פירוש על בבא קמא 4:1
Tosafot on Bava Kamma
For concerning the primary category [of ritual impurity], it impurifies a person and vessels.1 A person who comes in contact with the source of tumoh becomes tomay and a vessel that comes in contact with an av becomes tomay. This does not mean that the person who became tomay through contact with an av can then bring tumoh to vessels. This is the correct text, and not the text “a person and clothing”.
For that expression implies that the person becomes tomay and causes his clothing to become tomay as he is wearing them. This is not true in the case of a dead rodent, semen and one who has been in contact with a corpse. They cause a person to become tomay, he becomes a Rishon, a first level of tumoh, but the clothes he is wearing do not become tomay. Since the wearer is only a Rishon and not an av, his clothing which are treated as vessels do not become tomay. As the Gemara says vessels (and clothing) can only become tomay from an av.2The situation to which Tosafot is referring, where the clothing do become tomay is an exception, and they only become tomay if the wearer is presently in contact with the source of the tumoh. For example, a person is in contact with a bed that was slept on by a zov or a needoh. While he is in contact with the bed, his clothes become tomay. When he separates from the bed and puts on another set of clothing they do not become tomay.
The Gemara has stated that an av of tumoh does not make its toldoh as itself. The toldoh has a reduced level of tumoh. It can only cause tumoh to foodstuff, but not to people and vessels. Although this is generally true for an av coming in contact with a person and with most utensils, there is an area where this is not true and the utensil will have a degree of tumoh as great as the av.
And if you ask: There is a tomay mais, a person who came in contact with a corpse, who causes a metal vessel to have the same degree of tumoh as the tomay mais himself, for we have a rule that the sword is the same level of tumoh as the corpse.3This is based on a verse in Parashat Chukas where the Torah speaks of a corpse as חלל חרב chalal cherev, literally the corpse of the sword. Chazal understood that this expression is used to teach us that the metal sword has the same degree of tumoh as the corpse. According to most Rishonim including Tosafot, this means that any metal vessel that comes in contact with a corpse or one who has been in contact with a corpse has the same degree of tumoh as the source from which he received the tumoh. The Rambam has a different understanding of this rule. We see that there is a toldoh of tumoh which has the same level of tumoh as the av. Tosafot points out that although the statement is generally true, there still is a difference between a tomay mais and the metal vessel with which it comes in contact. And we can answer: the metal vessel is still not entirely like the tomay mais, because that metal vessel will not cause a second metal vessel to become tomay, as the tomay mais does, as Rabbeinu Tam deduces at the beginning of Masechet Oholos.
For that expression implies that the person becomes tomay and causes his clothing to become tomay as he is wearing them. This is not true in the case of a dead rodent, semen and one who has been in contact with a corpse. They cause a person to become tomay, he becomes a Rishon, a first level of tumoh, but the clothes he is wearing do not become tomay. Since the wearer is only a Rishon and not an av, his clothing which are treated as vessels do not become tomay. As the Gemara says vessels (and clothing) can only become tomay from an av.2The situation to which Tosafot is referring, where the clothing do become tomay is an exception, and they only become tomay if the wearer is presently in contact with the source of the tumoh. For example, a person is in contact with a bed that was slept on by a zov or a needoh. While he is in contact with the bed, his clothes become tomay. When he separates from the bed and puts on another set of clothing they do not become tomay.
The Gemara has stated that an av of tumoh does not make its toldoh as itself. The toldoh has a reduced level of tumoh. It can only cause tumoh to foodstuff, but not to people and vessels. Although this is generally true for an av coming in contact with a person and with most utensils, there is an area where this is not true and the utensil will have a degree of tumoh as great as the av.
And if you ask: There is a tomay mais, a person who came in contact with a corpse, who causes a metal vessel to have the same degree of tumoh as the tomay mais himself, for we have a rule that the sword is the same level of tumoh as the corpse.3This is based on a verse in Parashat Chukas where the Torah speaks of a corpse as חלל חרב chalal cherev, literally the corpse of the sword. Chazal understood that this expression is used to teach us that the metal sword has the same degree of tumoh as the corpse. According to most Rishonim including Tosafot, this means that any metal vessel that comes in contact with a corpse or one who has been in contact with a corpse has the same degree of tumoh as the source from which he received the tumoh. The Rambam has a different understanding of this rule. We see that there is a toldoh of tumoh which has the same level of tumoh as the av. Tosafot points out that although the statement is generally true, there still is a difference between a tomay mais and the metal vessel with which it comes in contact. And we can answer: the metal vessel is still not entirely like the tomay mais, because that metal vessel will not cause a second metal vessel to become tomay, as the tomay mais does, as Rabbeinu Tam deduces at the beginning of Masechet Oholos.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy