Comentário sobre Kelim 2:9

כלי עץ כלי עור כלי עצם – in the Torah portion of n , it is written (Numbers 31:20): “You shall also purify every cloth, every article of skin, everything made of goats’ hair and every object of wood,” and we extend the scope from, “everything made of goats’ hair”/וכל מעשה עזים to include anything that comes from the goats – from the horns and from the hoofs, that is the vessels of bone and it is juxtaposed to vessels of leather and vessels of wood. And in the Torah portion of Shemini, there is juxtaposition of vessels of leather and vessels of wood to a sack (see Leviticus 11:32: “[And anything on which one of them falls when dead shall be impure:] be it any article of wood, or a cloth, or a skin, or a sack [-any such article that can be put to use shall be dipped in water, and it shall remain impure until evening; then it shall be pure].” Therefore, their flat vessels are pure, that we require something similar to a sack that is carried full and/or empty. But an earthenware vessel, even though when flat are pure, it cannot be taught together with these, because all of these are pure when they don’t have a receptacle even though they have an inside, as for example, a wood jug which does not a rim at the bottom and is perforated from side to side is pure, but an earthenware vessel in the same manner is impure because the All-Merciful made it dependent upon its inside and behold it has an inside even though it does not have a receptacle. But their flat surfaces are pure as it is taught in the Mishnah here, that is, according to the Torah, but the Sages decreed impurity upon all flat wooden vessels and leather and bone as is proven in the Gemara of Bava Batra [66a]. But according to the Torah also, they are not pure other than from defilement through contact with a corpse or defilement by a reptile, but they are defiled through the defilement of lying and sitting if they are appropriate for lying and sitting.

Introduction After the introductory chapter, our mishnah begins to deal with the purity and impurity of vessels.

וכלי זכוכית – the Rabbis decreed defilement upon them (i.e., glass utensils) since the beginning of their creation/formation is from the sand then they are earthenware vessels, and they are [more] stringent than earthenware utensils that are not susceptible to receive defilement from what is upon it, but glass utensils/vessels are defiled from what is upon them, since their inside appears like their outside. But the flat surfaces of glass vessels are pure, even according to the Rabbis, for the Rabbis made a distinction (a somewhat different law) regarding glassware (see Tractate Shabbat 16a) for just as they don’t burn upon them heave offering and Holy Things.

Vessels of wood, vessels of leather, vessels of bone or vessels of glass: If they are simple they are clean If they form a receptacle they are unclean. Vessels made of wood, leather, bone or glass can come in two forms: simple or with a receptacle. They are simple if they are not made to accept anything. Simple vessels cannot become defiled. They are susceptible to impurity only if they have a receptacle. This rule seems to be derived from Leviticus 11:32.

מקבלין טומאה מכאן ולהבא – but they don’t return to their old defilement, for the Rabbis did not decree that if he made from them [new] vessels they return to their old defilement, but rather only a metal utensils/vessel.

If they were broken they become clean again. If the vessel was impure when it was whole and then was broken, it now automatically becomes pure.

כלי נתר (vessels made from alum crystals)– vessels that are made from earth that they dig from it alum crystals. ALUMI in the foreign language.

If one remade them into vessels they are susceptible to impurity henceforth. Once it is fixed, it is now susceptible again to impurity. However, the vessel does not return to its old impurity. In other words, the slate is wiped clean.

מיטמאין ומטמאין באויר (they are both unclean and convey uncleanness through their contained airspace) – it the defilement is suspended in the airspace of the vessel, the vessel is unclean. If he went back and suspended food in their airspace, he defiles the food, even though they did not touch, as it is written (Leviticus 11:33): “[And if any of those falls into an earthen vessel,] everything inside it shall be pure [and – the vessel – itself you shall break].” And even the size of a mustard seed that does not touch the walls of the vessel.

