Comentário sobre Kelim 4:7

החרס שאינו יכול לעמוד – such as a shard that separates from the jug or from the pot in the place of the ear/handle, and it is not able to stand without support because of the weight of the ear/handle that makes it heavy and outweighs it, or because it had in it a pointed knob which is sharp at its bottom and it cannot sit [straight] without being supported.

Introduction In mishnah 2:2 we learned that a potsherd (broken piece of pottery) which can stand without support and can be used to contain a minimal amount of liquid is still susceptible to impurity. In today's mishnah we learn that if it cannot stand without support than it is not susceptible.

נטלה האוזן טהור – for an earthenware vessel that is pure for one hour, it furthermore will not ever have defilement.

A potsherd that cannot stand unsupported on account of its handle, or a potsherd whose bottom is pointed and that point causes it to overbalance, is clean. Since the broken piece of pottery cannot stand on its own, it is not considered a vessel and it is not susceptible to impurity.

ור' יהודה מטמא – for he doesn’t hold this reasoning.

If the handle was removed or the point was broken off it is still clean. Rabbi Judah says that it is unclean. According to the first opinion, once a broken piece of pottery becomes pure (because it cannot stand on its own) it can never go back to becoming susceptible to impurity. This serves to distinguish a broken piece from a whole vessel, because if whole vessels are repaired they can again become susceptible to impurity. Rabbi Judah disagrees, holding that broken pieces are just like whole vessels. Once repaired such that they can hold a minimal amount of liquid, they again become susceptible to impurity.

או שנחלקה –[or that was split] lengthwise like two troughs, and is unable to sit on its bottom other than on its sides.

If a jar was broken but is still capable of holding something in its sides, or if it was split into a kind of two troughs: Rabbi Judah says it is clean But the sages say it is unclean. The jar was broken such that it can still hold liquids when stood on its side. Alternatively, it was split into two pieces, both of which can hold some liquid when stood on their side. In this case, Rabbi Judah rules leniently. According to Rabbi Judah a potsherd can retain its susceptibility to impurity only if it can contain liquids in the same way that the original vessel did. Since these potsherds receive liquids only when standing on their sides and not when standing upright, they are pure. The other sages disagree and hold that as long as it can hold liquids, the potsherd is still susceptible to impurity. Note that the mishnah seems to want to balance a lenient ruling of Rabbi Judah with a stringent one, and so too when it comes to the sages. This could either be an easier way of remembering things, or perhaps a way of telling the reader that rabbis cannot necessarily be classified as either stringent or lenient on these matters. Rather they differ based on principles, and those principles sometimes lead them in differing directions.

רבי יהודה מטהר – for Rabbi Yehuda holds that as it is taught in the Mishnah (Tractate Kelim, Chapter 2, Mishnah 2): “The smallest/thinnest of earthenware vessels that sits without supports are impure, that is from the rims and not from the sides, that there needs to be a shard of the of the vessel sitting on its rim in the manner that it sits when it is whole.

וחכמים מטמאין – for they hold that vessels that are made to set them on their sides periodically.

ואינה יכולה להטלטל בחצי קב גרוגרות – because it is cracked/broken, and the dried figs weigh down upon the broken parts completely while being carried. And therefore, its measure is one-half-of-a-Kab, which is the measure of one meal. For a Kab of dried figs is the measure for two meals as it is proven at the end of the Tractate Peah (Chapter 8, Mishnah 5): “[When dispensing poor man’s tithe], they may give to the por at the threshing floor no less than…one Kab of dried figs.” But everything that is not worthy to carry in it the measure of one meal is like something that is broken.

If a jar was cracked and cannot be moved with half a kav of dried figs in it, it is clean. Half a kav of dried figs is an amount deemed worthy of a meal (see Peah 8:5). If a jar cannot hold this minimum measure of food, it is not susceptible to impurity.

