1)

(a)The Mishnah discusses a Chaver who shares a Chatzer with an Am ha'Aretz. The Tana declares Tamei ...

1. ... Keilim that he leaves in the Chatzer, and even ...

2. ... earthenware barrels and an earthenware oven that are sealed shut ...

(b)... in case the wife of the Am ha'Aretz sat on them whilst she was a Nidah and moved them in the process [Heset]).

(c)R. Yehudah declares the earthenware oven Tahor - because one generally cements it slightly to the ground and it cannot therefore be moved.

(d)The Tana Kama disagrees inasmuch as - he decrees those that are attached on account of those that are not.

2)

(a)R. Yossi - declares the oven Tamei (like the Tana Kama [see Tos. Yom-Tov]) unless he builds a partition in front of it (see also Tiferes Yisrael).

(b)The Halachah is - like the Tana Kama.

3)

(a)Keilim that one deposits with an Am ha'Aretz - are Tamei Meis and Tamei Medras.

(b)Despite the fact that Tamei Medras renders Tamei even through Mishkav and Moshav, the Tana nevertheless find it necessary to add that they are Tamei Meis as well - to teach us that they also require Haza'as Mei Chatas on the third and seventh days.

(c)The Tana declares the Keilim Tahor from Tum'as Meis - in the event that the Am ha'Aretz knows that the depositor eats Terumah ...

(d)... because even though a Kohen Am-ha'Aretz is wary with regard to Tum'as Meis, he is not careful with regard to the Tum'ah of his wife, who may have sat on them whilst she was a Nidah (see Tiferes Yisrael).

4)

(a)R. Yossi declares Tamei Medras clothes in a box that one deposited with an Am-ha'Aretz - provided the clothes are piled to the top to the extent that, should his wife sit or lean on the lid of the box, the clothes will have borne her weight (see Tos. Yom-Tov).

(b)If they are not, then they are Tamei Madaf - a lighter degree of Tum'ah (to be Metamei food and drink only ...

(c)... even if box is locked and the owner has the key ...

(d)... because that will not remove the possibility that his wife sat on it, and rendered it Tamei through Heset.

5)

(a)Vessels that one loses ...

1. ... in the day and finds the same day (in the same place) - are Tahor

2. ... in the day and find the next night, or in the night and finds the following day - are Tamei (Meis and Medras [see Tos. Yom-Tov]), and the same applies if he loses them ...

3. ... in the night and finds them the same night ...

(b)... because - whereas in the first case, had a person found them he would most likely have picked them up (see Tos. Yom-Tov), in the last three cases, someone may well have touched them without even seeing them.

(c)The principle that governs the latter ruling is that - if a night or part of the night have passed from the moment one loses the vessels until one finds them, they are Tamei (see Tos. Yom-Tov).

(d)The Tana is speaking - in a R'shus-ha'Rabim. In a R'shus ha'Yachid, they are Tamei in the first case, too.

6)

(a)The Mishnah declares clothes that one spreads out in the R'shus-ha'Rabim - Tahor; in the R'shus-ha'Yachid - Tamei ..

(b)... because there is only one Safek; namely, whether a Nochri or an Am ha'Aretz touched them or not (see Tos. Yom-Tov).

(c)The Tana declares them Tahor even in the R'shus-ha'Yachid - provided the owner kept an eye on them (see Tos. Yom-Tov).

(d)If they fell down into the R'shus ha'Rabim and he went to fetch them (see Tos. Yom-Tov) - they are Tamei, assuming he took his eyes off them as he descended (Ibid.).

7)

(a)Finally, the Mishnah rules in the latter case, but where one's bucket fell into the well belonging to an Am ha'Aretz, and one went to fetch something to fish it out - that the bucket is Tamei ...

(b)... because if it is in the domain of the Am ha'Aretz even for one moment, it is Tamei (see Tos. Yom-Tov).

8)

(a)the Tana rules that in a case where someone ...

1. ... returns and finds his house the way he left it, open or closed - it is Tahor, as is the case where he ...

2. ... leaves it open and returns and finds it closed.

(b)In the reverse case, R. Meir declares it Tamei, the Chachamim - Tahor because we assume that thieves opened the door, but changed their mind without actually entering the house (see Tos. Yom-Tov).

9)

(a)The Mishnah declares Tahor a room belonging to a Chaver, into which the wife of an Am-ha'Aretz entered to remove his son, daughter or animal - because since she entered without express permission from the owner, she will not dare touch anything for fear of getting caught.

(b)We might have thought that it is Tamei - because her entry was for the benefit of her husband (the owner) in which case she will not be afraid of being caught).

10)

(a)Something that is ...

1. ... fit for human consumption remains Tamei Tum'as Ochlin (see Tos. Yom-Tov) - until it reaches a stage that even dogs will not eat it.

2. ... unfit for human consumption is not subject to Tum'as Ochlin - unless one designates it for humans (Ibid. see beginning of Dibur).

11)

(a)The Tana now gives an example of the latter. He declares Tamei a small Tahor bird that flies into a vat and drowns - provided one has in mind to feed it to a Nochri.

(b)If he intends to feed it to a dog, the Tana Kama declares it Tahor; R. Yochanan ben Nuri - Tamei (see Tos. Yom-Tov).