Earthen vessels and vessels of sodium carbonate are equal in respect of impurity: they contract and convey impurity through their air-space; they convey impurity through the outside but they do not become impure through their backs; and when broken they become clean. The rules regarding earthenware and sodium carbonate vessels are different. As I explained in the introduction, they can be made impure only by something entering their air space, even if the defiling agent does not touch them. They also convey impurity to food or other vessels that enter their air space, even if they do not come into contact with them. This is derived from Leviticus 11:33. They also convey impurity through their outsides. So if they are impure, and a piece of food touches the outside of the vessel, the food is impure. But if something impure touches the outside of the vessel (their backs) they are not defiled. Earthenware vessels cannot be made pure by entering a mikveh. The only way they can become pure is by being broken (see Leviticus 6:21, 11:33, 15:12).

ומיטמאין מאחוריהן (they impart uncleanness from their outer sides) – vessels that hollowed out/shaped a receptacle from their place of sitting in the manner that they make for silver cups, and sometimes they turn them upside down on their mouths and use their receptacles from their outer side. If it came in contact with defilement with that receptacle, the earthenware utensil is defiled. But if they did not mix them and repeat it they are defiled and defile from their airspace an from their outer sides, we learn from it that they are defiled from the airspace from the outer side, for we don’t consider the inside that is on the outer side as a complete inside of the Torah, to be defiled from its airspace, but it is defiled if it the defilement came in contact with the same hollowing out that is on its outer side.

ואין מיטמאין מגביהן – as it is written (Leviticus 11:33): “Any if any of those falls into an earthen vessel (i.e., an article of wood, a cloth, a skin, or a sack), [everything inside it shall be impure and – the vessel- itself you shall break],” from inside it becomes defiles but it does become defiled from outside it. But all of the other vessels excluding an earthenware vessel and a vessel of alum crystal are not defiled from their airspace until the defilement touches/comes in contact with the essence of the vessel, but when the defilement touches the essence of the vessel, whether from the outside or from the inside, it is impure, as is taught in the Mishnah in the first chapter of [Tractate] Hullin (Chapter 1, Mishnah 6): “What is clean (insusceptible to uncleanness[ in the case of earthenware vessels is unclean [susceptible in the case of all [other] vessels. What is clean in the case of all [other utensils] is unclean in the case of the earthenware utensils.”

ושבירתן היא טהרתן = all of vessels/utensils, breaking them is their purification, but earthenware vessels and vessels of alum crystal breaking them alone purifies them, but they have no purification through ritual immersion other than through breaking [them] alone.

הדקין שבכלי חרס – thin and small earthenware vessels, whether they themselves cannot support/hold other than only up the anointing of a small [finger of a child] or whether they were broken and their rimmed bottom remained, an explanation: like their rimmed bottoms of a vessel, that is the rim that is towards the ground, or their walls/sides which remained and alone are able to sit without supports, are still vessels. And if they hold enough oil to anoint a small thing, that is to say, the anointing of a small finger of a day-old baby, they are impure. And this is explained in the Tractate Shabbat [77b] (and also Tractate Eduyot, Chapter 4, Mishnah 6 – as explained by Tosefot Yom Tov), the anointing of a minor, one small limb of a minor of the age of one-day old.

Introduction In yesterday's mishnah we learned that vessels become pure when they are broken. Our mishnah modifies yesterday's mishnah, by teaching that the vessels are "broken" and thereby pure only when they are no longer usable. If pieces of the vessel can be used for any purpose, that piece retains its impurity, or at least its capacity to become impure. The tannaim in our mishnah argue as to how big the piece must be in order to still be able to become impure or retain its impurity.

עד לוג – this measurement of the anointing of a minor, for the shards of a vessel that had not been from its outset other than a LOG (i.e., a LOG is the equivalent of the liquid displaced by six eggs). But if there was from the outset more than a LOG, we need a larger measure for the shards, more than in order to anoint [the small limb of] a minor [who is one day-old].

