Bava Batra 131

Chapter 131

א ואינה מקבלת טומאה במקומה והרודה ממנה בשבת חייב חטאת
1 it is not liable to uncleanness where it is;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Not being a 'vessel'. ');"><sup>1</sup></span>
ב וחכמים אומרים אינה כקרקע ואין כותבין עליה פרוזבול ומקבלת טומאה במקומה והרודה ממנה בשבת פטור
2 and if one takes honey from it on Sabbath, he becomes liable for a sin-offering.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For having 'detached' something from the soil. ');"><sup>2</sup></span>
ג התם כדאמר ר' אלעזר טעמא דאמר ר' אלעזר מ"ט דר' אליעזר דכתיב (שמואל א יד, כז) ויטבול אותה ביערת הדבש
3 The Sages, however, say that it is not on the same footing as the soil, that it cannot serve as a surety for a <i>prosbul</i>, that it can become unclean where it is, and that one who takes honey from it on Sabbath has not to bring a sin-offering'?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 'Uk. III, 10, v. infra 80b. ');"><sup>3</sup></span>
ד מה יער התולש ממנו בשבת חייב חטאת אף דבש הרודה ממנו בשבת חייב חטאת
4 — [It is not this statement either], for there [R. Eliezer's reason is] as reported by R. Eleazar, that we find written in the Scripture, And he dipped it in the honeycomb;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I Sam. XIV, 27. The Hebrew word is [H], lit., 'wood of honey'. ');"><sup>4</sup></span>
ה אלא ר"א דדף דתנן דף של נחתומין שקבעו בכותל ר"א מטהר וחכמים מטמאין
5 [from which he reasoned that,] just as one who plucks anything from a wood on Sabbath becomes liable for a sin-offering, so one who takes honey from a comb on Sabbath becomes liable for a sin offering.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Even though the comb is not fixed in the soil. Hence we cannot say that this statement of R. Eliezer is incompatible with the one about the pipe. ');"><sup>5</sup></span>
ו מני אי רבי אליעזר אפילו חקקו ולבסוף קבעו אי רבנן אפילו קבעו ולבסוף חקקו נמי
6 It must be then the statement of R. Eliezer about the shelf, as we have learnt: 'If a baker's shelf<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A flat board either for kneading on or for resting loaves on. ');"><sup>6</sup></span>
ז לעולם רבי אליעזר היא ושאני פשוטי כלי עץ דטומאה דרבנן
7 is fixed in the wall, R. Eliezer says that it is not capable of becoming unclean<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As not being a 'vessel'. ');"><sup>7</sup></span>
ח מכלל דשאיבה דאורייתא
8 and the Sages say that it is.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because the final provisions made after it is fixed in the wall to make it suitable for kneading or resting loaves, make it a vessel. Kel. XV, 2. ');"><sup>8</sup></span> [We now ask again], which authority [does the statement adduced above follow]? If it is R. Eliezer, then even if the pipe was first hollowed and then fixed [the water from it should not render the mikweh unfit]:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because it becomes part and parcel of the ground, as the shelf of the wall. ');"><sup>9</sup></span> if it is the Rabbis,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., the Sages. ');"><sup>10</sup></span> then even if it was first fixed and then hollowed, [it should still spoil the mikweh]?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because here too the hollowing out after it is fixed should make it a 'vessel'. ');"><sup>11</sup></span> — It is in truth R. Eliezer, and he makes a difference in the case of flat wooden articles, because their uncleanness was decreed only by the Rabbis.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' It is deemed a 'vessel' for purposes of uncleanness only by the Rabbis. Hence when the board is affixed to the wall it loses the character of a 'vessel', but not so the pipe which is a real vessel, retaining the character of a vessel even after being attached to the ground. ');"><sup>12</sup></span> It would follow from this [would it not], that [the rule about] 'drawn' water derives from the Scripture?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Otherwise why is R. Eliezer more particular about it than about the board? [That is, provided 'drawn water' constitutes the larger quantity in the mikweh (Rashb.), v. however Tosaf. s.v. [H].] ');"><sup>13</sup></span>