(c)The earlier ruling must be speaking about a vat that is located in a city, because, had it died naturally, assuming that it was ...

1. ... in a city - it would not have required Machshavah, since among the many people who come to market there are those who eat Nivlas Of Tahor, in which case it is Tamei Tum'as Ochlin even without Machshavah.

2. ... in a village - it would have required Machshavah in any case, because the Nochrim in the village do not generally eat Nivlas Of Tahor.

(d)The Mishnah now rules that if a Chashu (Cheresh, Shoteh ve'Katan) has the intention of feeding the bird to a Nochri it remains Tahor - since a Chashu does not have Machshavah, whereas if he actually does so - it is Tamei - because he does have Ma'aseh (one contends with his actions).

12)

(a)The Chachamim draw rule that Tamei liquid which touches the inside of a vessel - renders the entire vessel Tamei, whereas if it touches the outside, the inside, as well as the lip, the rim or the handles - it remains Tahor ...

(b)... because Tum'as Mashkin (to be Metamei Keilim) is only mi'de'Rabbanan.

(c)Tahor liquid (of Chulin) that comes into contact with the outside of the latter - becomes Tamei.

(d)R. Eliezer rules that food (of Terumah) does not even become Pasul (a Shelishi, if it is Terumah). R. Yehoshua rules - that it does (see Tos. Yom-Yov).

13)

(a)R. Yehoshua learns the above ruling from a Kal-va'Chomer from T'vul-Yom - who renders Terumah Pasul, even though he is not Metamei liquid (even mi'de'Rabbanan).

(b)We learn the Tum'ah of a T'vul-Yom from the Pasuk in Emor - "u'Va ha'Shemesh va'Taher, ve'achar Yochal min ha'Kodshim (which refers to Terumah).

(c)R. Eliezer refutes his proof - by pointing out that, since a T'vul-Yom is Metamei min ha'Torah, we cannot learn a Kal-va'Chomer from it on to Tum'as Mashkin, whose Tum'ah is only mi'de'Rabbanan.

14)

(a)Shimon Achi Azaryah says Mashkin she'Nitme'u ba'Achorei Keilim, Metam'in Echad u'Poslin Echad'. Shimon was called after his brother - because, in a Yisachar-Zevulun-like arrangement, Azaryah shared his business profits with him, to enable him to sit and learn Torah undisturbed.

(b)What he is saying is that - the Tamei liquid at the back of a vessel (is not Metamei Chulin liquid, nor does it render Pasul those who eat Terumah. However it) is Metamei Terumah liquid, which in turn, renders Terumah food a Sheini. And that Terumah food renders other Terumah Pasul.

(c)The Terumah food says to the liquid that renders it Pasul - What made you Tamei (the back of the vessel) did not make me Tamei, yet you made me Tamei!

(d)The Halachah is - like R. Eliezer.

15)

(a)The Mishnah now discusses a kneading-board, one side of which slopes and on top of which there are three pieces of dough totaling a k'Beitzah. Assuming that a. the top two doughs are solid, and the lower one, which is Tamei, is sufficiently runny for liquid (see Tos. Yom-Tov) to be running from it (Ibid.) down the slope and b. that the three doughs are touching each other, the Tana rules that - the doughs do not combine to make up a k'Beitzah of food ...

(b)... to render the water a Rishon and the board a Sheini.

(c)The three pieces of dough will combine to make up a k'Beitzah however - if they are stuck together.

16)

(a)In the same case, but where there are two pieces of dough that total a k'Beitzah, the Tana Kama rules that - they combine to make up a k'Beitzah.

(b)According to R. Yossi however - they will only combine if the water is squashed between the two pieces which are very close together (see also Tiferes Yisrael).

(c)If the board is flat and the water is gathered in one spot - then it combines the pieces even if there are three. When the Tana says Afilu ke'Ein ha'Chardal, Mitztaref, he means that - this will apply even if the dough is broken up into crumbs like peppers.

(d)R. Dosa however, maintains that - food which is broken up into crumbs (see Tos. Yom-Tov) does not combine to make up a k'Beitzah of food.

(e)The Halachah is - like the Tana Kama.

17)

(a)Hashakah (kissing) is - joining Tamei water to the water of a Mikveh, thereby rendering it Tahor as if it has been sown there.

(b)Ketapras is - water that is running down a slope.

(c)R. Yehoshua declares Tahor a stick which is full of Tamei water (see Tos. Yom-Tov), by merely dipping one of its ends in a Mikvah on the grounds that - Ketapras Chibur (water flowing down a slope is considered joined).

(d)The Chachamim - declare it Tamei, unless the entire stick is submerged in the water because they hold Ketapras Eino Chibur.

18)

(a)We just cited the Chachamim, who hold Ketapras Eino Chibur. In fact, they consider it a Chibur neither for Tum'ah nor for Taharah. For Taharah means that - if some of the water is joined to a Mikveh, the remainder remains Tamei (as we explained).

(b)Nor do the Chachamim consider Chibur ...

1. ... a Nitzuk - water that is flowing vertically (not down a slope).

2. ... Mashkeh Tofe'ach - a thin film of water that wets the hand that touches it, but not sufficiently to make wet whatever it touches.

(c)And the Tana concludes ve'ha'Eshboren - (a collection of water (in a pool or in a pit) Chibur le'Tum'ah ve'la'Taharah.