גיסטרא (see Tractate Kelim, Chapter 2, Mishnah 6 – something defective/broken) – an earthenware vessel that is split into two, and it becomes two sides.

If a damaged vessel ( was cracked and it cannot hold any liquid, even though it can hold foodstuffs, it is clean, since remnants do not have remnants. A damaged broken piece of an earthenware vessel that is still used to hold liquids is still susceptible to impurity. However, if it then becomes cracked such that it cannot hold liquids, it is no longer susceptible to impurity. This is because there is a general rule that once a damaged piece of earthenware becomes further damaged, it is usually discarded and therefore no longer susceptible to impurity. Note that is true even though this broken piece of a utensil could be used to hold food. Since people generally throw such a thing away, it is no longer considered a vessel.

שאין שיריים לשיריים – we have compassion upon a complete vessel and because of a small crack, we don’t pour into it [liquids] and we bring the remnants of the vessel, that is the shards of a vessel and place them underneath it. But the shards of a vessel when it is cracked it releases liquid we throw it out, for we don’t say: bring a shard of one vessel to place underneath the shard of this vessel.

כל שנטלו אזניה – [when its handles have been removed] – it is considered defective/broken, fo since it lacks handles to carry it from place to place, and if it was cracked, its measure is like as it releases liquid.

What is meant by a "damaged vessel" (? One whose handles were removed. Yesterday's mishnah dealt with a damaged vessel called a gistera. A vessel is considered to be a gistera once its handles have fallen off.

היו בה חדודים (if there were prongs projecting from the bottom of the misshaped vessel) – a mere earthenware [vessel] that was broken, there projects from [its bottom] prongs, as [it states in] (Job 41:22): “His underpart is jagged shards; [It spreads a threshing sledge on the mud].”

If sharp ends projected from it: Any part of it which can contain olives contracts impurity by contact, while any impurity opposite an end conveys impurity to the vessel through its air-space, But any part of it which cannot contain olives contracts impurity by contact, while an impurity opposite an end does not convey impurity through its air-space. The gistera described here has sharp edges protruding where the handle broke off from the vessel. These sharp edges seem to be on the top of the broken vessel. If these edges are close enough together so that the vessel can still hold olives, then the entire vessel can be defiled by contact on the inside of the vessel. And anything inside the vessel facing the sharp edges will convey impurity through air space, even if it does not come into contact with the vessel. In this case the sharp edges are simply part of the vessel. However, if the sharp edges are far enough apart so that they cannot hold olives, then they can still become impure through contact, but they cannot become impure by something entering their airspace. In this case the sharp edges are considered to be a handle to the vessel, and handles are not defiled by something that enters their airspace.

כל המקבל עמה בזיתים – if an olive does not protrude between each prong, it is considered as “inside” like the גיסטרא/defective receptacle itself and defiles even the airspace, but if the olive does not protrude from between them, it does not defile airspace, but it does defile through contact by reason of the hand.

If it was leaning on its side like a kind of cathedra, Any part of it which can contain olives contracts impurity by contact, while any impurity opposite an end conveys impurity to the vessel through its air-space, But any part of it which cannot contain olives contracts impurity by contact, while an impurity opposite an end does not convey impurity to the vessel through its air-space. If the gistera was split in two from top to bottom so that it looks like a "cathedra," a carriage seat with a back and two sides. In other words, one side is open but three sides are closed. In such a case any part of the vessel that can be used to hold olives, contracts impurity both by contact and by defiling agents entering its airspace. The part of the gistera that cannot contain olives contracts impurity only through contact and not through defiling agents entering its airspace. Note that this halakhah matches the opinion of the sages in 4:1.

היתה מוטה על צדה – that it was split by length like a kind of trough and doesn’t sit other than upon its sides/walls and it has prongs projecting.