As regards the smallest earthen vessels, and the bottoms and sides [of the larger but broken vessels] that can stand unsupported: The prescribed size is a capacity to hold oil sufficient for the anointing of a little finger of a child [if their former capacity] was that of a log. If [their former capacity] was from one log to a se'ah [their present capacity] must be a quarter of a log. If it was from a se'ah to two se'ah it must be half a log. If from two se'ah to three se'ah or as much as five se'ah it must be a log, the words of Rabbi Ishmael. This section is Rabbi Yishmael's opinion. In each section there are two sizes how big the vessel was before it was broken, and how big the piece left needs to be in order to still be susceptible to impurity. When it comes to broken pieces, if it is a side piece it needs to be able to stand unsupported. If it can't, the size of the piece is irrelevant, for it won't receive impurity. If the vessel (or the broken piece thereof) was very small, and couldn't even hold a log (1/2 liter) before it was broken, then it only needs to be able to hold enough oil for a small child to soak his finger in. If it can't hold even this small amount of oil, then it cannot receive impurity. If the original size was from a log to a seah (24 logs), then it needs to be able to hold at least a 1/4 of a log. If the original size was from one to two seahs, it must now be able to hold 1/2 of a log, and if the original size was from two to five seahs, it must be able to hold a full log. The assumption behind all of this seems to be that if a person has a small vessel, he may save a smaller shard of that vessel. But if the vessel was originally very large, very small shards will seem to lack any value and he will get rid of them. In this case, the vessel is not susceptible to impurity.

מלוג ועד סאה – a vessel that would at its outset hold from a LOG and more than a LOG until a SESAH, the measure of its shards is one-quarter of a LOG. And for more than a SEAH until two SEAH, the measurement of its shards is one-half a LOG and similarly for all of them.

Rabbi Akiva says: I do not prescribe any size for the unbroken vessels, rather: as regards the smallest earthen vessels, and the bottoms and sides [of larger but broken ones] that can stand unsupported: The prescribed size is a capacity to hold enough oil to anoint the little finger of a child. [This size is prescribed for pots] that are not bigger than the small cooking-pots. For small cooking-pots and for those between these and the jars from Lydda the prescribed capacity is a quarter of a log. For those which have a size between that of Lydda jars and Bethlehem jars the capacity must be that of half a log. For those between Bethlehem jars and large stone jars the capacity must be that of a log. Rabbi Akiva basically agrees with Rabbi Yishmael, but he uses a different system to delineate the original sizes of the vessels. Instead of listing capacities, he lists typical types of jars or other containers used in his day. Other than that, he agrees with Rabbi Yishmael as to how big the pieces must be in order to still be susceptible to impurity. Jars and containers seem to have been typically named based on their place of manufacture.

אני איני נותן בהם מדה – according to the largeness of the vessel or its smallness, but according to the places where it is customarily done and according to the structure/form of the utensils.

Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai says: [the prescribed capacity for the fragments] of large stone jars is two logs, and that for the bottoms of broken Galilean flasks and small jars is any whatsoever, but the fragments of their sides are not susceptible to impurity Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai seems to basically agree with Rabbi Akiva. He disagrees in that he gives different measures for how big the pieces must be for large stone jars. Whereas Rabbi Akiva held that they need hold only one log, Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai holds that they must hold two logs. He also holds that small jars and Galilean flasks can still receive impurity no matter how small a piece was left. Assumedly, people would use these shards even if they were very small. However, this only applies to the base. In his opinion, the walls of these flasks or jars were not usable at all, and therefore once broken, they cannot receive impurity.

אלא הדקין שבכלי חרס וכו' – that they don’t have the form of pots and they. But when the reach to be like the form of small pots, their measure is one-quarter of a LOG.

חביות לודיות – jugs that are made in Lod/Lydda.

לחמיות – [jugs] that are made in Bethlehem. But they are larger than the ones that are made in Lod/Lydda.

חצבים גדולים (stone pitchers/earthen jugs) – large pitchers all that is possible.

הפכים הגלילים (flasks/jars with a narrow neck) – that are made in the land of the Galilee.

והחביונות (small vessel, flask with flat sides) – small jugs, and these are thin ones of earthenware vessels.

ואין להן דפנות – that specifically their rims are impure if there remains in them the amount of oil to anoint the small finger of a child, but their sides are pure And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Akiva.

הטהורים שבכלי חרס – flat earthenware vessels (without a receptacle) which are pure, as it is written concerning them (Leviticus 11:33): “And if any of those (i.e., an article of wood, or a cloth, or a skin, or a sack – see previous verse) falls into [an earthen vessel, everything inside it shall be impure and -the vessel – itself you shall break],” that which has an inside is impure; that which lacks an inside is pure.

