Comentário sobre Ohalot 18:11

כסאה וכסאתים חותמות – of plaster. And this fact brings Rabbi Yehuda to the assistance of the Rabbis that they didn’t worry about a Se’ah or two Se’ah from the dirt that comes from outside the Land of Israel, for since there wasn’t the seal of one of them on its own like the seal of the leather bags. And the Halakha is according to the Sages.

Introduction Today's mishnah deals with how a person can harvest grapes that grow in a bet peras without allowing the grapes to become impure.

כיצד בוצרים בית הפרס (how do they cut grapes in an area in which uncertainty exists concerning the location of a grave or a corpse or crushed bones carried over it from a ploughed grave)- so that the grapes that grew in it would be ritually pure.

How does one harvest the grapes of a bet peras? They sprinkle [hatat water] on the harvesters and the vessels [once] and then a second time. Then they harvest the grapes and take them out of the bet peras. Others then receive [the grapes] and take them to the winepress. If the latter set [of persons] came into contact with the former, they become unclean, This is according to the words of Bet Hillel. The first section contains the opinion of Bet Hillel as to how one can harvest the grapes and bring them to the winepress without them becoming impure. The first step is to purify the person harvesting and his vessels. Seven days before the harvesting he goes through the purification process of having hatat water (those containing the ashes of the red heifer) sprinkled upon him on the third and seventh day. Generally this is done only for someone who has corpse impurity, but here it is done even if the person does not actually have corpse impurity. The point of the procedure is to demonstrate that the impurity of the bet peras is being taken with grave consideration (pun intended). After this, the person harvests the grapes and brings them out of the bet peras. It would seem that the grapes should be defiled by the person and the vessels for these are defiled once they are in the bet peras. However, since there is no other way to get the grapes out of the field, the rabbis didn't declare that they would impure. In other words, since the impurity of the bet peras is of rabbinic origin (and not from the Torah), the rabbis have room to dispense with this impurity when they feel the situation requires. The harvesters then give the grapes to pure people who had not gone into the field. Those who have received the grapes can take them to the winepress and press the grapes while they are pure. The harvesters should not because it is possible to pass the grapes on to people that were not in a winepress. Those people receiving the grapes should not have any contact with those people who were in the field, and if they do, they become impure, as would the grapes.

מזין על האדם ועל הכלים – on the third day [they would sprinkle].

Bet Shammai say: [the gatherer] holds the sickle with sinew-rope, or harvests the grapes with a sharp flint, lets [the grapes fall] into a basket, and then he takes [them] to the winepress. Rabbi Yose said: When do these rules apply? [Only] in the case of a vineyard which subsequently became a bet peras; but a person who plants [vines] in a bet peras must sell [the grapes] in the market. Bet Shammai provides an entirely different solution to the problem. The harvester should harvest the grapes using vessels that cannot become impure. He doesn't touch the sickle, because he wraps it with a type of rope that cannot become impure. Alternatively, he harvests using stone, which is never susceptible to impurity. He then lets the grapes fall into a type of basket that cannot become impure. Since he never touches the grapes and the vessels are not impure, the grapes do not become impure. Then he can take the grapes himself directly to the winepress.

ושונין – on the seventh day [they repeat it].

Rabbi Yose says that all of the above refers only to a case where the vineyard existed prior to its becoming a bet peras. In these situations, the sages gave a solution whereby the person could find a way to harvest without defiling the grapes. However, if the person simply planted a vineyard in a bet peras, the rabbis did not allow him to bring the grapes to the winepress while preserving their purity. His only option in this case would be to sell the grapes in the marketplace. These grapes have not become susceptible to impurity since they weren't harvested to be crushed.

ומוציאין חוץ לבית הפרס – and even though that one cuts grapes for the vat for wine-pressing are fit for receiving Levitical uncleanness and this is one of eighteen matters that they decreed on the day [that Rabban Gamaliel was deposed as head of the Sanhedrin (see Tractate Berakhot 28a)], these words [refer to] defilement according to the Torah, but concerning the defilement of the a field where uncertainty exists concerning the location of a grave or corpse or crushed bones carried over it from a ploughed grave is Rabbinic, and we don’t consider it a fitness to become unclean. And because of this, it (i.e., the Mishnah) took [the term] and taught: “they sprinkle on the man and on the vessels [and repeat the process],” in order that they would be pure from defilement according the Torah (see Numbers 19:19, and even though they go back and become defiled in the field declared unclean on account of crushed bones carried over from a ploughed grave at the time of the harvesting of grapes, further, the grapes are not defiled through their contract because of the defilement of the field declared unclean on account of crushed bones carried over from a ploughed grave all the while that they did not have a complete fitness to become unclean.