Bowls with Korfian [bottoms], and cups with Zidonian bottoms, although they cannot stand unsupported, are susceptible to impurity, because they were originally fashioned in this manner. Korfian bottoms are pointed so that the bowl cannot stand unsupported. So too, Sidonian cups have pointed bottoms. Generally, the "gistera" of a vessel that cannot stand unsupported is not susceptible to impurity. But because these vessels were originally made to be this way, their gisteras are susceptible to impurity.

כל המקבל עמה בזיתים – in the manner that it defiles when it is sitting on its rim, so also it defiles while sitting on its side. But our anonymous Mishnah is according to the Sages of above (see Tractate Kelim, Chapter 4, Mishnah 1) that defiles regarding a jar that was split like two troughs.

קתדרא – a seat of women that walk on the wagon (see Tractate Kelim, Chapter 24, Mishnah 2).

קורפיות – on account of their place. But they are sharp vessels that they do not sit upon without support.

וקוסימן – the language of )Numbers 4:7): “[Over the table of display they shall spread a blue cloth; they shall place upon it the bowls, the ladles, the jars,] and the libation jugs.” But in [Tractate] Sanhedrin [Chapter 9, Mishnah 8] “a person who steals the vessel for libation,” and this is the name for the sacred vessels, and קוסים/rough-edged cups are kinds of vessels that their bottoms are sharp and when they cook in them, they place them on an iron vessel that they call TRIPIDI in the foreign language, and when hey lower them, they support them in he ashes of the portable stove on feet.

הצידונין – that are made in Sidon.

שפאיות – from the language of שפה/rim, border. That it has three rims for its mouth and airspace in-between them. Between each rim.

An earthenware vessel that has three rims: If the innermost one projects above the others, all outside it is not susceptible to impurity. If the outermost one projects above the others all within it is susceptible to impurity; And if the middle one projects above the others, that which is within it is susceptible to impurity, while that which is without it is not susceptible to impurity. The vessel referred to here has three rims, forming three circles around the vessel. Since earthenware vessels do not become impure by contact through their backs (their outside) the mishnah needs to determine which of the rims is "inside" and which is the actual rim. The basic determining factor is that the highest rim is the "real" rim. So if the innermost rim is highest, the outer two rims are the outside of the vessel and are not susceptible to impurity. And if the outermost rim is highest, then it is the "real" rim and everything inside is susceptible.

הפנימית עודפת הכל טהור (if the inner one is largest – in height) – everything that is outside from it is considered like the back of the utensil/vessel and an earthenware vessel cannot be made impure from its outside. But what is within on the inside is impure.

If they were equal in height: Rabbi Judah says: the middle one is deemed to be divided. But the sages ruled: all are not susceptible to impurity. If all three rims are of the same height, then Rabbi Judah says we split them right down the middle. From the middle of the middle rim and inwards is susceptible and the outside is not susceptible. The other sages disagree and hold that anything outside of the inner rim is not susceptible to impurity.

החיצונה עודפת הכל אמא – for that which is outside it is like on the back of the utensil/vessel, and what is in front of it is considered the inside. And similarly, if the middle [rim] is highest, from it and outward is considered on top of and what is inward is considered inside, for the vessel is filled until is highest part.

When do earthenware vessels become susceptible to impurity? As soon as they are baked in the furnace, that being the completion of their manufacture. This clause contains an essential principle in the laws of impurity. Vessels are susceptible to impurity once their manufacture is complete. At that point they become "vessels." The manufacture of earthenware vessels is complete once they are baked in the furnace. If a defiling agent comes into contact with them before that point, they are still clean.

היו שוות – that none of the rims is larger than its neighbor.

וחכמים אומרים הכל טהור – the rim that the defilement fell upon in its airspace alone is impure, but the remainder is all pure. And this is the Halakha.

משיצרפם בכבשן – but prior to smelting it is a vessel of earth and does not become defiled.

והוא גמר מלאכה – but even though that after smelting the furnace, it requires repair for washing, to smooth them and to even out their borders, nevertheless, from when they are fired in the furnace, it is considered that their manufacture has been completed and they can become defiled.