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כל הראוי לטמא מדרס (all that is appropriate to be made ritually impure by treading – by someone with gonorrhea, a woman in flux, a woman after childbirth and a menstruating woman) – as for example, designated vessels for lying, sitting and riding.

Introduction Today's mishnah deals with some stringencies that apply to the ritual purity of vessels and people involved in the hatat water ritual. The mishnah refers to a type of impurity called "madaf impurity." This is a light form of impurity that only has relevance in the preparation of the hatat. The mishnah also refers to "midras impurity." Midras impurity is impurity conveyed by leaning upon or moving an object. Mishnah Hagigah 2:7 taught: "The garments of [those who eat] sacred things possess midras-impurity for [those who occupy themselves with the waters of] purification." What this means is that all garments, even those which have been cleansed enough so that they could be used with holy things, still convey midras impurity to anyone who wishes to perform an action in connection with the red cow ritual. This is an extra stringency taken with regard to the hatat ashes and waters. Our mishnah teaches that the same is true with regard to other objects and with regard to people. If they have not been immersed for the sake of the red cow ritual, they are impure.

מדף לחטאת (indirect contact for conferring ritual impurity – based upon Rabbinic decree – for objects above a man with gonorrhea for the purification rite) – if the pure person with the waters for purification/sin-offering shook them [so as to move it from its place]. Even they are pure for heave-offering [for a Kohen], those who shake them are defiled as if they are defiled through treading, and it is a mere stringency as we state [in Tractate Hagigah 18b -Mishnah Hagigah 2:7]: "בגדי אוכלי תרומה מדרס לקודש"/”The clothing of those who eat heave offering is in the status of Midras/treading uncleanness for those who eat Holy Things {i.e., officiating priests). We call it מדף/indirect contact by shaking, because it is a mere stringency of the Rabbis. It is he language of (Leviticus 26:36): “The sound of a driven leaf [shall put them to flight].”

Any object that is susceptible to midras uncleanness is for the purpose of the hatat waters deemed to have madaf uncleanness, whether it was otherwise unclean or clean. Any object that is susceptible to midras uncleanness, for instance an object that is made to sit upon or to lie upon, has "madaf uncleanness" vis a vis the hatat waters. This is true even if the object is pure with regards to terumah and other holy things. Thus if a person has contact with any object that is subject to midras uncleanness, he will have to immerse himself again before performing any part of the red cow ritual.

ואדם כיוצא בהן – if a person who is clean/pure for a purification/sin-offering shook a person who is pure for heave-offering, the purification/sin-offering is defiled and those who are pure for heave-offering are considered as men who have gonorrhea/a flux regarding the sin-offering.

A person too is subject to the same rule. The same is true with regard to a person. This means that a person who has not immersed himself in order to be occupied with the red cow ritual will defile another person who wishes to perform the ritual. This is true even if the first person is pure enough to eat terumah or other holy things.

וכל הראוי ליטמא טמא מת - as for example, vessels that are not trodden subject to Levitical uncleanness through the immediate contact of someone with gonorrhea by treading or leaning against.

Any object that is susceptible to corpse uncleanness, whether it is otherwise unclean or clean: Rabbi Eliezer says: it does not have madaf uncleanness. Rabbi Joshua says: it has madaf uncleanness; And the sages say: that which was unclean has madaf uncleanness, and that which was clean does not have madaf uncleanness. This section deals with a more general classification of objects those that are subject to corpse uncleanness but are not subject to midras uncleanness. (See chapter twenty-four of Kelim for a list of such objects). There are three opinions as to whether such an object defiles people who wish to prepare the hatat waters. Rabbi Eliezer says that they do not. Rabbi Joshua says that they always do. If such an object is lifted or moved by the person he will not be able to perform the ritual. The sages take an in-between position. If the object actually became impure through contact with a corpse, then it will defile a person who wishes to occupy himself with the red cow rituals if the person carries it or moves it. But if the object is clean, it does not defile through midras. Nevertheless, it still defiles through contact.

ר' אליעזר אומר אינו מדף – if he shook them it was not defiled for the purification/sin-offering.