ואחרים – who did not enter into the field declared unclean on account of crushed bones carried over from a ploughed grave.

מקבלין – from those who cut/harvest the grapes.

ומוליכין לגת – in other vessels. But those who cut/harvest the grapes do not bring them to the vat for wine-pressing, because the vat is filled with liquids and they are pronounced fit [for Levitical uncleanness] for a complete fitness.

ואם נגעו אלו באלו – those who cut/harvest the grapes came in contact with/touched the others who receive [the grapes].

טמאים – those who receive [the grapes] and they all of the grapes. For a person that is defiled in a field declared unclean on account of crushed bones carried over from a ploughed grave become a primary source of ritual defilement/ אב הטומאהand it defiles people and vessels [according to the School of Hillel].

בית שמאי אומרים אוחז את המגל – that they (i.e., the School of Shammai) holds that the person who harvests [grapes] in the vat becomes fit for Levitical uncleanness even for the defilement of a field declared unclean on account of crushed bones carried over from a ploughed grave, and because of this, he must hold on to a sickle wrapped in a fibrous substance/bast of a palm tree when he harvests that does not receive defilement.

או בוצר בצור (or he harvests with a flint) – and it is a sharp stone that is not a vessel.

ונותן לתוך הכפישה (places it into an inverted vessel/a vessel divided into two compartments by the bottom between) – a large vessel that one harvests olives in, that it doesn’t receive ritual defilement.

ומוליך לגת – even he himself. For since he is careful and he has recognition that he places it in an inverted vessel and hasn’t touched it.

There are three [kinds of] bet peras:
A field in which a grave was plowed may be planted with any kind of plant,
But must not be sown with any kind of seed, except with seed [yielding produce] which is reaped.
If [such produce] were plucked, the threshing-floor must be piled up in [the field] itself, and the [grain] sifted through two sieves, the words of Rabbi Meir.
But the sages say: grain [must be sifted] through two sieves, but pulse through three sieves.
And he must burn the stubble and the stalks.
[Such a field] conveys uncleanness by contact and carriage but does not convey uncleanness by overshadowing.
The next three mishnayot introduce three different types of bet peras: one in which a grave has been plowed, one in which a grave's location was lost (mishnah three), and a "kochin field" (explained mishnah four). Each of these different types of fields has different rules which govern it.
Section two: Plants such as trees can be planted in a field in which a grave was plowed because harvesting the fruit of these trees won't uproot the earth. In yesterday's mishnah we learned that Rabbi Yose forbade planting a vineyard, but the other sages seem to allow any type of plant to be planted.
Section three: It is permitted to sow seeds which yield produce that is reaped, meaning cut down.
Section four: However, it is problematic to plant seeds which yield produce that is plucked, meaning torn out of the ground. The fear is that a bone will get stuck to the bottom of the plant and the harvester will bring it into his house and thereby transmit impurity to other places. To remedy this problem he must pile up the produce in the field itself and not bring it to other places. In the field, Rabbi Meir says he must sift through the produce twice to clean off the dirt and any bones. The other sages say he needs to sift pulse (legumes) three times because more dirt is mixed in with it.
Section six: He must burn the stubble and stalks while they are still in the field, again because we are afraid that there is some bone mixed in with them.
Section seven: The field and pieces of dirt from the field convey impurity if one comes into contact with them or if one carries them. But the dirt of the field cannot cause impurity by overshadowing (an ohel) because a bone the size of a lentil does not transmit impurity by overshadowing.

במה דברים אמורים כברם הנעשה בית הפרס – that the vines and trees were planted in it prior to it becoming a field declared unclean on account of crushed bones carried over from a ploughed grave. But a person who touches it ab initio in the field declared unclean on account of crushed bones carried over from a ploughed grave [should sell them in the market].

ימכר לשוק – that we fine him, because he should not have planted in a field declared unclean on account of crushed bones carried over from a ploughed grave. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yossi.

שלשה בית הפרס הן – that he considers them and leaves. A field in which a grave is ploughed up, and a field that lost a grave, and a field of mourners/tomb niches.

