פירוש על כלים 22:12

השלחן והדלפק (the table and the delphica/a three-legged table used as a toilet table or a waiter) – a wooden vessel that they place upon it flasks and jugs and food and liquids, and from it, they take and place it on the table.

If a table or a side-board was damaged or he covered them with marble but room was left for cups to be set, it is unclean. Rabbi Judah ruled: there must be room enough for pieces of food. The mishnah describes two situations. The first is of a table or side-board (what we might call a counter) that was damaged. The second is of a table or side-board (both made of wood) that were covered with marble. Marble is not susceptible to impurity. In both cases, if enough of the table remains undamaged, or if enough remains uncovered with marble, for cups to be placed on the table, it is still susceptible.

ושייר בהן מקום הנחת כוסות – which was not damaged or that was not covered [with marble], for if all it were covered with marble, it would be pure like a stone vessel, for we follow after its covering.

Rabbi Judah says that space for cups is not enough. There must be enough space for pieces of food. If not, the table is not considered usable or is considered to be fully covered with marble, and it is clean.

מקום הנחת חתיכות – of [pieces of] bread and meat. For if there was no place on the table for the placing of pieces [of bread and meat], it is not a table and it is not a delphica/three-legged table used as a waiter. But the Halakha Is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.

שניטלה אחת מרגליו טהור – for it is not fit as a table, for it is not appropriate to eat upon it.

A table one of whose legs was removed is clean. If one of a three-legged table's legs is removed, it is no longer functional and therefore it is clean.

ניטלה שלישית טמא – for it is appropriate to eat upon it like on top of a board. And it is something that he would consider to eat upon.

If a second leg was removed it is still clean. But if a third was removed it becomes unclean where the owner has the intention of using it. If the second leg is removed it is still clean, because it can still not be used. However, if the third leg is removed, then all that remains is a board. If he intends to use the board without the legs, then it becomes susceptible to impurity.

אינו צריך מחשבה – for since it is appropriate to eat upon it, it is susceptible to receive defilement.

Rabbi Yose says: no intention is necessary. Rabbi Yose says that since the board can be used, it is automatically susceptible to impurity. He need not even intend to use it.

וכן הדולפקי (and similarly the delphica) – its law is like that of the table. And just as there was disagreement regarding a table, so there was disagreement regarding the delphica. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yossi.

The same law applies also to the side-board. The same debate occurs in reference to a side-board (mentioned also in yesterday's mishnah).

ספסל – a wide and long board/plank, its one end/head/ is fastened with a a high board/plank and similarly its second head/end, in order to left it up from the group that it would be appropriate to sit upon.

A bench, one of whose legs was removed, is clean. If its second leg also was removed it is still clean. If it was one handbreadth high it is unclean. A bench has two legs, one on either end. Clearly if one leg is removed, the bench cannot be used and it is pure. The same is true even if both legs are removed. One does not sit on a bench when it is simply a board on the ground, because it is usually too thin. However, if the bench-board is at least one handbreadth high, it is unclean because a person might come to sit on it.

ניטל השני טהור – for it is not similar to a table that if the removed three legs it is impure, for a bench whose two ends/heads were broken is not appropriate for sitting, for a person who sits upon it is like sitting on the ground.

A footstool one of whose legs was removed is unclean. A footstool can be used to put one's feet up even if one of the legs has been removed. In other words, a footstool does not have to be exactly upright because one doesn't sit on it. Therefore, since it can fulfill its original function, it remains unclean (or susceptible to impurity).

אם יש בו גובה טפח אמא – that the board/plank is a handbreadth thick it is appropriate for sitting.

The same applies to the stool in front of a cathedra. A "cathedra" is a couch used by the upper class (same word as cathedral). The stool in front of it has the same rule as does a footstool.

שרפרף (a sort of camp stool/footstool) – a bench for the footstool of a person.

הכסא שלפני קתדרא (stool that is before the throne/chair with a back) – its law is like that of a footstool.

שניטלו חפויט (that its seat boards/coverings were removed) – it is the language of covering that opens, like a kind of teeth that extend outward from all sides of the chair of the bride, and are made in order to support them.

Introduction Today's mishnah has two parts, each of which contains three opinions: Bet Shammai, Bet Hillel and Shammai. In both cases, Shammai rules more strictly than Bet Shammai. This is an interesting historical phenomenon. It might demonstrate that in the generation between Shammai and the founding of his eponymous school, his disciples began to be influenced by the leniencies of Bet Hillel. In other words, Bet Hillel's dominance, which we know of from a later historical period, already influenced the early Shammaites themselves.

