Shabbat 168

Chapter 168

א ודין הוא ומה פכין קטנים שטהורין בזב טמאים במת מפץ שטמא בזב אינו דין שיהא טמא במת ואמאי הא לית ליה טהרה במקוה א"ל ר' חנינא שאני התם הואיל ואיכא במינו

1 This follows a fortiori: if small [earthen] pitchers which cannot be defiled by a zab<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' They are not susceptible to midras, as he cannot sit upon them. Again, an earthen vessel can be defiled only through the contaminating thing coming into contact with its inner air space, which is here impossible, as the neck of a small pitcher is too narrow to permit a zab to insert his finger. Furthermore, they cannot become unclean through hesset, as hesset and contact are interdependent, and only that which is susceptible to the latter is susceptible to the former. ');">1 can be defiled through the dead,2 then a mat, which is defiled by a zab,3

ב א"ל רחמנא ליצלן מהאי דעתא אדרבה רחמנא ליצלן מדעתא דידך וטעמא מאי תרי קראי כתיבי כתיב (ויקרא טו, ה) ואיש אשר יגע במשכבו וכתיב וכל המשכב אשר ישכב עליו הזב יטמא הא כיצד יש במינו אע"ג דלית ליה טהרה במקוה אין במינו מקיש משכבו לו

2 is surely defiled through the dead? But why so [it may be asked], seeing that it cannot be cleansed in a mikweh?4 Said R. Hanina to him: There it is different, since some of its kind [of the same material] are [capable of being cleansed in a mikweh].5 The All Merciful save us from this view! he exclaimed.6

ג רבא אמר מדרס כלי חרס טהור מהכא (במדבר יט, טו) וכל כלי פתוח אשר אין צמיד פתיל עליו הא יש צמיד פתיל עליו טהור הוא מי לא עסקינן דיחדינהו לאשתו נדה וקאמר רחמנא טהור:

3 On the contrary, he retorted, The All Merciful save us from your view! And what is the reason?7 Two verses are written: [i] and whosoever touches his bed; and [ii] every bed whereon he that hath the issue lieth [shall be unclean].8 How are these [to be reconciled]? If something of its kind [can be cleansed in a mikweh], even if that itself cannot be cleansed in a mikweh [it is susceptible to midras]; but if nothing of its kind [can be cleansed in a mikweh], his bed is assimilated to himself.

ד <big>מתני׳</big> מנין לערוגה שהיא ששה על ששה טפחים שזורעין בתוכה חמשה זרעונין ד' על ד' רוחות הערוגה ואחת באמצע שנא' (ישעיהו סא, יא) כי כארץ תוציא צמחה וכגנה זרועיה תצמיח זרעה לא נאמר אלא זרועיה:

4 Raba said: [That] the midras of an earthen vessel is clean [is deduced] from the following: and every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it[, is unclean]:9 hence, if it has a covering bound upon it, it is clean.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The contamination must, as it were, penetrate into the inner air space of the vessel, which it is unable to do on account of the covering which interposes a barrier. — This shows that the reference is to an earthen vessel, where the defilement must enter its atmosphere (cf. Ps. 402, n. 1). ');">10 Now, does this not hold good [even] if he had appointed it [as a seat] for his wife, when a niddah, yet the Divine Law states that it is clean.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Now in such a case it is regarded as a seat, and if it were susceptible to midras the cover would not save the vessel from becoming unclean, because whatever is itself liable to defilement cannot constitute a barrier to save something else from same. Hence it follows that an earthen vessel is not subject to midras at all. ');">11

ה <big>גמ׳</big> מאי משמע אמר רב יהודה כי כארץ תוציא צמחה תוציא חד צמחה חד הרי תרי זרועיה תרי הא ארבע תצמיח חד הא חמשה

5 MISHNAH. HOW DO WE KNOW THAT IF A SEED-BED IS SIX HANDBREADTHS SQUARE, WE MAY SOW THEREIN FIVE KINDS OF SEEDS, FOUR ON THE FOUR SIDES, AND ONE IN THE MIDDLE?12 BECAUSE IT IS SAID, FOR AS THE EARTH BRINGETH FORTH HER BUD, AND AS THE GARDEN CAUSETH ITS SEEDS TO SPRING FORTH:13 NOT ITS SEED, BUT ITS SEEDS IS STATED.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Rashi: almost the whole of each side is sown with one species, and one seed is sown in the middle, as in Fig. 1. The shaded part is sown. Though the corners come very near each other, and their roots certainly intermingle, that does not matter, as their very position makes it clear that each side has been sown as a separate strip. But with respect to the middle seed there is nothing to show that it was not sown indiscriminately together with the rest, and therefore a substantial space (three handbreadths) between it and the sides is required. Maim. explains it as in Fig. 2. ');">14 GEMARA. How is this implied? — Said Rab judah: For as the earth bringeth forth her bud: 'bringeth forth' [denotes] one, [and] 'her bud' [denotes] one, which gives two; 'her seeds' [denotes] two,15 making four; 'causeth to spring forth' denotes one, making five [in all],

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