ניטעת כל נטע (planted with any kind of tree) – he plants in it all the trees that he wishes. But our Mishnah is not according to Rabbi Yossi who forbid this above (see Mishnah 1). But one can say that even Rabbi Yossi did not forbid other than to plant in it a vineyard alone, because the person who harvests grapes to the vat makes it susceptible [to receive ritual defilement], but not to the rest of the trees.

חוץ מזרע הנקצר – but seed that is uprooted with its roots, we are concerned/worried lest he bring a bone like the size of a barleycorn with the irt that comes up with the roots that are uprooted.

ואם עקרו – that seed that is sown.

צובר את גורנו לתוכו (heaps up the threshing floor in it) – into the midst of the field itself. And he threshes it there. And he does not brig it to the house until after threshing, so as to not increase the defilement.

וכוברו בשתי כברות (and he sifts it twice in two sieves) - one after another, lest a bone the size of a barleycorn become combined with it.

והקטנית בשלש – because the pulse has more dirt than does the grain, because of this they are more worried. But they are ritually pure, for they have not become fit for Levitical uncleanness. And the Halakha is according to the Sages.

ושורף את הקש ואת העצה (and he burns the stubble and the pea-stalks) -within the field. Lest they have a bone the size of a barleycorn.

ואינה מטמאה באוהל – for all of its defilement is because of a bone the size of barleycorn, but the bone the size of a barleycorn does not defile in a tent.

נזרעת כל זרע – this is our reading in most of the books. But in the Tosefta (Tractate Ohalot, Chapter 17, Halakha 10), it teaches: אינה נזרעת כל זרע/no seed is sown there (i.e., this is the reverse of what is explicitly taught in our Mishnah). And such it is in my eyes.

A field in which a grave has been lost may be sown with any kind of seed, But must not be planted with any kind of plant; Nor may any trees be permitted to remain there except shade-trees which do not produce fruit. Today's mishnah deals with a field in which a grave has been lost. Such a field may be planted with seed even if the produce will be plucked. We are not concerned lest a piece of bone get stuck to a plant when it is uprooted and that he will bring it into his home (as we were concerned in yesterday's mishnah) because in such a field the bones were not spread around by plowing. The roots of these types of plants will not reach down to where the body was buried, and therefore there is no concern that when they are uprooted, bones will be uprooted as well. However, one cannot plant trees there because their roots do reach down to the grave. It is even forbidden to leave fruit trees there because their roots receive nourishment from the grave. The only type of tree that can be left there is a tree that is meant just for shade and does not yield fruit.

ואין ניטעת כל נטע (and is not planted with any kind of tree) – and needless to say, we don’t plant ab initio. But even that which is planted will not endure/be preserved, so that people will not be accustomed to this, because the defilement in a tent is more stringent in it.

[Such a field] conveys uncleanness by contact, carriage and overshadowing. Since there is an unplowed grave in this field, it conveys impurity in all three ways contact, carriage and overshadowing. In other words, this field is treated more strictly than a field that had a grave but was plowed over.

חוץ מאילן סרק – that it is permitted to plant in it. And what is aאילן סרק ? A tree which bears no fruit).

שדה בוכים – a place far from the cemetery that they place there the pier of the corpse and [people] gather there and weep.

A kokhin field may neither be planted nor sown, but its earth is regarded as clean and ovens may be made of it for holy use. The final type of bet peras is called a "kochin field." There are two main explanations for this, one based on a text which reads "bokhin" instead of "kokhin." "Bokhin" means to cry or wail. According to this reading, this type of field was on the way to the cemetery and people would stop there, put the biers down and wail over the dead. The fear is that a limb of the body might have fallen out onto the field (oops, there goes an arm!). The other interpretation (supported by the Tosefta) is based on the word "kokhin". The Tosefta asks: "What is a kokhin field? Any field in which they dig in the ground and moved kokhin to the sides." Kokhin are burial niches. So a kokhin field is one in which the burial niches were moved to the sides of the fields. The fear is that they missed one of the kokhin. According to the first explanation, one cannot plant or sow seeds in such a field because the field was designated to be used as a "mourner's field." According to the second explanation, even though the kokhin were removed, it retains the status of a burial ground and therefore it cannot be used for planting or sowing seed. However, earth taken out of the field is considered pure. The earth in the field is only impure because of a doubt, whether there was a grave there. Therefore the sages decreed that one who entered the field is impure. But they didn't decree that earth taken out of the field should be impure. Therefore, one can take earth out of the bet peras and use it to make a pure oven.

