Shabbat 164

היה שלו ושל ע"ז נידון מחצה על מחצה אבניו ועציו ועפריו מטמאים כשרץ שנאמר (דברים ז, כו) שקץ תשקצנו וגו' רבי עקיבא אומר כנדה שנאמר (ישעיהו ל, כב) תזרם כמו דוה מה נדה מטמאה במשא אף ע"ז מטמאה במשא אמר רבה תזרם דאמר קרא נכרינהו מינך כזר צא תאמר לו הכנס אל תאמר לו

If it belongs to him and to the idol, it is judged as half and half.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' E.g., if the wall is two cubits thick, one cubit only is accounted as his portion, and be must retreat another three cubits. ');">¹</span> The stones, timber and earth thereof defile like a [dead] creeping thing [sherez], for it is said, Thou shalt treat a creeping thing.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. VIII, 26. Shakkez teshakkezenu fr. shekez, something loathsome, which is connected with sherez (E.V.: thou shalt utterly detest it). A sherez defiles by its touch, but not when it is merely carried; but v. discussion infra. ');">²</span> R. Akiba said: [They defile] like a <i>niddah</i>, because it is said, 'Thou shalt cast them away [tizrem] as a menstruous thing': just as a <i>niddah</i> defiles by carriage, so does an idol defile by carriage. Rabbah observed, Tizrem, mentioned in the verse, means 'thou shalt alienate them from thee as a zar [stranger].' 'Thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence', but thou shalt not say unto it, Enter hither.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., one must absolutely reject it (Tosaf. s.v.[H]). ');">³</span>

ואמר רבה במשא דכ"ע לא פליגי דמטמאה דהא אתקש לנדה כי פליגי באבן מסמא רבי עקיבא סבר כנדה מה נדה מטמאה באבן מסמא אף ע"ז מטמאה באבן מסמא ורבנן סברי כשרץ מה שרץ לא מטמא באבן מסמא אף ע"ז לא מטמאה באבן מסמא

Rabbah also observed: As for carriage, all agree that it defiles thereby, since it is assimilated to <i>niddah</i>. They differ in respect to a stone that closes a cavity:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Rashi: a stone resting upon laths, and under it lie utensils. Tosaf.: a stone so heavy that when a niddah sits upon it her additional weight makes no difference to the utensils upon which it rests. According to both definitions, the question is whether these utensils are defiled when an idol is placed upon the stone. ');">⁴</span> R. Akiba holds, It is like a <i>niddah</i>: just as a <i>niddah</i> defiles through a cavity-closing stone, so does an idol defile through a cavity-closing stone; while the Rabbis maintain, It is like a creeping thing [sherez]: just as a sherez does not defile through a cavity-closing stone, so does an idol not defile through a cavity-closing stone. Now, according to R. Akiba, in respect of which law is it likened to a sherez?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As it is in the verse, v.p. 393, n. 8. ');">⁵</span>

ולר' עקיבא למאי הלכתא איתקש לשרץ למשמשי' ולרבנן למאי הלכתא איתקש לנדה למשא ולוקשה רחמנא לנבלה אין הכי נמי אלא מה נדה אינה לאברין אף ע"ז אינה לאברין ואלא הא דבעי רב חמא בר גוריא ע"ז ישנה לאברין או אינה לאברין תיפשוט ליה מהא דלרבנן אינה לאברין רב חמא בר גוריא אליבא דרבי עקיבא בעי לה

— In respect of its service utensils.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The utensils used in an idol's service do not defile through carriage or through a cavity-closing stone. ');">⁶</span> And according to the Rabbis, in respect of which law is it likened to <i>niddah</i>? — In respect of carriage. Then let it be likened to <i>nebelah</i>?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. Glos. This analogy would give the exact law, whereas the analogy with niddah has to be qualified by a further analogy with sherez. ');">⁷</span> That indeed is so, but [the analogy with <i>niddah</i> teaches:] just as a <i>niddah</i> is not [a source of contamination] through her [separate] limbs,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If a limb e.g., an arm, is cut off from a niddah, it defiles as the severed limb of a living human being in general, but not as niddah. The practical difference is that it does not defile through a cavity-closing stone. ');">⁸</span>

ור"א אמר באבן מסמא דכ"ע לא פליגי דלא מטמאה כי פליגי במשא רבי עקיבא סבר כנדה מה נדה מטמאה במשא אף ע"ז מטמא' במשא ורבנן סברי כשרץ מה שרץ לא מטמאה במשא אף ע"ז לא מטמאה במשא ור"ע למאי הלכתא איתקש לשרץ למשמשי' ורבנן למאי הלכתא איתקש לנדה מה נדה אינה לאברים אף ע"ז אינה לאברים

So is an idol not [a source of contamination] through its limbs. Then when R. Hama b. Guria asked: 'Does the law of an idol operate in respect of its limbs or not?'-solve it for him from this that according to the Rabbis it does not operate in respect of its limbs? — R. Hama b. Guria asked it on R. Akiba's view. But R. Eleazar maintained: In respect of a cavity-closing stone all agree that it does not defile thereby, since it is likened to a sherez,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This is the text as emended by Rashal. ');">⁹</span> they differ only in respect of carriage. R. Akiba holds, It is like a <i>niddah</i>: just as a <i>niddah</i> defiles through carriage, so does an idol defile through carriage. While the Rabbis argue. It is like a sherez: just as a sherez does not defile through carriage, so does an idol not defile through carriage. Now, according to R. Akiba, in respect of what law is it likened to a sherez? — In respect of its service utensils. And according to the Rabbis', in respect of what law is it likened to a <i>niddah</i>? — Just as a <i>niddah</i> is not [a source of contamination] through her [separate] limbs, so is an idol not [a source of contamination] through its limbs.