ר' יהושע אומר מדף – if he shook them, even those that are pure are defiled for the purification/sin-offering. But the Rabbis dispute and divide it between those that are impure and those that are pure. There are three disputes in this matter, and the Halakha is according to the Sages (i.e., that which is [actually] unclean [because of the corpse] is [regarded as unclean with indirect contact/Maddaf uncleanness, and that which is [actually] clean is not [regarded as] unclean with Maddaf/indirect contact uncleanness).

שנגע במדף טמא – The upper part of a person with gonorrhea is called a מדף /Maddaf for if there were on top of a person with gonorrhea tent-covers one on top of another, all of them are impure through indirect contact for conferring ritual impurity, even the uppermost one that the person with gonorrhea did not have contact with. Just as [the case of] ten mattresses/beds one on top of the other and a person with gonorrhea lay down on the uppermost one, all of them are ritually impure according to the Torah because of lying, and even though he didn’t come in contact/touch the lowest ones, so also the upper tent-covers that are upon the person with gonorrhea, all of them are impure according to the Rabbis because of indirect contact/מדף and מeven though he did not come in contact with them. But there is a distinction between lying to indirect contact by shaking/מדף, that the person [who defiles] by lying becomes a primary source of ritual uncleanness/אב הטומאה to defile people and vessels, but the מדף/indirect contact through shaking is not other than a secondary source of impurity/ולד הטומאה to defile food and liquids but because of the stringency of the purification/sin-offering, people and vessels that came in contact in an indirect manner through shaking/מדף are impure for a purification/sin-offering (see also Tractate Eduyot, Chapter 6, Mishnah 2 and Tractate Zavim, Chapter 4, Mishnah 6).

One who was clean for the hatat waters who touched something that has madaf uncleannes, he becomes unclean. This section is a consequence of what we learned in mishnah one. Something that has madaf uncleanness (see there for an explanation of this type of uncleanness) conveys uncleanness to a person who wants to perform the red cow ritual. The mishnah states that this is true if the person touches the object, but it is also true if he moves or carries the object.

לגין של חטאת (a flagon/bottle – smaller than a pitcher and larger than a cup of purification water) – it is a vessel that only requires rinsing to be restored to Levitical cleanness, and he wants to put in it the purification water.

A flask that was designated for the hatat waters that touched something that has madaf uncleanness, it becomes unclean. If the flask which was meant to be used for the red cow ritual touches something that has madaf uncleanness, it is impure vis a vis the red cow (it is still pure for other things). In this case the flask must actually touch the other object. Putting the object with madaf on top of the flask (without touching) will not defile it.

שנגע במדף, טמא – and it requires ritual immersion.

One who was clean for the hatat waters who touched food or liquids with his hand, he becomes unclean, but if he did it with his foot he remains clean. Food and liquids defile one's hands, and once one's hands are defiled, the rest of one's body is also considered to be defiled. When it comes to the preparation of the hatat, all food and liquid defile (as we saw in yesterday's mishnah). So if one's hands touch food or liquid, he is impure vis a vis the hatat ritual. But if one's foot touches the food or liquid, the body and even the foot remain pure.

שנגע באוכלין ומשקין – and even if they are ritually pure for heave-offering [for Kohanim] and for Holy Things.

If he moved them with his hand: Rabbi Joshua says that he becomes unclean, And the sages say that he remains clean. Rabbi Joshua holds that if he moves the food, even without touching it, it is as if he touched it with his hand and he is impure (vis a vis the hatat). The other sages disagree and hold that he is impure only if he touches the food or liquid with his hand. Moving it is not sufficient to convey impurity.

בידו טמא – according to the law of impure food and liquids which defile the hands, that someone who is ritually pure for heave-offering and for Holy Things is invalid for purification/sin-offering, and further, there is an additional stringency regarding the purification/sin-offering that its body was defiled. And therefore, when it touched his hand with food and liquids it is impure.

ר' יהושע מטמא – for he decreed that shaking an object so as to move it from place to place is because of contact/touching. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehoshua.

