1)

(a)The Tana rules that vessels of wood, leather, bone and glass - are only subject to Tum'ah when they are receptacles, but not when they are flat.

(b)We learn from the Pasuk in Shemini ...

1. ... which compares leather and wooden vessels to sack - that just as a sack, by definition, can be moved both when it is full and when It is empty, so too must leather and wooden vessels be moveable both when they full and when they are empty, in order to be subject to Tum'ah.

2. ... "mi'Kol Kli Eitz ... ve'Chol Ma'aseh Izim" that - bone vessels (fashioned from the horns or the hooves of an animal), are subject to Tum'ah.

3. ... which compares bone vessels to leather and wooden ones that - they too, are only subject to Tum'ah when they are in the form of receptacles.

(c)The Tana does not include earthenware ones (which also require an inside in order to become Tamei) - in the above list - because although they require an inside, they do not need to be receptacles. Consequently, if they have no bottom, they are still subject to Tum'ah (whereas those listed in our Mishnah are not).

(d)The Rabbanan decreed Tum'ah on vessels of wood, leather and bone, though in fact, they are even Tamei min ha'Torah - as regards Tum'as Mishkav u'Moshav, provided they are eligible).

2)

(a)The source of the Tum'ah of glass vessels is - mid'Rabanan, because they are manufactured from sand, which makes them similar to K'lei Cheres.

(b)They nevertheless, decreed that they should be subject to Tum'ah even from the back (which earthenware vessels are not) - because one can see the inside and the back simultaneously.

(c)Yet the Chachamim did not decree Tum'ah on glass vessels that are not a receptacle (like they did regarding the others) - as a reminder that their Tum'ah is only mi'de'Rabanan ...

(d)... so that people should remember not to burn Terumah and Kodshim which they rendered Tamei.

3)

(a)Any of the above ...

1. ... which breaks - becomes Tahor.

2. ... which is subsequently repaired - remains Tahor (because the concept of Tum'ah Yeshanah [the initial Tum'ah returning] is confined to metal vessels).

(b)The Tana rules that - both vessels of Alum and of earthenware are only subject to Tum'ah from the inside.

(c)Consequently, if a Tamei earthenware vessel is full of mustard-seeds - all the seeds become a Rishon.

(d)Otherwise - it is only the seeds that are actually touching the sides of the vessel that would become Tamei.

4)

(a)When the Tana says that they become Tamei 'me'Achoreihen', he means that - if their base has the form of a receptacle, then, since one sometimes turns them upside down and uses the base, it too becomes a source of Tum'ah for whatever it contains.

(b)The Tana does not combine the two rulings and say 'Mitam'in ... me'Aviran u'me'Achareihen' (instead of presenting them as two statements) - to teach us that the latter ruling is different than the former, inasmuch as it is only Metamei through touching and not through its air, like the main vessel.

(c)When the Mishnah in Chulin says ...

1. ... 'ha'Tahor bi'Chelei Cheres, Tamei be'Chol ha'Kelim' - it is referring to something that touches the vessel from the outside.

2. ... 'Tahor be'Chol ha'Kelim Tamei be'Chol ha'Kelim' - it is referring to something that is dangling inside the vessel without actually touching it.

(d)Earthenware and alum vessels become Tahor - if they are broken.

(e)All vessels become Tahor when they are broken. The special significance of the statement 'u'Shevirasan hi Taharasan' is that - they can only become Tahor through breakage, and not through Tevilah, like other vessels.

5)

(a)The Mishnah now discusses the Shi'ur Tum'ah of a complete K'li Cheres (or of a broken one [see Tos. Yom Tov DH 'Shi'uran], depending on its original size [according to the opinion of Rebbi Yishmael]). When the Tana adds ...

1. ... 'Karkeroseihen', he means - the remains of the vessel if its top is broken off, and only the bottom remains.

2. ... 've'Dafnoseihen', he means - a curved piece of wall from the broken vessel (see Tos. Yom Tov).

(b)The latter is still subject to Tum'ah - provided it is able to stand by itself without spilling its contents.