Introduction In our mishnah we learn that earthenware vessels are susceptible to impurity only if they have an "inner part" that is made to receive something.

טבלא שאין לו לזבז (a tray without a rim/edge) – a smooth board that lacks a rim around it.

The following are not susceptible to impurity among earthen vessels: A tray without a rim, A broken incense-pan, A pierced pan for roasting corn, Gutters even if they are bent and even if they have some form of receptacle, A cooking vessel that was turned into a bread-basket cover, A bucket that was turned into a cover for grapes, A barrel used for swimmers, A small jar fixed to the sides of a ladle, A bed, a stool, a bench, a table, a ship, and an earthen lamp, behold these are no susceptible to impurity. The vessels listed in this section cannot become impure because they do not have any "inner part," which is made to accept things. Some of these should be understandable, but I will make an attempt to explain some of the others. Gutters are not meant to hold the rain or other things and therefore they can't be defiled. The cooking vessel does have a receptacle, but since they changed it to be used as a cover for grapes which does not "receive" things, it is not susceptible to impurity. The fact that the barrel holds a person does not seem sufficient to consider it a vessel that receives. The little jar fixed to the sides of the ladle has a receptacle, but it is not used to put things in it. Therefore, it is not susceptible to impurity.

ומחתה (a coal-pan) – that they take coals out with a pan.

The following is a general rule: any among earthen vessels that has no inner part is not susceptible to impurity on its outer sides. This is the general rule. An earthenware vessel that does not have an "inner part" cannot become impure by having something touch it on the outside. In contrast, vessels made of wood etc., can become impure even if they do not have an inner part. If they are made to "receive" something, such as a tray, then they are impure even though they do not have an "inner part."

פרוצה (the rims of are broken off) – that it does not have sides/walls.

אבוב של קלאים (an iron tube for roasting grain) – earthenware vessel that they roast pulse/peas over a fire. And it is flat/plain without a receptacle and is perforated like a basket used as a sieve on its rims in order that the heat [of the fire] can have power over it.

[The word] קלאים/parched ears is parched by fire.

סילונות – tubes/spouts.

אף על פי כפופין – even though they are bent from their two sides. And this is which they did not shape a receptacle surrounding them.

כבכב (an arched round vessel) – a vessel in which they cover bread baskets (but not as a receptacle). And there are those who have the reading of כפכף – that they cover it on top of the basket. But even if it has a receptacle, it is [ritually] pure for all who use something bent with an earthenware vessel is [ritually] pure.

והטפי (vessel with a narrow neck – made with intention of using it for grapes) – it is an earthenware vessel that has a receptacle and is susceptible to receive defilement, and this is proven further on in the other chapter (Tractate Kelim, Chapter 3, Mishnah 2). But this is [ritually] pure here, because they (i.e., the Rabbis) prepared it as a cover for grapes and they made a change in it, which proves that they require it for covering graves and it was not made for reception.

חבית של שייטין (swimmers’ bottle used for practicing) – like a hallowed out jug, and it is closed and doesn’t have a mouth (i.e., opening), in order that It would not sink in the water. And they lean upon it and learn to swim by it. But it even though it has a receptacle, it is not designed for receiving anything And anything which is not made for receiving anything even though it has a receptacle is not susceptible to receiving defilement.

וחבית דפונה בשולי המחץ (an attachment in the shape of a jar fitted into the projecting rims of a vessel – to serve as a handle) – a ladle for filling vessels out of the well or wine or oil-pit which is a large earthenware vessel and it is a kind of jar made at its rim that a person can place his hand into it when he wants to lift the ladle, and because of this, the jar was not made for reception, and is not susceptible to receive defilement.

דפונה – fitted into.

המטה והכסא והספסל – all of these are not designed for reception.

והספינה – and even though it was made for reception and even though it is earthenware, it is pure. And in the Tractate Shabbat 9b, we derive it, as it is written (Proverbs 30:19): “[How an eagle makes its way over the sky; How a snake makes its way over a rock;] How a ship makes its way through the high seas; [How a man has his way with a maiden],” and it is obvious that a ship is on the high seas, but rather to inform you that just as the high seas are [ritually] pure, so also the ship is [ritually] pure.