לא ניטעת ולא נזרעת – in the first chapter of [Tractate] Moed Katan [5b] in the Gemara, it explains that because of the despair of the owners that came in contact with it, for since this is the situation, the owners despair from it and it is like he is in distress because many took possession/hold of it and it is forbidden to be upset over it. And specifically, when the owners became despaired that many took possession of it according to law. But if they did not despair, for now, it is not according to the law that they took possession of it, it is permissible to be upset over it.

Bet Shammai and Bet Hillel agree that it [a bet peras in which a grave was plowed over] is examined for one who wished to perform the pesah sacrifice,but is not examined for one who wants to eat terumah. Both houses agree that if a person walked through a bet peras which had been plowed over and then wanted to go offer his pesah sacrifice, which can only be done in a state of purity, that they can have the field checked to find out if there really is a bone the size of a barleycorn in it. If such a bone is found, he will be declared impure and he won't be allowed to offer the sacrifice, but if not, he can go on his merry way to Jerusalem. They also agree that the field is not checked if all that the person wants to do is eat terumah. The difference between the pesah sacrifice and the terumah seems to be that the sacrificing and eating the pesah on Pesah is a mitzvah and therefore they should do anything possible to allow him to do so. In contrast, eating terumah is not a mitzvah, it's just allowed to the kohanim. If he doesn't eat terumah, he can eat regular produce.

ועפרה טהור – for we don’t presume defilement to it at all.

And as for a nazirite: Bet Shammai say: it is examined, But Bet Hillel say: it is not examined. However, the two houses disagree with regard to the Nazirite that walks through a bet peras. According to Bet Shammai they do check the field on his behalf and if no bone is found, the Nazirite remains pure. Bet Hillel says that they do not check the field. The Nazirite is considered impure and he must be purified on the third and seventh days. The days in which he is impure will not count towards his term of naziriteship (see Nazir 7:3).

ועושים ממנו תנורים לקודש – which is not the case in the first two fields of crushed bones carried over from a ploughed area.

How does he examine it? He brings earth that he can move, and places it into a sieve with fine meshes, and crumbles. If a bone of barley-corn size is found there [the person passing through the field] is deemed unclean. To check the earth they would bring any of it that they could carry and they would check it with a sieve. If a bone the size of a barleycorn was found, the man who went through the field was declared impure, lest he had contact with that bone.

שבודקים לעושה פסח – it refers to a field that a grave was ploughed up. For if a person goes there, he needs to slaughter his Passover sacrifice, they examine it as it is explained in the concluding clause [of this Mishnah], but if there is not found there a bone the size of a barleycorn, he goes and makes his Passover sacrifice.

ואין בודקין לתרומה – that specifically for Passover that he relies upon this examination, because the defilement of a Bet HaPras/an area containing crushed bones carried over from a ploughed field which is Rabbinic. But the Sages did not stand by their words with regard to extirpation, for whomever does not offer the Passover sacrifice at the appropriate time is liable to extirpation. But regarding the heave-offering, that its consumption is not anything but a positive commandment, the Rabbis stood by their words in the place of a positive commandment and an examination is not effective to permit it for heave-offering.

ולנזיר – [and to a Nazirite] that went there.

בית שמאין אומרים בודקין – and if a bone the size of a barleycorn was not found there, he does not shave his head.

ובית הלל אומרים אין בודקין – that whether it (i.e., a bone the size of a barleycorn) is found or not found, he shaves his head and brings a sacrifice.

העפר שהוא יכול להסיטו – as for example, crushed, loose earth.

וממחה (and crumbles it) – make it very fine in his hand so that he can see if has a bone-fragment the size of a barley corn.

כיצד מטהרין בית הפרס – it (i.e., the Mishnah) refers to the first area of a square Pras declared unclean on account of crushed bones carried over it from a ploughed grave, which is a field in which a grave was ploughed.

Introduction Today's mishnah deals with various ways that a bet peras can be purified.

נוטלין ממנו שלשה טפחים – like the measure of the depth of the plough that rolls/turns over the bones.

How is a bet haperas purified? They remove [soil to a depth of] three handbreadths, or [soil to a height of] three handbreadths is placed upon it. Basically, the way to purify a bet peras is to either remove the top soil or to add new top soil. Each of these must be done to a depth of three handbreadths, which is the depth of soil that a typical plow overturns.

