Все примеси [определяются] по мере их обнаружения: если предметы [найдены] нечистыми, они [считаются] нечистыми [в соответствующий момент для рассматриваемого объекта]; если они [найдены] чистыми, они [считаются чистыми] [в соответствующий момент для рассматриваемого объекта]. Если они [найдены] покрыты [например, глиняной посудой, которая защищает их содержимое от примесей, когда они закрыты плотной пломбой], то они [предположительно были] покрыты [в соответствующее время, и мы не беспокоимся, что это может были первоначально обнаружены в присутствии определенных примесей, и поэтому его содержимое является нечистым]; если они [найдены] раскрыты, они [предположительно были] обнаружены [в соответствующее время]. Игла, найденная полной ржавчины или сломанной [и, следовательно, непригодной для использования и, следовательно, не способной удерживать примеси], она чистая [и мы не беспокоимся о том, что она вступила в контакт с рассматриваемым объектом до того, как стала недействительной, т.е. нечистым и, следовательно, способным сделать объект нечистым], поскольку все примеси [предметов определяются] по мере их обнаружения.
Bartenura on Mishnah Tahorot
אם טמאות טמאות – like that which is taught further on in the Mishnah in the Chapter "השרץ והצרפדע" [Tractate Taharot, Chapter 5, Mishnah 7]: “If one touched someone at night, and it is not known if he is alive or dead, and in the morning he arose and found him dead,… the Sages declare unclean….for all unclean things [are adjudged] as they are at the time that they are found.” And specifically, in the place where they are found, to exclude if he touched someone at night in this corner and on the morrow found him dead in another corner and other things similar to it.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Tahorot
Introduction
Today's mishnah begins a new subject which will be discussed until the end of chapter six cases of doubtful impurity.
Our mishnah deals with a doubt concerning when something became impure or became susceptible or unsusceptible to impurity.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Tahorot
אם מכוסות מכוסות – as, for example, an earthenware vessel that is surrounded by an airtight lid , we don’t say that perhaps at the time that the corpse was in the tent, it was uncovered and now it is covered, or if they found it uncovered, we don’t say that perhaps at the time that the corpse (was in the tent) it was covered and surrounded by an airtight lid.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Tahorot
All cases of uncleanness are determined according to their appearance at the time they are found: If they were then unclean they are assumed to have been unclean [all the time]; And if clean they are assumed to have been clean [all the time]. This clause means that if a substance is found and it currently is large enough to convey impurity or to be impure, then it is assumed to have been unclean at an earlier time as well. For instance, if the food has an egg's bulk then any food that is known to have touched it earlier is assumed to be impure (if this is a case in which the food would convey impurity, such as to a liquid). The opposite is true as well. If the food is currently too small to be impure, we assume that it was always too small to be impure.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Tahorot
מחט שנמצאת מלאה חלודה (a needle that was found filled with mold/rust) – that prevents the sewing, for mold/rust like this purifies it from its defilement.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Tahorot
If they were then covered they are assumed to have been covered [all the time]; And if uncovered they are assumed to have been uncovered [all the time]. If a piece of corpse impurity is found in a tent (an ohel) that is covered in a way that would prevent the impurity from escaping, we do not have to be concerned lest the impurity was once uncovered and has defiled the vessels that were above or below it. If the corpse impurity is not covered, we must assume that vessels which had been above it or below it were defiled even if they are not there now.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Tahorot
או שבורה טהורה - and we don’t say that perhaps that it when it was whole it was defiled, and when he would repair it and it would return whole, it would return to its earlier/older defilement, and this is the explanation – that if they are pure, they are pure, as is taught above.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Tahorot
If a needle was found full of rust or broken it is clean, for all doubtful cases of uncleanness are determined according to their appearance at the time they are found. A needle is now found in an unusable state and therefore it is pure. Again, anything that touched it earlier is assumed to be pure because we judge doubtful cases as they are currently found, and not as they might have been earlier.