כל שאין לו תוך בכלי חרס אין לו אחוריים – And the Sages decreed on [ritually] impure liquids that defile vessels, and even though the liquids were not defiled other than on account of an unclean reptile, for now they are first-degree of ritual impurity, they defile vessels/utensils from the words of the Scribes, and if they came in contact with/touched the back of the vessel, its outside is defiled, but the inside is not defiled. But now we hold that the defilement of the outside does not take effect other than with an earthenware vessel that has an inside. But all that lacks an inside, there is no defilement of the outside, שsand if impure liquids came in contact with it from the outside, they did not defile the outside of the vessel.

פנס – a kind of earthenware lantern that is perforated in its walls/sides that from them the light goes out, and we place the candle inside it so that wind does not extinguish it.

A lantern that has a receptacle for oil is susceptible to impurity, but one that has none is not susceptible. All of the vessels mentioned in this mishnah are earthenware vessels. If the lantern has a receptacle for oil, it is susceptible to impurity. If it does not, it cannot be made impure. Even though it has walls, they are only there to protect the fire and not to contain the oil.

שאין בו – a receptacle for oil. Even though it has a receptacle for a candle.

A potter's mould on which one begins to shape the clay is not susceptible to impurity, but that on which one finishes it is susceptible. The mould on which the potter begins to shape the clay does not have a receptacle, therefore it is not susceptible to impurity. However, the mould on which he finishes making the vessel does have a receptacle and therefore it is susceptible to impurity.

טהור – for a receptacle for a lantern has no inside other than the candle/lantern that is laid upon it.

A funnel for home use is not susceptible to impurity, but that of merchants is susceptible because it also serves as a measure, the words of Rabbi Judah ben Batera. Rabbi Akiva says: because he puts it on its side to let the buyer smell it. A funnel doesn't hold the liquids or dry goods poured into it, therefore it is not susceptible to impurity. However, since a merchant uses the funnel for measuring (sticking his finger below to hold in that which he is measuring), his funnel is susceptible to impurity. Rabbi Akiva agrees that the funnel used by the merchant is impure but for a different reason. Occasionally, the merchant will tilt the funnel on its side so that a little bit of liquid stays in it. This qualifies it as a receptacle.

מגופת היוצרים (potter’s mould) – it is similar to stones of earthenware that the potters make the vessels upon them.

את שהוא פוחת בה (begins to shape the clay) – meaning to say, the mould that the potter casts upon it the plaster and engraves upon it with his hands the form of the vessel.

טהורה – because it lacks a rim/border around it and there is no inside here.

ושהוא גומר בה – and the stopper that he places upon the vessel after its form has been completed has an “inside,” and therefore, it is impure. But my Rabbis/teachers explained, that that there is a vessel/utensil for potters that is called a מגופה/stopper or bung and some of them have narrow openings and some have wide openings; that which he opens it by, meaning to say, that he will eventually widen its opening, is pure, that its work has not yet been completed, and it is like the lump/shapeless earthenware vessel. But when he completes it, that he places as such at the narrow opening, it is impure. But our Mishnah is according to Rabbi Meir who stated (Tractate Betza 32a and Tosefta Kelim Bava Kamma, Chapter 3, Halakha 13) : When do earthenware vessels become susceptible to receiving impurity? From the time when their manufacture is complete.” But not according to the Rabbis who state (Tractate Kelim, Chapter 4, Mishnah 4): “from when they are fired in the furnace.” And the first explanation appears to me to be essential.

משפך – a vessel/utensil that we place on the mouth of a jug or on the mouth of a leather bottle/skin when we want to fill it with wine or oil.

ושל רוכלין – which is small and made to bring in oil to small flasks. And it holds a LOG or two LOGS and the peddler places his finger from underneath it corresponding to the hole/perforation and measures with it the oil, and removes his finger and the oil descends to the vessels of the purchaser. And it is made for reception and is susceptible to receive impurity.