קלל של חטאת (the vessel containing the ashes for lustration) – an earthenware vessel that has in the ashes of the [Red] Heifer. The Aramaic translation [of קלל] is from (Genesis 24:15): "וכדה על שכמה"/ “[Rebekah came out] with her jar on her shoulder,” the vessel/jar on her shoulder.

A jar of hatat waters that touched a [dead] sheretz, remains clean. The jar referred to here is made of a material that is not susceptible to impurity, such as stone (see 3:3). The hatat waters are protected from the impurity of the sheretz (a creeping thing) by the stone and therefore they remain pure.

שנגע בשרץ טהור – for an earthenware vessel does not become defiled from what is on top of it.

If the jar was put on it: Rabbi Eliezer rules that it remains clean, And the sages rule that it becomes unclean. Rabbi Eliezer says that even if the jar is put on top of a sheretz the hatat waters remain pure, since the jar is pure. The other sages say that the jar has not been put in a "clean place" and therefore it is impure. Numbers 19:9 states, "A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the cow and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place." Putting the jar on top of a sheretz does not count as putting it in a clean place.

שנתנו כל גביו -that he placed the pitcher/jar on top of the insect.

If the jar touched foods or liquids or the Holy Scriptures, it remains clean. As we have seen in the previous two mishnayot, food and liquids convey madaf uncleanness. The Holy Scriptures disqualify terumah if they come into contact with it. Nevertheless, since the jar is made of stone, the contents are protected.

וחכמים מטמאין – because it was placed in an impure place, and the Torah stated (Numbers 19:9): “[A man who is pure shall gather up the ashes of the cow] and deposit them outside the camp in a pure place,” but Rabbi Eliezer holds that since the vessel and the ashes that are within it are ritually pure, it well that we call it, “a pure place.” But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Eliezer.

If it was put on them: Rabbi Yose rules that it remains clean; And the sages say that it becomes unclean. Rabbi Yose holds that even if the jar is put on top of food, liquids or the Holy Scriptures it remains pure. He also holds that the sages that ruled in section two that the jar was impure, would agree in this case because the impurity conveyed by food, liquids and the Holy Scriptures is only of rabbinic origin. In contrast, the impurity conveyed by a sheretz is of toraitic origin. The other sages disagree with Rabbi Yose and hold that putting it on top of one of these things still doesn't count as putting it in a pure place.

ר' יוסי מטהר – through placing it (i.e., the vessel containing ashes for lustration) on top of food and liquids and Holy Scrolls, since it’s place is ritually pure from a primary source of ritual uncleanness.

וחכמים מטמאים – for we require that it be ritually pure from all defilement, and [regarding] Holy Scrolls, the Rabbis decreed that they defile the hands. And the Halakha is according to the Sages.

שנגע בתנור – and even if it is ritually pure for Holy Things, if the person who was clean for the purification rite touched the oven.

One who was clean for the hatat waters and then touched an oven: With his hand becomes unclean, With his foot he remains clean. An oven is susceptible to midras impurity. However, it is not susceptible to corpse impurity and does not become a "father of impurity"which would cause it to defile people and vessels (see Kelim 8:6). Since the purity rules regarding an oven are different from other vessels, it does not have "madaf impurity" as do other vessels (see mishnah one). It is treated like food and liquids. If a person touches it with his hand, he is disqualified from performing the hatat ritual, but if with his foot, he is still qualified.

טמא – and he requires ritual immersion for the purification/sin-offering, for the person who is clean for Holy Things invalidates the purification offering, and especially that he touched it with his hand, that his hands became defiled and his body became defiled. But by his foot, he is ritually pure, that his hand is served above, but his foot is not served above, similar to food and drink above (in the previous Mishnah).

If he stood on an oven and put out his hand beyond the oven with the flask in his hand, And so also in the case of a carrying-yoke which was placed over the oven and from which two jars were suspended one at either end: Rabbi Akiva says that they remain clean; But the sages say that they are unclean. In both of these cases, the person is standing on the oven but the flasks that contain the hatat waters are not directly over the oven. Rabbi Akiva holds that since they are not over the oven, they remain pure. The other sages treat the flasks as if they were directly over the oven. This puts them in an "impure place" and as we have seen elsewhere, if the ashes are in an impure place, they are defiled, even if technically the defilement should not have reached them.