(c)The smallest size K'li Cheres ('Dakin se'bi'Chelei Cheres') that is subject to Tum'ah is - one that holds sufficient to anoint the little finger of a newborn baby (one ninety-sixth of a Log [see Tos. Yom Tov]) up to a Log (see Tos. Yom Tov ).

6)

(a)The smallest piece of broken Kli Cheres that is subject to Tum'ah is one that was originally in between Dakin she'bi'Chelei Cheres and one that held a Log. The minimum size of the broken piece must then be - enough to hold a Revi'is (one and a half egg-volumes [see also Tos. Yom Tov]).

(b)The Shi'ur of the broken piece from a vessel that originally held between ...

1. ... one and two Sa'in is - half a Log.

2. ... two Sa'in and three or five Sa'in (see Tos. Yom Tov) is - a Log.

7)

(a)According to R. Akiva, the range that determines the size of the Shi'ur that the broken Kli Cheres must now hold is not the volume of liquid that it originally held - but the description of the vessel (which is based on its size).

(b)The range that will therefore constitute the smallest Shi'ur (K'dei Sichas Katan) is - from K'dei Sichas Katan up to small pots.

(c)The second range (that requires the remainder of a Revi'is ha'Log) is from Kedeiros ha'Dakos ad Chaviyos Ludiyos, and the third (half a Log) me'Chaviyos Ludiyos ad Chaviyos Lachmiyos - barrels from Lud and barrels from Beis-Lechem respectively.

(d)The final range (a Log) constitutes from 'Chaviyos Lachmiyos' up to the largest size barrels (Chatzavim Gedolim).

8)

(a)According to R. Yochanan ben Zakai, there are only two sizes regarding broken earthenware vessels, the larger one being two Lugin. The ...

1. ... larger size vessel comprises - the largest barrels.

2. ... smaller size vessels comprises - jars from the Galil and Chevyonos (small barrels).

(b)And he adds that - the walls of broken earthenware vessels (even if they are receptacles, are not subject to Tum'ah.

9)

(a)The Mishnah now lists the K'lei Cheres that are not subject to Tum'ah. A ...

1. ... Tavla she'Ein lah Lizbaz is - a flat board which does not have a rim.

2. ... Machtah Perutzah is - a shovel without sides, and an ...

3. ... Ibuv shel Kala'in is - a vessel with sides but with many small holes, on which one places legumes to roast directly on the fire.

(b)Next he lists a pipe even though it is slightly bent, and the cover of a bread basket. Even though the former is a receptacle, it is Tahor - since it is not meant to hold water.

(c)If one carves a receptacle in the base of the latter, to catch the straw and stones that have fallen into the water - then it is subject to Tum'ah (see also Tiferes Yisrael).

10)

(a)The Tana adds a Kavkov (or Kafkof [which one uses to cover a basket of bread]), and a Tfi (a specific vessel that is a receptacle) that one has altered to cover grapes, a swimming-barrel and a Machatz (an extra large barrel that has a little barrel-like object stuck near its base on the outside, into which one slips one hand to raise the Machatz). The Tana is teaching us that a ...

1. ... Kavkov is Tahor - because any earthenware vessel that is used to cover isa Tahor, even though it would be a receptacle if it was not overturned. A ...

2. ... Tfi is Tahor - because it was reshaped to use for grapes (and not as the receptacle that it was originally used for).

3. ... swimming-barrel is Tahor - even though it holds the swimmer's body, because that is not its real function, and the same Chidush applies to the ruling declaring the ...

4. ... barrel of the Machatz Tahor, since its purpose is to hold his hand when he places them inside to lift up the Machatz.

(b)The Mishnah now rules that - an earthenware bed, a chair, a bench and a boat are not subject to Tum'ah either (the first three because they are not receptacles).

(c)In spite of the fact that a boat is a receptacle, it is not subject to Tum'ah - because ships on principle, are not subject to Tum'ah, based on the Pasuk in Mishlei "Derech Oniyah be'lev Yam" (as we learned in Shabbos [see Tos. Yom Tov]).