בית שמאי מטמאין – for they are still fit for sitting.

A bride's stool which lost the coverings for the seatboards: Bet Shammai rules that it still susceptible to uncleanness, And Bet Hillel rules that it is clean. Shammai rules: even the frame of the stool is susceptible to uncleanness. A bride's stool is made up of a frame and seatboards placed on top of the frame. On top of the seatboards they would place coverings to make it more comfortable. Think of it as an ancient lazyboy (or lazygirl in this case). According to Bet Shammai, the stool without the coverings can still be used by normal people, and therefore it is susceptible to impurity. Bet Hillel disagrees and holds that since it is not fit for a bride, it is clean. Shammai says that even the frame alone is susceptible, because it can be sat upon in time of need.

ובית הלל מטהרין – for they are not fit for the bride, for it is like it is broken.

A stool which was fixed to a kneading-trough, Bet Shammai rules that it susceptible to uncleanness, And Bet Hillel rules that it is clean. Shammai rules: even one made out of it is susceptible to uncleanness. The mishnah now deals with a stool attached to a knead-trough. The kneading-trough itself is not susceptible to midras impurity, because it is not meant for sitting. According to Bet Shammai, the stool is not nullified vis a vis the trough and it remains susceptible to midras impurity. Bet Hillel disagrees, and holds that the stool is part of the trough. Shammai rules that even if the stool was originally made as an attachment to the kneading-trough, and was never made independently for sitting, it is still susceptible to midras impurity. Again, Shammai is stricter than Bet Shammai.

אף מלבן הכסא טמא – meaning to say, that even the frame of the chair on its own, without the seat and without its cover is impure, all the more so that he chair without its covering is impure. The frame, is the form of square brick they make on the chair and they sit upon it.

כסא שקבעו בעריבה (a chair that one affixed to a trough) – they brought a chair from another place and affixed it in a trough in the manner of his sitting. But the trough is not impure through treading. For it is appropriate for kneading.

בית שמאי מטמאין – for it did not annul the seat concerning the trough.

ובית הלל מטהרין – [makes it pure] from [impurity through] treading, for the seat is nullified concerning the trough. But concerning a seat made in the trough itself, the School of Shammai agrees with the School of Hillel that it is pure.

ושמאי אומר – even the sea that is made inside the trough itself is impure through treading.

כסא שלא היו חפויו יוצאין – that the boards/planks do not protrude outside of the chair. That the chair is made from four [pieces of] wood and planks fixed from three directions of the chair stands high under the wood that is fastened with each other, and from above the wood, tablets are made to sit upon them. But if the tablets are broken that are made for sitting, one can tip the chair to each side that one wishes and to sit upon those boards that are affixed from the three sides of the chair, but when they protrude outward, he is not able to tip it on its side. And the covers/seat boards mentioned here are not like the covers/seat boards mentioned in the first part of the Mishnah, for they are like protruding teeth, but rather for the boards that cover the wood are called חפויו/upholstered seat.

A chair whose seat boards did not project and then they were removed, it is still susceptible to uncleanness, for it is usual to turn it on its side and to sit on it. The seat boards of this chair did not project outside of the frame of the chair. Thus this type of stool could be turned on its side, and one could sit on the boards that were used to form the sides. If the seat boards are removed from the place where the chair is usually sat upon, the chair can still become impure, because even before they were removed, it was common to use the chair from the side.

שניטל חפויו האמצעי – that the middle board/tablet was removed and there remains a board from here and a board from there.

A chair whose middle seat board was removed but the outer ones remained, it is still susceptible to uncleanness. The chair referred to here has three seat boards. If only the middle one is removed, it is still susceptible to impurity. The outer ones should be sufficient to support the sitter's tuches (the seat on my bike is a little like this).

טמא – for it is appropriate for sitting.

If the outer ones were removed and the middle seat board remained it is also susceptible to uncleanness. Rabbi Shimon says: only if it was a handbreadth wide. So too, if the outer ones are removed and only the inner one remains. The middle one can still be sat upon, so the chair is still susceptible to impurity. Rabbi Shimon adds that the middle one must be at least one handbreadth wide. If it is not, it is pure.

אם היה רחב טפח – it would be appropriate for sitting, but if is not, it is not [appropriate for sitting].

