Случай неопределенности [возникающий] в частной сфере [в отношении статуса чистоты] является нечистым, пока он не скажет: «Я не касался [нечистого объекта]». Случай неопределенности [возникающий] в общественном достоянии является чистым, пока он не скажет: «Я коснулся [нечистоты]». Что является общественным достоянием? [Узкие, крутые и извилистые] улицы [ведущие к] Бейт-Гилгулу и те [области], подобные им, [считаются] частным достоянием в отношении [вопросов ведения] Шаббата, но общественным достоянием в отношении [вопросов чистоты и ] примесь. Раввин Элазар говорит: улицы Бейт-Гилгул были упомянуты только потому, что они являются частной сферой для них обоих [т.е. как для ведения Шаббата, так и для вопросов чистоты]. Пути, ведущие к ямам, цистернам, пещерам и винным прессам, являются частным доменом в отношении Шаббата, но общественным достоянием в отношении нечистоты.
Bartenura on Mishnah Tahorot
עד שיאמר לא נגעתי – not exactly that he would say it is evident to me that I did not touch it, and the same law applies where there is a matter to compare to him that he didn’t touch it.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Tahorot
A condition of doubt in a private domain is unclean unless he says, "I did not touch the unclean thing." A condition of doubt in a public domain is clean unless he can say, "I did touch the unclean thing." In the private domain there is a presumption of uncleanness. To override that he must be able to say with certainty that he did not touch the source of uncleanness. Similarly, in the public domain there is a presumption of cleanness. He is unclean only if he knows for certain that he touched the source of uncleanness.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Tahorot
שבילי בית גלגול (pathways of a field full of hills and depressions) – a round place that ascends and descends, and most of the people are not able to walk on these pathways.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Tahorot
What is regarded as a public domain? The paths of Bet Gilgul and similar places are regarded as a private domain in respect of the laws of Shabbat, and a public domain in respect of those of uncleanness. Rabbi Eliezer says: they only mentioned the paths of Bet Gilgul because they are regarded as a private domain in both respects. The location of Bet Gilgul is uncertain. However, the Babylonian Talmud says that the paths there are narrow and sharply angled such that even a single person would have trouble running there with a pack on. The first opinion in our mishnah says that paths like this are considered to be private domains when it comes to Shabbat. This is relevant to the issue of carrying. We shold note that many commentators say that this is not a true private domain rather it is what is called a "karmelit." A "karmelit" is a zone that is not public because to be a public domain for Shabbat it must truly be a public thoroughfare. However, it is not truly a private domain. When it comes to issues of uncleanness, the area is considered a public domain, which will also result in a leniency. We can see that this opinion is in essence lenient in both directions. Rabbi Eliezer disagrees with the reason that the paths of Bet Gilgul were even mentioned in the earlier tradition. The earlier sages sited these paths to say that they were considered a private domain for both counts. We can see here that the background to our mishnah was some earlier halakhah that mentioned these paths. The sages and Rabbi Eliezer disagreed as to what was special about these paths.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Tahorot
רשות היחיד לשבת – it is not actually the private domain, but they are a Karmelit (an intermediate domain – between a private domain and a public domain – any open area larger than four square handbreadths that is not a public thoroughfare – including fields, seas, rivers, alleyways and lanes). But why call it a private domain? Because it is not the public domain, as will be taught in the Mishnah shortly, the valley during the dry season is the private domain regarding Shabbat, but it is not actually a private domain, but rather a Karmelit. But now all of these paths are taught in the Mishnah here are the public domain, we are speaking, for example, that they lack three [people] at the time that the doubt emerged, and even here, since many are found there, it is like the public domain. For if there are three [people] at the time that the doubt emerged regarding, even in the innermost of rooms, he is ritually pure, as we derive from the Sotah/the wife suspected of unfaithfulness towards her husband, it is a private domain, because there aren’t there other than two [people], the male initiating intercourse (i.e., the adulterer) and the woman having sexual intercourse.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Tahorot
Paths that open out towards cisterns, pits, caverns or wine-presses are regarded as a private domain in respect of the laws of Shabbat and as a public domain in respect of those of uncleanness. Paths that end on one side with a cistern, pit, cave or winepress are deemed as private domains with regard to the rules of Shabbat. However, when it comes to the rules of uncleanness, they are a public domain.