ר' שמעון אומר כו' – but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Shimon.

If they removed [soil from a depth of] three handbreadths from one half [and upon the other half they placed three hand breadths [of soil], it becomes clean. It is possible to purify half the field by adding topsoil and half the field by removing topsoil.

הרוצף(if one paves) - the language of a floor of stones.

Rabbi Shimon says: even they removed one handbreadth and a half and placed upon it one handbreadth and a half from another place, it becomes clean. Rabbi Shimon is even more lenient. It is possible to remove 1.5 handbreadths of topsoil and then add 1.5 handbreadths of new topsoil. Note that in reality, when he plows he will plow into the old topsoil because the plow goes to a depth of three handbreadths. In other words, Rabbi Shimon's rule is basically a legal fiction. As long as the adding/removing totals up to a sum of 3 handbreadths, it purifies the field.

טהור – since he is not able to move them, for if he would walk on top of them and, and they would be moved, there is a concern regarding movement (even without actually coming into contact with it) of a human bone that is underneath them.

One who paves a bet peras with stones that cannot [easily] be moved, it becomes clean. If one paves a bet peras with stones, the soil underneath will not be easily moved. Therefore, the field which was a bet peras can be considered pure.

אף העוזק (even someone who beaks clods suspected of containing human bones – and levels it) – he who digs and casts away the stones, if he did this in all of the Bet HaPras/a square Pras declared unclean on account of crushed bones carried over it from a ploughed grave, it is pure. [The word] עוזק – is the language of (Isaiah 5:2): “He broke the ground, cleared it of stones.” But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Shimon.

Rabbi Shimon says: even if one digs up [the soil of] a bet peras [and doesn’t find any bones] it becomes clean. According to Rabbi Shimon if one digs up a bet peras and finds no bones, the field is pure, for this is considered the best kind of check possible.

המהלך בבית הפרס – in a field where a grave was ploughed up in it.

A person who walks through a bet peras on stones that cannot [easily] be moved, or [who rides] on a man or beast whose strength is great, remains clean. [But if he walks] on stones that can [easily] be moved, or [rides] upon a man or beast whose strength is lousy, he becomes unclean. If a person walks through a bet peras but steps only on stones that cannot be moved, or if he gets a ride through a bet peras on the back of another strong person or strong animal, he remains pure. This is because by walking through the bet peras he doesn't move any soil underneath that might contain bones. In the case of the stones, since the stones cannot be moved, he won't move anything that is underneath. And in the case of the person/beast, even though the carrier will move the soil that he treads upon, the person being carried does not move the person carrying him (because he is strong), and therefore he remains pure. However, if he walks on stones that can be moved or on the back of a weak person or animal, he becomes impure because he is considered as moving the soil underfoot. If the carrier moves a bone underneath, then the person carrying is considered as having moved the bones as well.

על אבנים שיכול להסיטן – as for example on top of stones that are not lodged/placed and affixed in the ground and they can be moved on account of passing over them, and a human bone the size of a barleycorn is shaken from its position of strength, or rides upon a person or an animal [which cannot endure pressure and walks/treads upon them, the rider is impure, for since the strength at the bottom is bad/poor, on account of the load above, it was moved and it is as if he shakes the bone. But if if the strength of the one being driven has a strong legal right, the rider is not considered as if he shaking the bone. But how is that to be understood – that a person has a weak legal right? All that ride it and his knees and the surrounding parts knock against each other. But an animal whose strength is weak, all that ride it cause it to empty its bowels.

A person who travels in the land of the gentiles over mountains or rocks, becomes unclean; But if [he travels] by the sea or along the strand, he remains clean. What is [meant by] ‘the strand’? Any place to which the sea rises when it is stormy. In 2:3 we learned that the land outside of Israel is considered to be impure. One who walks there is defiled. Our mishnah teaches that this includes even the mountains and rocks. We might have thought that since the dead are not buried there, that these places are pure. Therefore the mishnah teaches that the rabbinic decree that the land of the Gentiles is impure includes even places such as these. However, it doesn't include the sea or the strand close to the sea. It seems that these places are not considered to be "land" and therefore they were not included in the rabbinic decree.

בהרים ובסלעים – even though they don’t bury a corpse there.

טמא – because of the dust of the Lands of the Nations that is rolled there.

