פירוש על אהלות 10:11

ארובה שהיא בתוך הבית (a hatchway which is in the midst of the house) - and it is uncovered to the airspace, for there is no upper chamber roof from above.

Introduction Chapter ten discusses cases where there is a hatchway in a house leading to the roof. The mishnah will discuss various scenarios with regard to how large the hatchway is, and whether or not something covers it.

כנגד ארובה טהור (that which is opposite the hatchway) – vessels that are placed below on the ground opposite the hatchway and they see the face of the sky are ritually pure.

A hatchway in a house, which has an opening of a [square] handbreadth, The first mishnah deals with a hatchway that is a square handbreadth. Tomorrow, we will deal with a smaller hatchway (I bet you can't wait). In this case, the place directly below the hatchway is not an ohel.

מלמעלן (from above) – on the garret window in the wall projecting above the flat roof.

If there is uncleanness in the house, what is directly [below] the hatchway remains clean. The part underneath the hatchway is not in the ohel (house). Therefore, whatever is there remains clean.

עירב את הטומאה (he combined the defilement) – and everything is impure. The house is impure and the person who places his foot in it is also impure.

If the uncleanness is directly [below] the hatchway, the house remains clean. If there is uncleanness right below the hatchway it is not in a tent. The impurity travels straight up and the other things in the house remain clean.

וכנגד הטומאה טמא – that the olive’s bulk [of defilement] is stretched to here and to there.

If the uncleanness is either in the house or directly [below] the hatchway, and a person placed his foot above [the hatchway] he has combined [with the roof to bring] uncleanness. In this case, a person put his leg over the hatchway and thereby reduced the hatchway to less than a square handbreadth. The entire house is now one tent. Therefore, no matter where the impurity is found, the contents of the entire house are impure. Furthermore, the person himself is impure.

If part of the uncleanness is in the room and part of it directly [below] the hatchway, the house becomes unclean and what is directly [above] the uncleanness becomes unclean. If part of the source of uncleanness is under the house and part is under the hatchway, then the house becomes unclean as if the entire source of uncleanness was in the house. Anything found directly above the part of the impurity that was in the hatchway is impure. But things found opposite the hatchway but not directly above or below the source of impurity remain pure.

אין בארבה פותח פתח – surely it comes to tell us that with less than a handbreadth we don’t say that with defilement there is a joining/לבוד (i.e., that two solid surfaces are considered to be joined if there is a gap of less than three handbreadths between them).

If the hatchway does not have an opening of a square handbreadth: Our mishnah discusses a case where the hatchway is less than a handbreadth square.

נתן את רגלו – the person who sets [his foot] is pure, for it resembles something concealed concerning it, for the defilement does not enter into the tent and doesn’t leave from it with less than an opening of a handbreadth.

If there is uncleanness in the house, what is directly [below] the hatchway remains clean. Even though the hatchway is less than one handbreadth, we do not consider the house to be closed and for the tent and the hatchway to be one ohel. Rather the same rule that applied in yesterday's mishnah applies here what is below the hatchway remains clean.

אם טומאה קדמה את רגלו טמא – that surely at the time when he set his foot, he overshadowed over the defilement.

If the uncleanness is directly [below] the hatchway, the house remains clean. Again, although the hatchway is less than one handbreadth, we don't consider the house to be one ohel. If the impurity is below the hatchway, what is in the house remains clean.

ואם רגלו קדמה את הטומאה טהור – that before the defilement came, a concealed tent had already been made, and at the time that the defilement enters there is no garret window in the wall projecting above the flat roof that is open a handbreadth in order that the defilement can leave from it.

When the uncleanness is in the house, if he placed his leg above [the hatchway], he remains clean. The person who put his leg above the hatchway remains pure because the impurity is trapped in the ohel that he created below. This is because the opening is less than one handbreadth. However, since the house and hatchway are one tent, whatever is found below is impure.

שתי רגלים זו על גב זו – of two people, and the first placed his foot on top of the garret window in the wall and the foot of the second [person] is lying on the foot of the first [person], and afterwards, the defilement enters the house underneath the garret window in the wall near the roof, and after that, the first [person] removes his leg and it is found that the foot of the second [person] is placed on the garret window, and even though this second [foot] overshadows over he defilement when the first [person] removed his foot, the second [person] is ritually pure, because the foot of the first [person] preceded the defilement. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Shimon nor according to Rabbi Meir.

