תלמוד על פרה 5:5

HALAKHAH: 7. “A potsherd (of any size) to put between one half brick,”121 etc. Rebbi Joḥanan said, one may use it to sanctify; Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish says, one may not use it to sanctify. Rebbi Eleazar asked, in Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish’s opinion, why may one not use it to sanctify? Because it is impervious to impurity ¹²²By definition, a vessel is a product of manufacture. Materials in their original state always are impervious to impurity (unless they are derived from animals). A first tentative opinion is that “vessel” is only a manufactured product susceptible to impurity.. But are not vessels made of cow dung, stone vessels, earthen vessels impervious to impurity and one may use them to sanctify¹²³Mishnah Parah 5:5.! But because it does not contain a quartarius¹²⁴Which everywhere is the minimum of a substantial volume of fluid.. But does not Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish agree that one may sanctify using an arbitrarily small complete clay vessel? It is that the only reason is that it does not have the appellation “vessel”¹²⁵Which is required by the verse and, therefore, cannot be dispensed with.. Then it is difficult for Rebbi Joḥanan. It is not enough to disqualify the body¹²⁶Mishnah Meˋilah 4:5 states that ingesting a quartarius of impure fluid disqualifies a body from any activity requiring purity. It is difficult to see why this should be relevant to the topic at hand. S. Liebermann, following Noˋam Yerushalaim of R. Joshua Eizik of Slonim, suggests to change “body” into “miqweh”. The argument for this is that a miqweh may not be filled with water drawn by a vessel; in this context a “clay vessel” is defined by Mishnah Miqwa’ot 4:3 as one which may contain a minimum volume of one quartarius. but one may use it to sanctify? But this follows Rebbi Yose, for “Rebbi Yose said, also the most minute amount of clay vessel¹²⁷In Mishnah Miqwa’ot 4:3 he states that a clay vessel of any size is a “vessel”; the criterion of one quartarius applies only to potsherds..” Did not Rebbi Yose say this only for a complete one, and do we not deal here with a broken one? What Rebbi Ḥiyya stated¹²⁸Tosephta Kelim Bava qamma 7:17. supports Rebbi Joḥanan; what Rebbi Simeon ben Yoḥai¹²⁹This baraita has not come down to us. stated supports Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish.