Молоко женщины нечистое [делает пищу восприимчивой к нечистоте], независимо от того, [выходит оно] с ее волей или против нее, но молоко животного нечисто только в том случае, если [оно выходит] с его волей. Раввин Акива говорит: [Вышесказанное может быть получено] посредством аргументации fortiori : если молоко женщины, которое подходит только для детей, придает нечистоту ее или против ее воли, то не логично ли, что молоко животного, которое подходит как для детей, так и для детей? взрослые должны распространять нечистоту (если она выходит) с ее волей или против нее? Они [Мудрецы] сказали ему: нет! Если молоко женщины придает нечистоту [если оно выходит] против ее воли, [то есть] потому, что кровь из ее раны нечиста [делает пищу восприимчивой к нечистоте], [но] должно быть молоко животного [которое выходит] против его будет нечистым, когда кровь его раны чиста? Он [рабби Акива] сказал им: «Я более строг с молоком, чем с кровью, потому что [если] кто-то доит в лечебных целях, это нечисто, но если человек дает кровь для лечебных целей, это чисто». Они сказали ему: корзины с оливками и виноградом доказывают [нашу точку зрения], поскольку жидкости, которые из них вытекают намеренно, нечисты, но [то, что появляется] непреднамеренно [само по себе], чисто. Он сказал им: нет! Вы говорите о корзинах с оливками и виноградом, которые начинаются как еда, а заканчиваются как жидкость; Вы скажете то же самое с молоком, которое начинается и заканчивается как жидкость? До сих пор был ответ. Рабби Шимон сказал: С этого момента мы [студенты] спорили с ним: дождевая вода доказывает [точку], поскольку она начинается и заканчивается как жидкость и только намеренно придает примеси. Он сказал нам: нет! Вы имеете в виду дождевую воду, большая часть которой предназначена не для людей, а для земли и деревьев, но большая часть молока предназначена для людей.
Bartenura on Mishnah Makhshirin
חלב האשה מטמא – makes it fit/susceptible to receive ritual impurity. But if it (i.e., the milk) was defiled or that the woman was impure, it defiles according to the law of impure liquids that the designation/law of liquids has.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makhshirin
Introduction
Last mishnah of Makhshirin and the longest!
The argument here is over whether cow's milk renders produce susceptible even when its flow wasn't desired.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makhshirin
לרצון – that is milked intentionally.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makhshirin
A woman's milk renders unclean whether [its flow is] desired or is not desired, but the milk of cattle renders unclean only if [its flow is] desired. This section lays down the rule concerning milk from a woman and milk from cattle. The rule is stricter with regard to the former even if she didn't desire its flow, it still causes susceptibility. When it comes to cattle milk (milk from a cow, sheep or goat) it causes susceptibility only if he wanted it.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makhshirin
ושלא לרצון – as for example, milk that drips from her breasts.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makhshirin
Rabbi Akiva said: there is a kal vehomer argument here: if a woman's milk, which is specifically for infants, can render unclean whether [its flow is] desired or is not desired, all the more should the milk of cattle, which is for infants and adults, should render unclean both when [its flow is] desired and when it is not desired. The remainder of the mishnah is a long argument between the sages and Rabbi Akiva, who wishes to prove that cattle milk causes susceptibility even when its flow was not desired. He proves his point by saying that there is a kal vehomer argument, one made from by analogizing from the stricter to the more lenient case. Human milk is only for infants and nevertheless it causes susceptibility in all cases. All the more so should cattle milk which is for both human infants and human adults, cause susceptibility in all cases.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makhshirin
שאינו מיוחד אלא לקטנים – that unspecified is not considered all that much
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makhshirin
They said to him: No; a woman's milk renders unclean when [its flow is] not desired, because the blood issuing from her wound is unclean; but how could the milk of cattle render unclean when [its flow is] not desired, seeing that the blood issuing from its wound is clean? The other rabbis show that the rules governing a human are sometimes stricter than those governing an animal. Blood from a human wound causes susceptibility whereas blood from an animal wound does not. Therefore, there is no "kal" lenient or "homer" stringent when comparing humans to animals. The rules are simply different.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makhshirin
שדם מגיפתה טמא (that the blood flowing from a woman’s wound is impure) – the blood that comes out from her wound is impure, for they are compared to the “blood of the slain”/דם חללים (see Numbers 23:24) which is called liquid, for what difference is it to me killing completely or killing [only] half.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makhshirin
He said to them: I am stricter in the case of milk than in the case of blood, for if one milks for healing, [the milk] is unclean, whereas if one lets blood for healing, [the blood] is clean. Rabbi Akiva responds by finding saying that the rules governing milk are more stringent than the rules governing blood. One who milks not because someone needs to drink the milk but just to get the milk out for health reasons, the milk does not cause susceptibility. But one who blood lets for health reasons, the blood is clean. Therefore, we should be strict with regard to milk it causes susceptibility even if it was not desired.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makhshirin
שדם מגיפתה טהור – for the blood of an animal is not called “the blood of the slain”, for it is written regarding a human.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makhshirin
They said to him: let baskets of olives and grapes prove it; for liquids flowing from them are unclean only when [the flow is] desired, but when [the flow is] not desired they are clean. The other rabbis resort to another analogy the liquids that flow from grapes and olives while they are still in the basket before they begin to be pressed. Such liquid doesn't cause susceptibility because he doesn't desire it. So too when it comes to cattle, if the milk comes out and is not wanted, it doesn't cause susceptibility.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makhshirin
סלי זיתים וענבים יוכיחו – for one who presses/wrings them (i.e., olives and/or grapes) out for medical purposes it is impure, but nevertheless, with approval/intentionally are impure, but unintentionally, they are ritually pure. Even the milk, even though that one yields milk for medicinal purposes, it is impure, when it is milked unintentionally/without approval, it is law that it would be pure: and when it is not with approval/unintentional, that which comes out from the olives and grapes is not considered liquid until it comes out with approval/intentionally.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makhshirin
He said to them: No; if you say [thus] of baskets of olives and grapes which are at first a solid food and at the end become a liquid, could you say [the same] of milk which remains a liquid from beginning to end? Of course, Rabbi Akiva has an answer. Olives and grapes are turning from solid food into liquid food and therefore when liquid comes out that he doesn't want, it doesn't cause susceptibility. The same cannot be said with milk which is always a liquid.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makhshirin
Thus far was the argument. That was the end of the historical argument between Rabbi Akiva. In sections 8 and 9, Rabbi Akiva begins to argue with his students, including Rabbi Akiva.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makhshirin
Rabbi Shimon said: from here on in we used to argue before him: let rain water prove it, for it remains a liquid from beginning to end, and renders unclean only when [its flow is] desired. Rabbi Shimon argues that rainwater should prove that milk renders unclean only when he desires its flow. Rainwater causes susceptibility only when he wanted it to get his food wet. Therefore, cattle milk, which is also a liquid from beginning to start, should do the same.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makhshirin
But he said to us: No; if you say [thus] of rain water, it is because most of it is intended not for human usage but for the soil and for trees, whereas most milk is intended for human usage. Rabbi Akiva points out that since most cattle milk is for human consumption, it is always considered a liquid, even when it wasn't desired. Rain is mostly not for drinking it is for watering the ground and for the trees. Therefore, cattle milk causes susceptibility no matter what. Congratulations! We have completed Tractate Makhshirin! As I always write, it is a tradition at this point to thank God for helping us finish learning the tractate and to commit ourselves to going back and relearning it, so that we may not forget it and so that its lessons will stay with us for all of our lives. Tractate Makhshirin was probably the most obscure topic you could ever imagine what liquids make food susceptible to impurity. I'll admit, it's not the topic you've dreamed about learning. Still there was one thing I found very interesting throughout the whole tractate the role that intent plays in matters of purity and impurity. As we've seen over and over again, things are pure or impure not just based on what happens to them, but based on the intent of the human being who owned the object or who performed the activity. The central halakhah in this tractate is that food is susceptible only if the person wanted it to come into contact with the liquid. Indeed, this opens a window to one of the largest issues in the entire mishnah how human intent actually affects the world. The rabbis believed that humans could affect the world not just by what they did but by their intent while doing it. As always, a hearty yasher koach upon completing the tractate and keep up the good work. Tomorrow we begin Zavim.