[When] the uncleanness is directly [below] the hatchway, if he placed his leg above it, Rabbi Meir declares [him] unclean, But the sages say: if the uncleanness was [in position] before his leg, he becomes unclean, but if his leg was [in position] before the uncleanness, he remains clean. According to Rabbi Meir since the person overshadowed the source of corpse impurity, he is impure. The sages say it depends on what comes first. If the source of impurity is there first then he is impure because he put his leg over the hatchway before he made the house into one ohel. However, if his leg was there first, then when the impurity got there, the house was already one ohel and impurity does not escape from an ohel through a hole of less than one handbreadth.

Rabbi Shimon says: [in the case where] two [men's] legs, one above the other, were [in position] before the uncleanness, if the first person withdrew his leg and the other person's leg was still there, [the second] remains clean, because the first person's leg was [in position] before the uncleanness. Rabbi Shimon complicates the above scenario a little bit. The sages said that if the impurity was there before the person's leg was there, then the person is impure. Here, two people's legs were there, one on top of the other. When the first person removed his leg, the second person's leg now went over impurity that was there first. Nevertheless, since the house was an ohel by virtue of the first person's leg, the second person is pure.

כנגד ארובה – in the garret window in the wall projecting above the flat roof that doesn’t have an opening of a handbreadth.

If part of the uncleanness is in the house and part directly [below] the hatchway, the house becomes unclean, and what is directly [above] the uncleanness becomes unclean, the words of Meir. In today's mishnah there is a source of impurity that is partially underneath the house and partially under a hatchway which is less than one square handbreadth (as in yesterday's mishnah). According to Rabbi Meir, the house is impure and anything above the impurity is also impure. Rabbi Meir says that the part of the impurity that is in the house joins with the part that is under the hatchway as if all of the impurity was under the hatchway. Therefore, anything that overshadows this impurity is defiled.

וכנגד הטומאה טמא – that is it overshadows over the defilement.

Rabbi Judah says: the house becomes unclean but what is directly [above] the uncleanness remains clean. Rabbi Judah disagrees and says that the piece in the house does not join with the piece under the hatchway, for impurity in an ohel (the part in the house) does not join with impurity found under a hole (the hatchway) that is less than one handbreadth.

כדי שתחלק – that there will be in the part of uncleanness a measure in order to defile the tent, that is, that there will be in all of it two olive’s bulk or more. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yossi.

Rabbi Yose says: if there is sufficient of the uncleanness for it to be divided so that [one part] defiles the house and [the other part] defiles what is directly [above] the uncleanness, [both spaces] become unclean; if not, the house becomes unclean but what is directly [above] the uncleanness remains clean. Rabbi Yose seems to mediate between the first two opinions. If there is enough impurity to defile both the house and the space under the hatchway, then both are defiled even if there is not enough impurity under each one to defile it. For instance, if there is a piece of impurity the size of two olives (double the amount necessary) and 1 1/2 of it is found under the house and 1/2 under the hatchway, both are defiled. But if there is not sufficient to defile both, the house is still unclean but the hatchway is clean.

ארובות זו על גב זו – as for example, here is a garret window in the wall projecting above the flat roof between the house and the upper chamber and there is another turret window in the roof of the upper chamber directed against it, and in each of them there is an opening of a handbreadth.

If there are multiple hatchways, one above the other, and they each have an opening of one handbreadth [square], if there is uncleanness in the house, what is directly [below] the hatchways remains clean. Our mishnah deals with a multi-story building, with hatchways one over the other, all of them one handbreadth wide. If the uncleanness is in the house (bottom floor), it remains in the house. The space below the hatchways remains clean.

בין מלמעלה – in the upper garret window/aperture in the roof looking to the ground floor.

If the uncleanness is directly [below] the hatchways, the house remains clean. If the uncleanness is below the hatchways, it doesn't enter the house.

בין מלמטה – in the lower garret window/aperture looking to the ground floor.

[In the case] where the uncleanness is either in the house or directly [below] the hatchways, if something susceptible to uncleanness was placed either in the upper or the lower [hatchway], everything becomes unclean. The mishnah now discusses what happens if something that is susceptible to impurity blocks up one of the hatchways, be it the upper or lower one. In this case no matter where the impurity is, under the house or under the hatchways, everything is impure. Seemingly, if the blockage was on the bottom hatchway, the contents of the upper stories should be pure, because the impurity would remain down there. However, since the article is susceptible to impurity, it doesn't block the impurity. It does, though, turn the bottom floor into one ohel, so that even if the impurity is under the hatchway, the whole floor is impure. Furthermore, the sages said that just as the bottom floor is impure, so too all of the floors are impure, even if the article is below the hatchway and would seem to escape through the upper hatchways. We look at all of the floors as if they were all closed up.

הכל טמא – even what is in the upper chamber. Even though he placed [his foot] in the lower part and not the upper part, for since it is something that is susceptible to receive defilement, it does not interpose before the defilement in the house, and we see it as if it is placed in the mouth of the upper garret window in the wall projecting above the flat roof and mixing/combining the defilement.

If the article is insusceptible to uncleanness, what is below becomes unclean, but what is above remains clean. If the article is not susceptible to uncleanness, then it blocks the impurity from spreading to the upper floors. Only the bottom floor is impure.

ממנו ולמטן טמא – that it became a concealed tent and everything that is within it is impure.

ממנו ולמעלן טהור – and it interposes in front of the defilement.

אין טמא אלא התחתון – for since the defilement is in the house but not opposite the garret window, the defilement does not leave/go out with less than a handbreadth [of an opening], and the upper chamber is pure even though the garret window of the upper chamber is concealed.

In a case where the hatchways do not have an opening of a square handbreadth:
If there is uncleanness in the house, what is directly [below] the hatchways remains clean.
If there is uncleanness directly [below] the hatchways, the house remains clean.
[In the case] where the uncleanness is in the house, if an article whether susceptible to uncleanness or insusceptible to uncleanness was placed either in the upper or the lower [hatchway], nothing becomes unclean except the lower story.
[In the case] where the uncleanness is directly [below] the hatchways, if an article susceptible to uncleanness was placed either in the upper or lower [hatchway], everything becomes unclean.
If the article is insusceptible to uncleanness, whether [it is placed] in the upper or lower [hatchway], nothing becomes unclean except the lower story.
Today's mishnah continues to deal with a house with hatchways between multiple stories. The hatchways in today's mishnah are less than one square handbreadth.
Sections one and two: These are the same laws as seen in mishnah two, concerning a house that has only one story.
Section three: In this case it will not matter what type of article that was used to block up one of the hatchways, nor does it matter which hatchway is blocked up. The impurity is found below in the house and the mishnah rules that it spreads to the entire bottom floor, including the space directly below the hatchway. However, the impurity does not leave the bottom floor to defile the upper floors because the hatchway is less than a handbreadth wide. And even if the covering was placed on the uppermost hatchway, the middle stories do not become impure because we look at the covering as if it was below, on the bottom floor where the impurity is found, and that it serves to stop up the impurity there in the house.
Section four: If the impurity is found directly below one of the hatchways, then the halakhah is the same as it was in mishnah four. If the article is susceptible to impurity, it does not block the impurity below and all of the stories are impure (see yesterday's mishnah).
Section five: And if the article is not susceptible to impurity, then wherever it is placed, only the lower story is impure. Something not susceptible to impurity can prevent impurity from spreading. And even if the article is placed on the upper hatchway, we look at it as if it was placed below, and only the lower story is impure (just as we did in section three).

הכל טמא – for since the defilement is opposite the garret windows and an impure thing does not interpose, we see it as if it is placed in the mouth of the upper garret window and it combines/mixes the defilement.

ארובה – that it sees the airspace.

Introduction Today's mishnah (and tomorrow's) deal with cases where a pot is placed below the hatchway. The mishnah will discuss various scenarios as to where the pot is, and where the source of impurity is and how that effects what becomes impure.

וקדירה נתונה תחתיה – on the ground opposite the garret window. But it is not so wide that if it rises opposite the garret window that its rims would touch the garret window, but rather it goes out and enters with wide space.

In the case of a hatchway in a house with a pot placed below it that, if it was raised, its rims would not touch the [edges of the] hatchway: The pot is placed directly below the hatchway, such that if the pot was raised it would not close up the entire hatchway. The pot is not as broad as the hatchway.

טומאה בוקעת ועולה – but the house is ritually pure, and everything that overshadows it, which is not opposite the defilement is pure. But opposite the defilement is impure, for even though an earthenware vessel is not defiled from above it, here, that the defilement bursts forth within it is also impure, even though the defilement is below it. And all that is in the pot is impure, and even that which is not opposite the defilement.

If there is uncleanness below, within or above [the pot], the uncleanness cleaves upwards and downwards. If there is impurity below the pot, it is in a space that is not one handbreadth cubed. As we have learned, such impurity travels up and down but not to the sides. Below and above the pot is impure, but the remainder of the house is pure.

תחתיה והבית טמא – that the pot overshadows over the defilement, since it is a handbreadth higher.