(d)The final item in the list is the earthenware base of a candelabra (see Tiferes Yisrael), which we otherwise have thought is subject to Tum'ah - because it permanently supports the rest of the candelabra.

11)

(a)The Tana concludes with a principle regarding any earthenware vessel that has no inside that - the outside is not subject to Tum'ah.

(b)He is actually referring to liquid - that touched a Sheretz to become a Rishon le'Tum'ah, and that now touched the K'li Cheres.

(c)If this liquid touches ...

1. ... other vessels - they becomes a Rishon.

2. ... earthenware vessels that do have an inside, should the liquid touch them on the outside - they becomes Tamei.

(d)This ruling is only mi'de'Rabbanan - because mi'd'Oraysa, liquid cannot render Kelim Tamei.

12)

(a)A lantern subject to Tum'ah - only if it has a receptacle for oil (see Tiferes Yisrael).

(b)The stand on which one places the actual lamp does not render the lantern Tamei - because it is not a receptacle (and the lamp stands on it rather than in it [see Tos. Yom Tov]).

(c)A potter's board subject to Tum'ah - provided the potter completes the shaped pots (which already have an inside) on it, but not one on which he begins to fashion the clay.

(d)Megupas ha'Yotzrin is a kind of stool on which the potter forms his pots. When the Tana says ...

1. ... 'she'Hu Pose'ach bah', he means that - if he still intends to widen its opening, it is Tahor.

2. ... 'she'Hu Gomer bah' he means that - he intends to leave it as it is, it is Tamei.

(e)The author must be R. Meir - who holds that the criterion of Tum'ah by K'lei Cheres is when they are completed, and not the Chachamim - who hold that it is when they have been hardened in the furnace (see Tos. Yom Tov).

13)

(a)The Mishnah draws a distinction between a funnel (for pouring wine or oil) that belongs to a private person - which is Tahor, and one that belongs to a peddler (of wine or oil) - which is Tamei.

(b)The technical difference between the two funnels is that - the peddler's funnel is smaller than the private one.

(c)When R. Yehudah ben Beseira says that the funnel of a peddler is Tamei because it is used for measuring, he means that - when selling the wine or the oil, the peddler places his finger on the bottom, to stop it from flowing out, so as to see how much oil he is selling.

(d)According to R. Akiva, it would be subject to Tum'ah even if it was not used for measuring - because sometimes, he tips it on its side, to hold some of the wine there for the potential purchaser to smell.

14)

(a)The Mishnah rules that the lids of ...

1. ... wine and oil jars and lids of barrels made of paper (See Tos. Yom-Tov [or paper that is used as a bottle-stopper]), and ...

2. ... a large frying-pan if it has a hole or is pointed - are all not subject to Tum'ah.

(b)For the former to become subject to Tum'ah - one would have to fashion them for another use.

(c)The latter is subject to Tum'ah if it has no hole in it and it is not triangular-shaped, according to the Tana Kama, because a woman uses it to drain cooked vegetables. R. Eliezer b'Rebbi Tzadok explains that it is subject to Tum'ah - because she uses it to flip the cooked vegetables (that stuck together whilst cooking [known as 'Runki']) over and over, to separate them (see Tos. Yom Tov).

15)

(a)The Tana now discusses a Gist'ra(a broken piece of earthenware) that one finds in the oven. 'Gist'ra' is the acronym of - Gisi T'rei (two pieces)

(b)The Safek we are now faced with is - whether it broke before it was completely hardened in the oven (in which case it did not become Tamei when the Tziruf [the hardening process] was completed) or it broke afterwards (in which case it did).

(c)We determine whether the Tziruf was finished before it broke or afterwards - by looking at the pieces and at the middle (at the point where they broke); if the two pieces are the same size and the middle has turned red, then we know that it was completed before it broke. Otherwise, it did not (see Tiferes Yisrael).

16)

(a)R. Eliezer b'Rebbi Tzadok and R. Yossi argue over a Titrus (or Sitrus [see Tos. Yom Tov] a garden sprinkler) - a canister with tiny holes through which the water sprinkles, and a larger hole at the other end ...

