Komentarz do Kelim 5:10

חתכו חוליות – when he cut it for the oven breadthwise into pieces, and placed one tile on top of another tile.

If he cut the oven up into rings, and then he put sand between each pair of rings, Rabbi Eliezer says: it is clean. But the sages say: it is unclean. This is the oven of Akhnai. In this case a person took an oven and cut it into rings, and then reassembled it, filling in with sand in between the rings. He then coated it all over with clay and heated it up so that it would be usable. Rabbi Eliezer rules that such an oven is not susceptible to impurity because of the presence of the sand between the rings, whereas the sages hold that the coating makes the oven into one unit and therefore it is susceptible. This oven is known as "the oven of Akhnai," which probably refers to the manufacturer of the oven. The Talmud's famous tale of the argument between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Joshua is told concerning this oven. In this tale Rabbi Eliezer calls upon God to break the laws of nature to prove that his position is correct, and the miracles indeed occur. Rabbi Joshua responds "it is not in Heaven," meaning that after God gave the Torah to Israel, the law is no longer in Heaven, but rather subject to the independent interpretation of human beings. This is a foundational story for the rabbis, for it substantiates their understanding of Torah interpretation.

ונתן חול בסין חוליא לחוליא – and plastered it with plaster and made it plaster in the manner that they that make for ovens.

As regards Arabian vats, which are holes dug in the ground and plastered with clay, if the plastering can stand of itself it is susceptible to impurity; Otherwise it is not susceptible. This is the oven of Ben Dinai. An "Arabian vat" is simply a hole dug in the ground whose walls are covered with plaster. If the plaster can stand on its own, then the oven is susceptible to impurity, but if it requires the earth to support it, then it is not susceptible. This oven is called the oven of "Ben Dinai." Some hold that Ben Dinai was a robber who would bake his bread in such an oven. Others hold that "Ben Dinai" comes from the word "din" which is Hebrew for either logic or law. It was called "Ben Dinai" because there were debates over such an oven.

ר' אליעזר מטהר – for since there is sand between the fissures, it is like it is broken.

וחכמים מטמאין – for the plaster makes all of it one and connects/attaches all of the fissures, and even though there is sand between each tile.

וזהו תנורו של עכנאי – therefore it is called “The Oven of Akhnai,” that they encircled it with Halakhot like this snake and defiled it (see Tractate Berakhot 19a and Tractate Bava Metzia 59b). עכנא is a snake, that its custom is to make itself like a circle and to have its tail enter into its mouth, such is how they surrounded with responses and proofs of Rabbi Eliezer and the Sages each with the other, on this oven. And at the end, because Rabbi Eliezer was an individual [opinion] against the majority (i.e., the Sages), the law was decided like the Sages and not according to Rabbi Eliezer. And they brought all of the pure things that Rabbi Eliezer declared pure and burned them in fire and the decided to excommunicate him, because he encouraged dispute against the majority view.

יורות הערביין (cauldrons/improvised fire places of the Arabs/a cavity in the ground laid out with clay) – they are made to break bread, as will be explained further on.

של בן דינאי – My Rabbis explained the name of a person who would make these ovens (see Tractate Sotah, Chapter 9, Mishnah 9). And I heard that is on account of the fact that they judged many laws.