In the case where [the pot] was one handbreadth high off the ground, if there is uncleanness below it or in the house, what is below it and in the house becomes unclean, but what is within [the pot] or above it, remains clean. If the pot is one handbreadth high off the ground, then it is in a (mini-) ohel. If there is a source of impurity either in the house or below the pot, the house and below the pot are defiled. The impurity spreads from under the pot and defiles the house. However, when it comes to the contents of the pot and what is above, we look at the pot as if it was placed above at the hatchway. Since an earthenware pot is not susceptible to impurity from the outside, it forms a barrier with the walls of the house, so that impurity does not enter inside. What is above the hatchway is also protected. However, if the pot was the same size as the hatchway and it couldn't fit in there, it does not offer a barrier and it is looked at as simply a vessel and vessels cannot become an ohel to protect against impurity (see 6:1).

תוכה וגבה טהור – that the pot interposes in front of the defilement and protects with the walls of the tents.

[If the uncleanness is] within or above [the pot], everything becomes unclean. If the uncleanness is inside the pot or above it, then everything, the inside of the pot, above the pot and the entire house are impure. This is because the pot is defiled by the impurity that is within it or above it and an impure vessel does not offer a barrier to impurity. This means that the impurity will go below the pot, and from there spread to the entire house.

בתוכה או על גבה הכל טמא – within it and on top of it and below it and the house. For the defilement that is upon it bursts forth underneath it, for it is a handbreadth higher, and further it doesn’t protect since the pot is impure.

היתה נתונה – it refers to the pot.

[In the case where the pot was] placed on the side of the threshold [of the house] such that if it was raised it would touch the lintel over a [space of a square] handbreadth: Today's mishnah deals with a pot that is placed on its side outside of a house, on the threshold of the house. The pot is placed such that if it was lifted up, at least one handbreadth square of the pot would touch the lintel.

בצד אסקופה (at the side of the lintel/threshold, lower door-sill) – that it was placed on the threshold from the outside and stretched inwards so much that if you would ascend there is from it a handbreadth underneath the lintel. And as for example, that the pot was very wide from the bottom and narrow from the top towards its mouth, for when there exists a handbreadth underneath the lintel, still all of its mouth is outside.

If there is uncleanness below, within or above [the pot], the uncleanness cleaves upwards and downwards. In this case, no matter where the impurity is, it goes only up and down. If it is below the pot, then it is not in an ohel that is one cubic handbreadth in size. If it is in the pot or on its side, then the house remains pure because the impurity is not within the lintel (which would place it in the house).

טומאה תחתיה – it speaks of pressed ritual impurity (i.e., when there is less than a handbreadth between the corpse and the roof or covering, and the ritual impurity passes through the roof and rises upward indefinitely).

[In the case] where it was one handbreadth high off the ground: As the mishnah always seems to do, it now discusses what happens if the pot is a one handbreadth off the ground.

בוקעת ועולה – but the house is pure. And for example, that the defilement is from the lintel and outward. For if it was stretched a handbreadth inside, the house is impure.

If there is uncleanness below it or in the house, what is below it and in the house becomes unclean. In this case there is an ohel (under the pot) that is immediately connected to the house (because there is no space between it and the house). The wall of the pot, if lifted, would connect at the length of a handbreadth with the lintel of the house. Therefore, if the impurity is either under the pot or in the house, it spreads from one to the other and both are unclean.

תחתיה והבית טמא – since that there is a handbreadth from it inside that brings the defilement into the house.

If the uncleanness is within or above [the pot], everything becomes unclean. If the uncleanness is within or above the pot, then the pot is defiled and it doesn't form a barrier to protect the house (see mishnah six).

תוכה וגבה טהור – that it (i.e., the inside and on top of it) is protected with the wall of the house.

[In the case where the pot] if raised would not touch the lintel over a [space of a square] handbreadth, or is joined to the lintel, if there is uncleanness below it, nothing is unclean except what is below [the pot]. In this case, the pot is again one handbreadth off the ground. In this case, if it were lifted, it would not touch a space of one square handbreadth of the lintel. Alternatively, the pot is raised all the way to the lintel, but it comes into contact with less than one handbreadth of the lintel. In these cases, if impurity is below it, it remains there. The pot does form an ohel over the impurity and therefore the entire area below the pot is impure. However, the house is pure since the pot touches the lintel for a space less than one handbreadth. In order for two ohels to be connected to convey impurity the contact must be at least a handbreadth. The inside of the pot and above the pot are pure for the pot joins with the walls of the house to serve as a barrier, even though it is connected at a point of less than a handbreadth.

הכל טמא – that the pot was defiled and it doesn’t interpose. But we view the defilement as if it is beneath it and that the house is impure.

מודבקת – that the pot is not underneath the lintel at all, but rather above it joined at the side of the lintel, and the width of its joining is not a handbreadth.

אין טמא אלא תחתיה – since there isn’t a handbreadth underneath the lentil, it doesn’t bring defilement to the house, and the house, and what is within it and what is above it, all are ritually pure.