "לכם" (see Leviticus 11:39: “If an animal that you may eat has died/וכי ימות מן-הבהמה אשר-היא לכם לאכלה [anyone who touches its carcass shall be impure until evening]),” and we expound [the word] "לכם"/that you – that they defile through carrying but they do not defile vessels nor foods and liquids through carrying. And just as carrion defiles through carrying, so it also defiles through movement/ היסט (i.e., by means of a lever, without actually coming in contact with it – and this applies to impurity imparted by someone with gonorrhea, a woman in flux, a menstruating woman or a woman after childbirth), for movement is from the category/species of carrying, as for example, that there was wood placed at the tope of a tree or at the top of a wall and a carrion was at one end of the wood and a person comes and puts the knee of the balance down on the second/opposite end, since he lifted the end on which the carrion on is on account of his additional weight, it is defiled with the ritual impurity of movement, which is like carrying.

Introduction Moving up on the hierarchy of "fathers of impurity," we now encounter two more types of impurity which are even more contagious than the five listed in yesterday's mishnah.

וחשוכי בגדים במגע (and to make unclean the persons alone but not their clothes) – meaning to say, the clothes are prevented from defilement if there is contact without carrying, for the person who comes in contact/touches the carrion or the waters of lustration but does not carry them does not defile even the clothing that is upon him, as it written (Leviticus 11:39, though this verse, which is brought by the commentary of Rabbi Pinchas Kahati on this Mishnah does NOT exactly express what Bartenura writes – perhaps he is referring to Leviticus 11:27): “anyone who touches its carcass shall be impure until evening” (and see verse 27: “whoever touches their carcasses/הנוגע בנבלתם shall be impure until evening. [They are impure for you/טמאים המה לכם”), and the washing of clothing is not mentioned there, and with the waters of lustration, it is also written (Numbers 19:21 – and this verse does not match the Hebrew text brought by the Bartenura commentary, but is also referred to by the commentary of Rabbi Pinchas Kahati where he mentions that in both places, the washing of clothing is not mentioned: “Whatever that impure person touches shall be impure until evening/והנוגע במי הנדה יטמא עד-הערב”. On the other hand, use of the Bar Ilan Responsa project takes the reader to Numbers 31:24: “On the seventh day you shall wash your clothes and be pure, and after that you may enter the camp.”). [The word] חשוכי – is the language of prevention, like (Genesis 22:16): “Because [you have done this] and have not withheld your son/ולא חשכת את-בנך, [your favored one].”

Above them are nevelah and waters of purification whose quantity is sufficient to be sprinkled, for these convey impurity to a person [even] by being carried so that he in turn conveys impurity to clothing by contact. Nevelah is carrion of a pure animal, that is, a kosher animal that was not slaughtered properly. See Leviticus 11:24-28, 39-40. Anyone who even carries nevelah, or a piece of nevelah, is impure, even if he doesn't directly touch the carrion. Furthermore, he in turn defiles the clothing that he is wearing while carrying the carrion. The same halakhah applies to the waters of impurity (see yesterday's mishnah) if there is a sufficient amount to sprinkle on a person to purify him.

Clothing, however, is free from impurity where there was contact alone. If a person touches one of these things, his clothes are not thereby defiled. They are only defiled if he carries one of these things.