והלגין בתוכו – a vessel that he put into it the waters of purification which is placed within his hand.

וכן האסל (and similarly a yoke/pole carried on one or two shoulders) – a balancing pole/staff that they place wo pitchers on its two heads.

ובו שתי קללות – two vessels that the ashes are placed in them, for one pitcher is tied to the head of the balancing pole/staff, and the other pitcher is tied on its second head, but now the person and the yoke/pole are on top of the oven, and the bottle/flagon and the pitcher that the water and the ashes are in them are outside of the oven.

ר' עקיבא מטהר – that the vessel that contains the ashes does not stand on top of the oven, as it is in a pure place.

וחכמים מטמאין – since he person who carries I is standing on top of the oven, we consider the vessel as if it stands on top of the oven and it is placed in a ritually impure place. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Akiva (see also Talmud Shabbat 97b)

היה עומד חוץ לתנור – that the oven forms a partition between himself to the wall, and the window of the wall and in is the flagon of the waters of lustration.

If he was standing outside an oven and he stretched out his hand to a window and he took a flask and passed it over the oven: Rabbi Akiva says that it is unclean, And the sages say that it is clean. Rabbi Akiva says that since the flask passed over the oven, it is unclean. This is a corollary to his opinion in yesterday's mishnah. There the flask was not directly over the oven, so it remained clean. Here it is directly over the oven, so it becomes unclean. The sages' opinion is also a corollary of their opinion in yesterday's mishnah. Since he is not standing on the oven, the flask remains pure.

והעבירו על פי התנור – for all of their ovens their mouths are upward.

But he who was clean for the hatat waters may stand over an oven while holding in his hand an empty vessel that is clean for the hatat waters or one filled with water that has not yet been mixed [with the ashes of the red cow]. As long as the flask/vessel is not one which contains the mixture of ashes and water, it remains pure when placed over the oven.

ר' עקיבא מטמא – for he holds that something that is snatched in the air is like it was placed there, and at the time that it passed it over the mouth of the oven, it is as it he placed it inside it and it became defiled.

וחכמים מטהרין – for they hold that we don’t say that something that is snatched in the air is not like it was placed there. And the Halakha is according to the Sages.

ובידו כלי ריקם – that is not as it is and he placed it in a pure place but the ashes of the [Red] Heifer and the mixed water next to the ashes.

של חטאת טמא – that the Holy Things and the heave-offering are ritually impure next to the [waters] of purification.

Introduction The principle that underlies the following mishnah is that the purity required for a vessel holding the hatat waters is greater than the purity required for that holding consecrated foods or terumah. Therefore, if something that is pure enough to hold terumah or other consecrated foods touches something that holds or is meant to hold the hatat waters, the latter vessel becomes impure.

שניהם בשתי ידיו – that the person who carries the purification waters in his one hand and that of Holy Things or of heave-offering in his other hand.

A flask containing hatat waters that touched [a vessel] containing consecrated food or terumah: that containing the hatat waters becomes unclean, but the one containing the consecrated food or the terumah remains clean. The flask containing the hatat waters is impure because it touched the vessel that has a lower degree of impurity. But the vessel containing terumah or other consecrated foods remains pure because it touched something that has a higher degree of impurity.

שניהן טמאים – of the purification waters because it touched that of heave-offering in his hand and when his hands were defiled, his body was defiled and it defiles the waters of lustration, and that of heave offering is impure because he carries the waters of lustration.

If he held the two vessels one in each of his two hands, both become unclean. When the person who is pure enough to perform the hatat ritual touches the vessel that is only pure enough for terumah, he becomes impure. Then when he touches the flask of hatat waters, he defiles them. The impure hatat waters defile a person who is impure vis a vis the hatat waters (see 9:8) and then he defiles the vessel with terumah because he is holding it. This concept can also be found in Kelim 1:2.

