פירוש על טבול יום 4:6

הכדומין (a sort of lever with which a pitcher is fished out of a well/watercooler) – a long and large piece of wood and hooks come out this way and that way, and they suspend on those hooks flasks of water (i.e., bottles with a wide body and a narrow neck) in the air in order to cool them. But Maimonides explains, it is a like a kind of bronze wreath/rim and hooks surround it, and with it they lift up the vessels that fell into the cistern.

Introduction This mishnah is the same as Kelim 13:7. It deals with vessels that are basically wooden, but have one part made of metal. The reason that this mishnah is placed here is Rabbi Joshua's comments found at the end. According to Albeck, this comment refers to all of the cases in which the sages were lenient in this chapter, and therefore his words are appropriate here. In other words, sections one and two belong in Kelim, which talks about the purity of vessels. And section three belongs more here. Somehow they were paired together and that's why both sections appear in both places. My commentary below is the same as it is there in Kelim.

האשקלונים – that are made in Ashkelon.

If Ashkelon grappling-irons were broken but their hooks remained, they remain susceptible to impurity. Since the hooks are the main parts of the grappling-irons, as long as they remain, the vessel is susceptible to impurity. Furthermore, although the vessel is made of wood, since its hooks are of metal, it is susceptible.

המעבר והמזרה והמגוב (the pitchfork -for the first stage of winnowing- passing the grain from one side to the other, the winnowing fan and the rake – an agricultural implement with many teeth, forming a sort of sieve to separate the grain from the chaff or to dry the grain) – utensils used to clean grain from the straw and to remove the straw from place to place. The מעבר/pitchfork, has teeth" and is similar to a human hand, and they remove the straw from place to place. And the מזרה/winnowing fan, with it they winnow/sift the wheat in the granary/threshing floor. Therefore, it is called a מזרה, and its teeth are greater [in number] than the teeth of the מעבר/pitchfork. But the מגוב/rake – its teeth are greater [in number] than that of the teeth of the מזרה/winnowing fan, and with it they sift/assort the grain after the winnowing fan winnowed them.

If a pitch-fork, winnowing-fan, or rake, and the same applies to a hair-comb, lost one of its teeth and it was replaced by one of metal, it is susceptible to impurity. These are all tools with teeth. Most of the tool is made of wood, but one of the missing wooden teeth was replaced with metal. This one metal tooth gives the entire vessel the status of a metal vessel and it is therefore susceptible to impurity.

ועל כולם אמר רבי יהושע וכו' – In the Tosefta (see Tractate Kelim Bava Metzia, Chapter 3, Halakha 14 and Tractate Tevul Yom, Chapter 2, Halakha 14), it is proven that Rabbi Yehoshua refers to all these words of the Mishnah (see beginning of Tractate Tevul Yom, Chapter 4, Mishnah 2 and onwards) , from the woman who is had immersed herself that day until here, and because Rabbi Yehoshua refers to all of them, the Tanna/teacher here teaches many words whose matter is not related to here.

And concerning all these Rabbi Joshua said: the scribes have here introduced a new principle of law, and I have no explanation to offer. Rabbi Joshua adds here a fascinating note, one which I don't believe we have encountered elsewhere in the Mishnah. In all of the above cases, since the basic vessel was of wood, and it was a simple vessel without a receptacle, the vessel should not have been susceptible to impurity. The innovation that the earlier scribes innovated was that although only one part was of metal, the entire vessel is susceptible. Rabbi Joshua accepts this innovation, but nevertheless admits that he does not understand it. We can see here his deference to tradition, and yet his striving to understand it, and his sense of frustration when he cannot. This is an attitude that I believe is very typical among rabbis. They have a strong sense of respect for tradition, and yet they do not simply accept all that they have received. Rather, they constantly attempt to understand the early halakhot, to make sense out of them, and to use the principles that they perceive as underlying these halakhot to derive further halakhot.

דבר חדש חידשו הסופרים – that the temperament/mind does not provide that the matter will be such. (See also the Bartenura commentary to this phrase in Tractate Kelim, Chapter 13, Mishnah 7, where he states: "ראויין היו להיות טהורים דפשוטי כלי עץ נינהו ומשום שן אחת של מתכת לא נחתא להו טומאה"/”they should be worthy of being ritually pure, for they are simple wooden utensils and because of one tooth made of metal, they should descend to ritual impurity.”)

ואין לי מה להשיב – because of what they said as such [which I cannot respond to].