בים ובשונית טהור (on the sea and on the beach/rocky cliffs – from the defilement of the soil/ground. That they (i.e., the Rabbis) decreed on the soil of the Land of the Nations to burn the heave-offering and Holy Things that touched its dust, for we don’t burn heave-offering or Holy Things that came to the sea or to the beach/rocky cliffs, for we don’t bury a corpse there, but they have the defilement of the Land of the Nations, for they (i.e., the Rabbis) decreed upon its airspace to suspend, that heave-offering and Holy Things that entered into the airspace of the Land of the Nations and didn’t touch its soil, we don’t eat it nor do we burn it.

בזעפו – where the sea rages.

הקונה שדה בסוריא – Aram Naharayim and Aram Tzoba that David conquered. But its dust is impure like what is outside of the Land of Israel, but one is liable for tithes and Seventh Year produce like the Land of Israel (see also Tractate Demai, Chapter 6, Mishnah 11 and Second Samuel, Chapter 10 and Second Chronicles, Chapter 19 and Tractate Gittin folio 8a).

If one buys a field in Syria near to the land of Israel:
If he can enter it in cleanness, it is deemed clean and is subject to [the laws of] tithes and sheviit [produce];
But he cannot enter it in cleanness, it [is deemed] unclean, but it is still subject to [the laws of] tithes and sheviit [produce].
The dwelling-places of non-Jews are unclean. How long must [the non-Jew] have dwelt in [the dwelling-places] for them to require examination? Forty days, even if there was no woman with him. If, however, a slave or [an Israelite] woman watched over [the dwelling-place], it does not require examination.
Section one: The land of Syria (this is not the same as modern day Syria, but the general area is probably close) is impure as are all lands outside of Israel.
If one buys a field in Syria that lies right next to the border with Israel, and he can enter there in cleanness, meaning that there is no cemetery on the Israeli side, then the field on the Syrian side is considered clean. In other words, even though this land is not technically in Israel, since it was bought by a Jew and he can enter there without otherwise being defiled, it counts as part of the land of Israel (definitely not getting into any political implications of this mishnah).
Any produce grown on the land is liable for tithes and is subject to the laws of sheviit (the sabbatical year).
Section two: However, if he cannot enter there while maintaining his purity because he would have to go through a cemetery, then the field itself is unclean. It is still subject to the laws of tithes and sheviit, because the land of Syria is always subject to these laws.
Section three: The rabbis believed that non-Jews would bury their miscarriages inside their houses. I don't know if this is historically true, but it is clear that the rabbis believed this. Therefore, any home owned by a non-Jew, even inside the land of Israel, needed to be examined to see if the non-Jew had buried a fetus there, provided that the non-Jew lived there for at least 40 days. The house needs to be examined even if he doesn't seem to be living with his wife, lest he brought another woman into his house.
If an Israelite, even a slave or a woman, was watching over the house so that he wouldn't bury a miscarriage inside the house, then the house is pure. In other words, the non-Jew doesn't inherently defile the house by his presence. For the house to be defiled there must be the possibility that he buried a miscarriage there.

אם יכול להכנס לה בטהרה – for the Land of the Nations does not form a partition between that field that he bought to the Land of Israel.

בטהרה – that field. And even on its own clod of earth they did not decree, because it belongs to an Israelite, and because of this, it is taught [in the Mishnah]: "הקונה שדה"/a person who purchases a field. But if it had the width of a handbreadth from the Land of the Nations or from the cemetery, it interrupts between the Land of Israel and a field that he purchased in Syria, for now, he is not able to enter in ritual purity, the soil of that field is impure like outside of the Land of Israel.

מדורות הגוים (Gentile dwelling places) – that are in the Land of Israel.

טמאים – they bury their aborted fetuses in their homes.

ארבעים יום – like the measure of the creation of the embryo.

אע"פ שאין עמו אשה – lawless/unrestrained men in the towns and they bring women to their homes at night.

עבד – [slave] of an Israelite (i.e., a Canaanite slave that is in the hand of an Israelite – according to the commentary of Tiferet Yisrael).

או אשה – an Israelite [woman].

משמרין – the Gentile dwelling places, that they (i.e., Israelites) will not be buried there.

הביבין העמוקים (the deep drains) – water pipes/ducts that they cause a gushing forth [of water] that spills out to the public domain. And there are books where it is written in them הכוכים/sepulchral chambers, the language of a כוך/a cave that is underneath the ground.