רבי עקיבא אומר מפני שמטהו על צדו – that is to say even if it is not of a measure, the funnel of a peddler always is defiled because he turns it on its side to receive in it a bit in order that the purchase can smell from it m and it is found that it is made to [be susceptible to] receive defilement. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Akiva.

כיסוי כדי יין וכו' – and all who use the covering with earthenware vessels, is pure, for it is written (Leviticus 11:33): “And anything on which one of them (i.e., an article of wood, or a cloth, or a skin or a sack) falls into/תוכו an earthenware vessel, everything inside it shall be unclean,” but this is not inside it.

Introduction Our mishnah deals with the covers of various types of vessels.

וכיסוי חביות נייריות (and covers of a papyrus jars) – for the sake of their place, and for something remarkable it was taken, because it was for a covering of their jars a receptacle, and there are those who have the reading "והניירות"/and for the papyrus, that is to say, the papyrus that they bring into them the mouth of the flask (i.e., bottle with a wide belly and a narrow neck).

The covers of wine jars and oil jars and the covers of papyrus jars are not susceptible to impurity But if he adapted them for use as receptacles they are susceptible. Generally, the covers of wine, oil and papyrus jars are not susceptible to impurity because they are not usually used as receptacles. However, if one fixes them in such a way that they can be used as receptacles, then they take on the characteristic of being able to receive impurity.

הלפס – like a tightly-covered stew-pot/אלפס. A large pan that they cook meat and vegetables in it. And they use it as a covering for earthenware. But when it is perforated, it is not appropriate for anything, and even when it is not perforated, but it (i.e., the lid) has a pointed knob (which prevents the use of it separately as a receptacle) it is not able to sit because of the pointed knob, but when it is not perforated, even if it doesn’t have a pointed knob, it is impure, for it is appropriate to turn it over and to cause it to stand, and a woman places into it vegetables to filter/drain it and to drain the water from it.

The cover of a pot: When it has a hole or it has a point, it is not susceptible to impurity, But if it does not have a hole or a pointed top it is susceptible because she drains the vegetables into it. Rabbi Eliezer bar Zadok says: because she turns out the contents [of the pot] on to it. If the cover of a cooking pot has a hole in it, or has a pointed lid, then it cannot be stood on its reverse side so as to contain the contents of the pot. Since it can't be used as a receptacle, it is not susceptible to impurity. However, if it does not have a hole or a pointed top, the person (assumed by the Mishnah to be a woman) might use the top as a colander for her vegetables (the lid does not have sides, so the water goes out the side). Since it holds the vegetables, it is susceptible to impurity. Rabbi Eliezer bar Zadok agrees that in this case the lid is susceptible to impurity but provides a slightly different explanation. When the woman turns over the pot, she uses the lid to hold in the contents of the pot while the water goes out the side. I think that this is something we still do when we make pasta.

הרונקי (contents of a pot upturned and emptied – on a flat vessel to cool off) – the vegetables after they have been cooked and attached to each other and they have become one body, are called רונקי, and it is a Greek word.

גסטרא (a defective vessel – handles broken off or cracked) – fragments/broken earthenware vessels. And the thing divided into two, it is called גיסטרא /defective vessel (see Tractate Kelim, Chapter 4, Mishnah 3 for a definition: כל שנטלו אזניה/when its handles are split/broken off. And the language of גיסטרא is divided into two.

A damaged jar found in a furnace: Before its manufacture was complete it is not susceptible to impurity, But if after its manufacture was complete it is susceptible. A damaged jar is one that is not complete, and is considered damaged even if only its handles have been removed. Mishnah 4:3 will discuss the damaged jar. If it is found in the furnace before its manufacturing process was complete, then it cannot become impure. In other words, if it was broken before it ever became a complete vessel, then it is pure, even though it has a receptacle. However, if it is first forged in the oven thereby completing its manufacturing, and then it breaks, since it does have a receptacle it is susceptible to impurity. In other words, once something is a finished vessel, it can receive impurity so long as it has a receptacle.