(b)... on which one places one's finger to contain the water (see Tos. Yom Tov), and lets go to release it.

(c)R. Eliezer b'Rebbi Tzadok declares it Tahor - since the holes are sufficiently large to let in water.

(d)R. Yossi disagrees and rules that it is Tamei - because a. it is made to use by placing one's finger on it, in which case it is considered a receptacle, and b. because in any case, the water drips out so sparsely that it is not considered sufficiently large to let in water (see also Tiferes Yisrael) ...

(e)... 'ke'Motzi P'rutos' meaning that - it lets out a very little at a time (like P'rutos, which are the smallest coins).

17)

(a)As opposed to the list of Tahor K'lei Cheres in Mishnah 3, the Tana now presents a list of Tamei ones. He declares Tamei ...

1. ... a flat earthenware board - if it has a rim surrounding it.

2. ... an earthenware shovel - if it has three side-walls.

(b)He rules that a flat board with many small dishes attached to it (see Tos. Yom Tov) - renders them all Tamei (even though a Sheretz entered the airspace of only one of them) - if a rim surrounds it.

(c)If it does not - then only that particular dish is Tamei.

(d)the Tana Kama extends the previous leniency to two other cases, an earthenware board with sunken individual compartments for spices - and the same made of wood, if Tamei liquid was poured into one of the compartments.

18)

(a)The previous ruling is confined to where Tamei liquid fell inside it (as we explained) - because Tum'as Mashkin is only mi'de'Rabanan, who decreed that if Tamei liquid touches a wooden vessel, then only the outside becomes Tamei, but not the inside which is the case here regarding the compartments not touched by the Sheretz).

(b)If it had been a Sheretz (whose Tum'ah is d'Oraysa) that fell into the one compartment - then all the compartments would have become Tamei, since if a Sheretz falls into a wooden vessel, the entire vessel becomes Tamei (and in our case, this includes the backs of all the compartments).

(c)Earthenware vessels on the other hyand, can only receive Tum'ah from the inside, and not from the back of the vessel. Consequently, without the rim, the other compartments would not become Tamei.

19)

(a)Rebbi Yochanan ben Nuri disagrees with the previous ruling. He rules Cholkin es Ovyav ... - meaning that, when it comes to Tum'as Mashkin (which is purely mi'de'Rabanan) we divide the thickness of the wall into two, so that not only does the neighboring compartment remaining Tahor, but so does the outer half of the wall.

(b)The Halachah is like the - Chachamim.

(c)Everyone will agree that in all the above cases, all the compartments become Tamei - in a case where the board has a rim all the way round it, as we learned earlier.

20)

(a)The Mishnah declares Tamei an earthenware ...

1. ... Lapid - an oil torch which is pointed, and which is held aloft on top of a pole into whose top (into which they bored a hole) the torch fits.

2. ... Beis Shik'o shel Ner - is an oil-lamp holder (into which a cavity was carved in order to contain the oil-lamp).

(b)The Tana sees fit to learn this Mishnah, because we might otherwise have thought that ...

1. ... the torch is not Tamei - since it is pointed and cannot stand on its own.

2. ... the lamp-holder is Tahor - because only part of the lamp fits into it, whilst the remainder protrudes from it.

(c)The torch is nevertheless Tamei - since the torch and the pole are made to serve as one permanent unit.

21)

(a)Finally, the Mishnah discusses a Masrek shel Tzirtzur, a vessel that holds water and that has a sort of netting that covers the top, whose purpose is - to prevent any unwanted elements from falling into the water.

(b)The 'Masrek' is - an ornamental comb-like rim that surrounds it on top.

(c)R. Eliezer maintains that if a Sheretz falls into the airspace of the 'comb', the vessel with its contents remain Tahor - due to the regular spaces between the 'teeth' of the 'comb'.

(d)The Chachamim hold - that it is nevertheless Tamei.

(e)The Halachah is like the Chachamim.