שנים מחפויו – from the tablets that are made for sitting.

A chair, of which two seat boards were removed, this one next to this one: Rabbi Akiva says: it is susceptible to impurity; And the sages say that it is clean. If two adjacent seat boards were removed, one of the side ones and the middle one, Rabbi Akiva still considers it susceptible to impurity. One could sit on the side seat board. The other sages say that this is no longer considered a chair, and therefore it is clean.

רבי עקיבא מטמא – But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Akiba.

Rabbi Judah said: so too if the seat boards of a bride's chair were lost, though the receptacle under remained, it is clean, since where the primary function has ceased, the secondary one also ceases. Rabbi Judah relates back to mishnah four. There Bet Shammai and Bet Hillel disagreed with regard to a bride's chair whose seat boards were removed. Bet Hillel held that such a chair is clean. Rabbi Judah adds to this. The chair is clean even if the receptacle that they make under the chair to hold various things remained. Since the chair cannot be used in its normal fashion, for the bride to sit upon, the fact that it can be used for other purposes does not mean that it is still susceptible to impurity.

ונשתייר בו בית קבלה – that is slightly hollow and appropriate to receive pomegranates is pure, and we don’t defile it because it has a receptacle.

מפני שבטל העקיר – for is made for the primary purpose of sitting and not as a receptacle , for since the primary purpose was nullified, and on whose account it was considered a vessel, the secondary purpose was annulled, but it was not nullified for the reason that it has a receptacle. And this is the Halakha. And this is taught above in the chapter “Who takes apart/loosens” (Tractate Kelim, Chapter 19, Mishnah 10) and in the chapter “Mattresses and Pillows” (Tractate Kelim, Chapter 20, Mishnah 2).

שידה (chest, strong box) – made like a kind of ark. And we are speaking of a chest that does not hold forty Se’ah, which is susceptible to receive ritual impurity.

A chest whose top part was removed is still susceptible to uncleanness on account of its bottom; If its bottom was removed it is still susceptible to uncleanness on account of its top part. The type of chest referred to here seems to contain some drawers. If the top part is removed, the whole chest is still susceptible to impurity on account of the bottom part. Similarly, if the bottom part is removed, the whole chest is susceptible to impurity on account of the top part.

שניטל העליון – the covering that is over it.

If both the top part and the bottom part were removed: Rabbi Judah says that it is susceptible to uncleanness on account of its sides, But the sages rule that it is clean. According to Rabbi Judah, if both the bottom and top part are removed, the chest is still susceptible to impurity on account of its sides. However, the sages rule that such a chest is no longer usable and is therefore clean.

התחתון – its rim.

A stonecutter's seat is subject to midras uncleanness. A stonecutter's seat is a temporary seat that a stonecutter will fashion for him to use while performing his work. The seat is considered to be a real seat and is therefore susceptible to midras impurity.

ניטל העליון והתחתון – but the planks that are on the sides remained.

וחכמים מטהרין – And the Halakha is according to the Sages.

הסתת (stone-cutter, chiseler) – who cuts/chisels stones. And he prepares for him a place to sit on one end of the stone when he is cutting/chiseling the other end.

כופת (a block with a concave top to sit upon/bolster, stool) – a thick and wide piece of wood, and this is implied in his explanation in the Tosefta (see Tosefta Demai, Chapter 1, Halakha 11 and see also Tosefta Kelim Bava Batra, Chapter 2, Halakha 1).

A [wooden] block which was painted red or saffron, or was polished: Rabbi Akiva says that it is susceptible to uncleanness, But the sages say that it remains clean unless [a seat] was carved out. The issue at hand in this section is what does one have to do to a plain wooden block in order to turn it into a chair? According to Rabbi Akiva, it is sufficient to paint it or to polish it for it to be considered a chair and therefore susceptible to impurity. The other sages rule that this is insufficient. To make something into a real chair a seat must be carved out.

סרקו – which was painted.

A small basket or a big one that was filled with straw or other soft material remains clean [even] if it was prepared as a seat. But if it was plaited over with reed-grass or with a cord it becomes susceptible to uncleanness. Even if one fills a basket with soft material and intends to use it as a seat, it is not susceptible to impurity. The problem with it is that as soon as he turns the basket over, the stuff will fall out and the seat will no longer exist. To turn the basket into a seat he must fill it with some sort of stuffing and plait over it with some type of binding material to keep the contents in. If he does this, the basket will be a seat and it will be susceptible to impurity.