Introduction In yesterday's mishnah we learned that a Jew wishing to buy a home from a non-Jew must examine the home to make sure that the non-Jew had not buried there a miscarried fetus. Today's mishnah discusses where they must check. Warning: there is a strong "yucky" factor to this mishnah.

ועפר התיחוח – for one can be concerned that on account of the abortion/non-viable birth that they buried there, the ground became crushed, loose earth.

What do they examine? Deep drains and foul-smelling waters. The first opinion seems to imply that the fetus might be cast into drains and other types of drainage ditches.

חזיר וברדלס (pig and spotted beast/leopard, hyena) – it is their manner to dig and search underneath the ground. But if they would find an abortion/non-viable birth buried underneath the ground, they would remove it from there. ברדלס – is a beast that they call ALTZEBAH in Arabic.

Bet Shammai say: even garbage dumps and crumbled earth. Bet Shammai adds garbage dumps and soft crumbled earth. Note that both opinions agree that the non-Jew would not actually bury the fetus in the floor of the house, for digging up such a floor would not be easy.

Bet Hillel say: any place where a pig or a weasel can go requires no examination. Bet Hillel adds a leniency that doesn't seem to disagree with the above opinion (this is unusual). The Jew need not check any place where a pig or weasel might go, because if the fetus had been buried there we could assume that a pig or weasel either ate it or dragged it somewhere else [I told you this was yucky].

אצטבא (portico/colonnade, balcony) -made for beauty in front of the houses. But they don’t bury there non-viable births.

Introduction Our mishnah continues to deal with impurity of Gentile dwelling places and even gets into some specifics as to which cities are impure.

עיר נכרים שחרבה – cities of the land of Israel where heathens liveג and they were destroyed/laid waste from the heathens.

Colonnades are not [subject to the laws] of non-Jewish dwelling places. Collonades are roofed but open areas with many columns to support the roofs. Since non-Jews don't bury their miscarriages there, they are pure.

אין בהן משום מדור עובדי כוכבים – that wild animals are found there and they remove all the aborted births that were buried there. But the Halakha is not according to Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: a non-Jewish city that has been destroyed is not [subject to the laws] of non-Jewish dwelling-places. Wild animals will circulate around in destroyed cities. Therefore, even if miscarriages were once buried there, the wild animals will eat them.

קברות – it is known that they are graveyards.

The east [side] of Caesaron and the west [side] of Caesaron are graveyards. Caesoron, also known as Caesarea Philippa is near the Jordan springs. Both sides of this ciry were used by non-Jews as graveyards and therefore they are impure.

היה ספק – [there was doubt] if they are from the Land of the Nations, [or] if they are from the Land of Israel.

The east [side] of Acre was doubtful, but the sages declared it clean. The sages weren't sure if there was a graveyard on the east side of Acre, but they declared it clean anyway. Very generous of them.

וטיהרוהו – They (i.e., the Sages) considered it like the Land of Israel. Alternatively, there was doubt there were graveyard there or not, and they (i.e., the Sages) made them pure/clean, since they testified that there were no graveyards there.

Rabbi and his law court voted [to decide] about Keni and declared it clean. Keni is on the southern edge of Israel, according to Albeck, near modern Eilat. Rabbi Judah Hanasi and his court actually had a vote about its purity, and they declared it clean.

קיני – the name of a place. And they would have the practice there of defilement from doubt, until Rabbi [Judah the Prince] and his Bet Din decided/resolved upon it and made it pure.

אוהלי ערביים – they are not established/set up in one place, and because they are not set up, they don’t bury in it. Alternatively, because they travel and camp from place to place, they did not want to abet the defilement.

והסוכות – of those who guard/protect the fruit.

והצריפים – dwellings that do not have a roof. Rather the walls touch at their tops with each other. And they are dwellings of pain/disregard and not fixed.

בורגנין (keepers or residents of a station house) – huts made in the field to bring into the fruit because of the rains.

אלקטיות (sheds for stacks of grain in the field)- a roof that stands on four pillars to cool off in the summer when he wind lows in it from all of its sides. And the language אלקטיות, summer houses. It is the Aramaic translation of קיץ/summer. קייטא/summer. Fruit.

מקום החצים – a place where the people of the city place in it arrows to keep for the time of war.

מקום לגיונות – where the soldiers/legions of the king camp out.