שנמצאת בכבשן – and we don’t know if it was broken prior to its being baked in the kiln/furnace and at the time when its manufacture was complete it did not have the status of a utensil/vessel upon it and not further on, it does defile because it is a defective vessel, or afterwards it was broken and defiles. But how do we verify the matter? We see if its shards are equivalent and its inside grows red, it is known that its manufacture was completed [first] and afterwards it became broken, and it defiles, for it was made to be a receptacle, for it is the manner to place a defective vessel underneath the jug/arched, pouched vessel to receive the liquid that drips from it.

A sprinkler: Rabbi Eliezer bar Zadok holds it is not susceptible to impurity; But Rabbi Yose holds it to be susceptible because it lets the liquid out in drops only. The "sprinkler" referred to here was a vessel with one hole above and many holes below. When one would cover the top hole with his finger, the water would not sprinkle out below. According to Rabbi Eliezer bar Zadok, such a vessel is not considered a receptacle and therefore is not susceptible to impurity. Rabbi Yose holds that it is susceptible because it only lets out small drops. However, if it lets the liquid out faster, then it is not susceptible to impurity.

טיטרוס (a perforated vessel, strainer, sprinkler) – a vessel which is perforated from below with many thin holes like the size of the hole of a needle and from above one hole like the size of a reed, that is a spindle that the women spin on, and when they fill it with water and a person places his finger in the hole from above so that the wind will not reach it no drop of water goes out from the small holes from below, but when he removes his finger, the water comes out.

ר' אלעזר בר צדוק מטהר – because it is perforated where the liquid enters.

ורבי יוסי מטמא – for this is the manner of how it is used, and it is considered a receptacle since the waters stand through the placing of the finger, but even without the placing of the finger, the water doesn’t leave other than like removing coins little by little, drop after drop., and because of this, it is not considered perforated like when brings in liquid to be purified through this And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yossi.

טבלא שיש לה לזבז ומחתה שלימה (a tray which has a rim and a complete firepan) – that it has sides/walls, they are impure, that they have a receptacle. But from the first clause [of the Mishnah] that the pure things are in an earthenware vessel, we would learn that these are impure, but it is the manner that they taught it as such, as is taught [in the Mishnah] in the Chapter “These are the Terefah [carcasses] among Cattle”/אלו טרפות (Chapter 3 in Tractate Hullin) [43a] and there are many in the Mishnah.

Introduction Our Mishnah deals with some vessels that have multiple parts. The main issue at hand is whether all parts become unclean if one part does.

טבלא – of earthenware.

The following among earthen vessels are susceptible to impurity:
A tray with a rim, This is the opposite of the tray mentioned in Mishnah three, which did not have a rim.

מלאה קערות (which is full of plates) – that is made of plate after plate, and the plates/dishes are from its body and are attached to (i.e., the tray).

An unbroken fire-pan, Also referred to in mishnah three.

ואם יש לה לזבז עודף (overhanging rim) – if the rim of the tray surrounding the overhang and rises up beyond the lip of the plates/dishes.

And a tray made up of dishes, If one of them was defiled by a [dead] creeping thing they do not all become unclean, But if it had a rim that projected above the rims of the dishes and one of them was defiled all are unclean. The mishnah refers to a tray that has dishes attached to it. If one dish is defiled, the others remain pure. However, if the tray has a rim above it that surrounds all of the dishes, it joins them into one vessel. In such a case if one dish is defiled, all are unclean.

נטמאת אחת מהן נטמאו כולן – that when the unclean reptile/creeping thing enters into the lip of the dish, it has already entered the airspace of the overhanging rim all around, and all of the tray is defiled, for earthenware vessels are defiled from its airspace, and when the entire tray is defiled, all of the plates which are part of it are defiled.

Similarly with an earthen spice-box and a double ink-pot. If one container was defiled from a liquid, the other is not unclean. Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri says: its thickness is divided and that side which serves the unclean one is unclean while that which serves the clean one remains clean. If its rim projects above the others and one of them contracted impurity the other is unclean. These two vessels also have multiple parts, such that if one is defiled the other is not. For instance if the liquid in one side becomes impure by contact with a sheretz, the liquid only touches the outside wall of the other side of the vessel and vessels are not defiled by having their outsides defiled by a liquid. However, if the sheretz had touched the vessel itself, one side of the wooden vessel will convey its impurity to the other side. This is a subject to which we return later in the tractate. Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri says that the wall that separates the two sides can be divided in two. The side that was on the impure half is impure, whereas the side on the half that didn't come into direct contact with the liquid remains clean. Finally, as in the previous case, if there is a rim that projects above and around both sides, it serves to join the two separate halves into one vessel, meaning that all sides are defiled.