בשני ניירות – but even though the person is impure because he carries the waters of lustration, nevertheless the heave-offering is pure for the paper interposes and doesn’t touch the heave-offering that is in his hand.

If they were both wrapped in separate papers, they remain clean. If the flask and vessel are covered with paper, then he is not defiled by contact with the terumah vessel. Therefore both the flask and vessel remain pure.

של חטאת בנייר ושל תרומה בידו שניהן טמאין – for when it touched his hand, that of heave-offering was defiled for the purification offering. But the paper that is of the purification/sin-offering does not interpose, for we don’t count first-degree and second-degree [ritual impurity] for purification, and the purification offering was defiled, and a person is impure because he is carrying the waters of lustration and he defiled that of the heave-offering when he touched it with his hand. But heave-offering that is [surrounded by] a piece of paper, the paper interposes for it and even though it touched that of the purification offering in his hand, both of them are pure, for even though he is impure because he carries the waters of purification, nevertheless, the waters of purification do not return and become defiled through a defilement that comes to a person on account of themselves.

If the vessel of the hatat waters was wrapped in a paper while that of the terumah was held in his hand, both become unclean. The person is defiled through contact with the terumah vessel. He then defiles the hatat vessel because he is carrying it, even though he does not have contact with it. Once he is defiled, he now defiles the uncovered terumah vessel, as was the case in section three.

ר' יהושע אומר של חטאת טמא – Rabbi Yehoshua according to his reasoning who stated in the Tosefta (Tractate Parah, Chapter 10, Halakha 8) that someone who is pure for the purification waters that moved the key which is pure for heave-offering, lest he forget and move the unclean thing. But here also, even with two pieces of paper it is impure, for when he is carrying the heave-offering, even though he doesn’t touch it, it is a מדף/indirect contact for the purification waters. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehoshua.

If the one containing the terumah was wrapped up in paper while that containing the hatat waters was held in his hand, both remain clean. Rabbi Joshua says: that containing the hatat waters becomes unclean. According to the first opinion, since the terumah vessel was wrapped in paper, it doesn't defile him. He remains pure and doesn't defile the hatat vessel so both remain pure. According to Rabbi Joshua (in mishnah one of this chapter) a vessel that is susceptible to corpse uncleanness conveys madaf uncleanness and therefore defiles even without contact, through being carried or shifted. Therefore, the terumah vessel defiles the person who is carrying it, even though he didn't touch it. He now defiles the hatat vessel, even if it was covered in paper. However, he doesn't defile the terumah vessel since it is covered with paper. In other words the terumah vessel defiles him with madaf uncleanness, but it itself is not defiled because he doesn’t actually touch it.

היו נתונין על גבי הארץ ונגע בהם – that he placed one hand on that of the purification waters and the other hand on that of Holy Things or of heave offering.

If both were placed on the ground and he touched them, that of the hatat waters becomes unclean but that of the consecrated food or terumah remains clean. Both vessels are on the ground and he simultaneously touches both, one hand on each. He is defiled by contact with the terumah vessel and he now defiles the hatat vessel. However, because he is not carrying the terumah vessel, he doesn't go back and defile it.

של חטאת טמא – that the person became defiled through the bottle/flagon of heave-offering and he defiled that of the purification offering.

If he shifted it [without touching it]: Rabbi Joshua says that it is unclean, And the sages rule that it is clean. In this case he shifts the vessels without touching them. Rabbi Joshua says that because he shifted the terumah vessel, he becomes impure, even without contact. He now defiles the hatat vessel. The terumah vessel remains pure because he didn't actually touch it. The other sages say that contact is necessary and therefore both vessels remain pure.

ושל קודש ושל תרומה טהורים – for a person is pure for Holy Things and for heave-offering, for he did not touch the waters of lustration other than the bottle/flagon.

הסיטן, ר' יהושע מטמא – for according to his reasoning that he said that a person who is pure for the purification offering who moved the key which is pure for heave-offering is impure. But the Halakha is not according to him.