Responsa for Bava Batra 54:24

<br><br><big><strong>הדרן עלך לא יחפור</strong></big><br><br>

You say then that the limit of the Rabbis is higher. How then will R. Judah manage with something which [still] comes within the limit of the Rabbis?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., a camel with its rider. ');">²¹</span> — He [i.e. the rider] can bend down and pass underneath. RABBAN SIMEON SAYS: [THE BRANCHES OF] ALL TREES SHOULD BE CUT AWAY PLUMB TO GUARD AGAINST UNCLEANNESS. A Tanna taught [in connection therewith]: 'Because [they can form] a tent over uncleanness.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If any part of a dead body is under the tree, the branches form a tent over it, and all who pass under become unclean. ');">²²</span> This is self-evident, since we learnt, TO GUARD AGAINST UNCLEANNESS? — If I only had our Mishnah to go by I might say that [what it means is that] a raven may bring uncleanness<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., any part of a dead body, which communicates defilement to all who pass beneath it. ');">²³</span> and throw it on the branches, and therefore It is sufficient to thin out the branches.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So that nothing can rest on them. According to another interpretation 'to put scarecrows on the branches' (Jast.). ');">²⁴</span> Now I know [that this is not sufficient].

Teshuvot Maharam