בית התבלין (spice pot) – earthenware vessel made squarely, to give in each square one species of spaces so that they will not become combined with each other.

קלמרים המתואמות (the double inkstand) – a vessel that is made to place in it the ink and the reed/writing utensil and the utensils that the scribe needs. And it is also made as a double square, and in our lands, there are many of them, and we call them KALMARI in the foreign tongue.

בית תבלין של עץ – that is also made squarely, but it does not have an overhanging rim.

שנטמא אחד מהן במשקה – for the Rabbis decreed on liquids that come on account of a creeping thing/unclean reptile to defile vessels as a decree because of the liquid of the man and/or woman with a flux, who defile vessels according to the Torah. And especially when it was defiled with liquids, its fellow is not defiled, for when a vessel that its outsides/backsides were defiled by liquids, its inside is not defiled, therefore when one of them with liquids, there is a wall/side of impurity on its backside of its neighbor but its neighbor is not defiled. But with the regarding the defilement of a creeping thing/unclean reptile according to the Torah, wherever it came in contact with/touched the vessel whether from its backside or whether from its inside, all of it is defiled, if one of them is defiled, its neighbor/fellow is defiled, for the defilement touches it from its outside/backside. But an earthenware vessel is not susceptible to receive defilement from its outside, but only from its inside, even with the defilement of a creeping thing/unclean reptile, if one of them was defiled, its neighbor is not defiled, for the inside of this one becomes the backside/outside of its neighbor for earthenware vessels are not defiled from its outside but not regarding the defilement of liquids that all of it is defiled.

חולקין את עוביו (they divide its thickness) – a thick and wide wall that is between two squares, we cast half to this side and half to that side with the defilement of liquids according to the Rabbis, but the half of the thickness of the wall that is from the side that is pure is pure. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri.

הלפיד – it is similar to a dish of earthenware sharpened at the bottom and they insert pointed projections/prongs at the top of a pole and it enlightens from afar, but because it is sharpened/pointed and is not able to stand on its own, you might think I would say that it is not defiled. It comes to tell us that since it is a prepared and designated place for sitting to place at the top of the pole, this would be defiled.

A torch is susceptible to impurity. A torch made of earthenware has a receptacle and is therefore susceptible to impurity.

ובית שקעו של נר (reservoir of the lamp) – an earthenware vessel made to be the torch is sitting and sunk within it.

And the reservoir of a lamp contracts impurity through its air- space. The reservoir of an earthenware lamp is considered a "receptacle" and therefore if something defiling comes within its airspace, it is defiled.

מטמא באויר – that it is considered like the inside to defile by airspace, even though the entire torch is not sunk within it other than only a small amount of it.

The comb of a tzartzur: Rabbi Eliezer says: it is not susceptible to impurity, But the sages say that it is susceptible. A tzartzur is some sort of bottle whose mouth is covered with netting made of earthenware. Around the mouth are teeth that look like those of a comb. Rabbi Eliezer holds that if impurity goes into the airspace of the comb, the comb is not defiled. But the sages hold that this area is considered a receptacle, and the comb can therefore be defiled.

מסרק של צרצור (comb of the water cooler – if an unclean object touches the comb of a cooler) – an earthenware vessel that they make at its mouth a net-work/mat like a kind of netting/lattice-work and one who empties from it pours the water from many places. But most of the vessels that they drink water from in the Islamic countries are made like this, and surrounding that net-work/mat protrudes teeth like the teeth of a comb, that they make them for beauty. And if an unclean creature/reptile was suspended in the airspace of those teeth, Rabbi Yossi and the Sages dispute if it is considered the inside of an earthenware vessel or not. But the Halakha is according to the Sages that they consider it as an inside [of the vessel] and that it defiles.