וכרכמו (which was varnished) – which was colored with crocus/saffron.

ועשאו פנים (or was polished) – he invalidated it with an adze and made it smooth with a tool for planning wood, that it should have a nice appearance.

רבי עקיבא מטמא – for it is for sitting.

וחכמים מטהרין – for it is considered like a plain piece of wood.

עד שיחק בו (until he will make a hollow on it) – until he hollows out a place of sitting.

התקינו לישיבה – from impurity through treading/Midras, because they are not made for sitting and knowledge of it was abolished among all people.

סרגן בגמי (if he plaited them over with reed-grass) – on their openings, in the manner that they plait the beds.

טמאין – that the straw and the hackled wool/a soft spongy substance won’t be able to fall, and they are appropriate for sitting.

האסלא (privy/toilet; iron frame of a privy-stool covered with leather) – place of sitting of iron which is covered with leather, and they sit upon it in the toilet.

A toilet is subject to both midras and corpse uncleanness. If the leather seat was separated, the leather is subject to midras uncleanness and the iron is subject only to corpse uncleanness. The toilet described here is made of a leather seat and an iron base. When it is whole, the entire toilet is subject to both midras and corpse uncleanness, because it is a seat and it is a vessel. If the leather seat is removed, the seat is still subject to midras uncleanness because it is still usable as a seat. But the iron base can no longer be sat upon, and therefore it is subject only to corpse uncleanness, because it is still a vessel.

פירשה (if it was separated) – the leather from the iron.

A folding stool whose cover is of leather is subject to both midras and corpse uncleanness. If it was taken apart, the leather is subject to midras uncleanness while the stool is altogether clean. When the leather cover is part of the stool, the entire stool is subject to both midras and corpse uncleanness. If the cover is removed, it remains susceptible to midras uncleanness, but the remainder of the stool cannot be used so it is clean.

העור טמא מדרס – that the leather by itself is appropriate for sitting, but the iron without the leather is not appropriate for sitting, but it is appropriate for other usages.

A bath-house bench that has two wooden legs is susceptible to uncleanness. If one leg was of wood and the other of stone it is clean. The bench is made of stone which is not susceptible to impurity. However, if both of its legs are made of wood, the entire bench becomes susceptible on account of the legs. If only one leg is made of wood and the other is made of stone, the bench is still clean.

טרסקל (basket) – a small basket made from peeled willows, and they eat bread upon it.

Boards in a bath-house which were joined together: Rabbi Akiva says that they are susceptible to [midras] uncleanness; But the sages say that they are clean, since they are made only for the water to flow under them. In a bath-house, there would be seats made of wood joined together for the bathers to sit on. According to Rabbi Akiva, since people sit on these seats, they are susceptible to impurity. The sages disagree because they see the function of the seats as just letting dirty water already used by others to pass beneath. In other words, people don't want to sit on the seats; they just want to avoid something else.

והטרסקל טהור מכלום (a chair on three legs, a camp-chair is clean of all) – that because of its being small, it is not appropriate for sitting , and neither for the rest of the usages, for it has no walls.

A fumigation-cage that contains a receptacle for garments is susceptible to uncleanness, But one that is made like a bee-hive is clean. A fumigation cage is a vessel into which fire and sulfur are put to fumigate the clothing that would be put above. If it has a receptacle in which to put the clothing, it is susceptible to impurity. But if it is made in the shape of a bee-hive and does not have a receptacle, it cannot become impure.

ספסלים שבמרחץ – they are of marble.

ששתי רגליו של עץ טמא – if the person with gonorrhea sat upon it, the legs of wood are unclean because of uncleanness through sitting. But the bench itself is ritually pure, for the stone vessels have no defilement at all, neither from the words of the Torah nor from the words of the Scribes.

ואחת של אבן טהור – for it is as if the bench is completely made from stone.

ששיגמן (which one planed; or that one joined with bamboo) – that had become unfit and were repaired with a tool to plane wood/a chisel.

שיהו המים הולכים תחתיהן – but they are not made for sitting, but people sit there in order that they not be soiled from the water of bath-houses that come out. And the Halakha is according to the Sages.

קנקילין (perforated vessel for fumigation) – a vessel that they place fire and sulfur underneath them in order to fumigate the clothing that is upon it.

שיש לה בית קבלה כסות – that it has a receptacle to receive the clothing that is upon it.

ככוורת – that it is perforated from its two sides.