[20a - 32 lines; 20b - 50 lines]

1)[line 1]היא גופא תיחוץHI GUFA TEICHUTZ- it itself (the barrel) should intervene

2)[line 1]כלי חרשׂ אינו מטמא מגבוKELI CHERES EINO MITAMEI MI'GABO - earthenware utensils do not receive Tum'ah from their outside (TUM'AS KELEI CHERES)

(a)Klei Cheres are (baked) clay and earthenware utensils. They do not receive Tum'ah when an object of Tum'ah touches their outside. They only become Tamei when Tum'ah enters them (even if it does not touch the inside surface). Therefore, when they are covered with a Tzamid Pesil (a tight seal) they cannot become Tamei even if they are in the Ohel of a Mes, as is stated in Bamidbar 19:15. If they do become Tamei, they make any food or drink that enters them Tamei, even if it did not touch their inside surface.

(b)If clay and earthenware utensils become Tamei, they remain so until they are broken beyond use. Immersing them in a Mikvah does not change their status.

(c)If the mouth of the utensil is so small that a person cannot insert his finger into it, it has no possibility of becoming Tamei through a Zav (see Background to Bava Metzia 105:30). However, these utensils can become Tamei in the Ohel of a Mes, as long as they do not have a Tzamid Pasil to entirely seal them. Similarly, they can become Tamei if they come into contact with a k'Adashah of a Sheretz (see Background to Bava Kama 25:18).

(c)For a further discussion of the principles of Tum'os and Taharos, see Background to Nazir 54:13.

3)[line 2]דפומא לגאוD'FUMA L'GAV- its mouth is pointing inward

4)[line 5]ומטלוניותMATLONIYOS- strips of cloth; patches

5)[line 6]שלש על שלשSHALOSH AL SHALOSH (TUM'AS MES)

(a)A cloth must be at least three Etzba'os square in order to become Tamei Mes (see Background to Bava Kama 105:13) or Tamei Sheretz (see Background to Bava Metzia 58:26), since this size is still fit for use by the poor. One Etzba = approximately 1.9, 2.0 or 2.4 cm, depending upon the differing Halachic opinions. A cloth that is smaller than this is Tahor due to its insignificance.

(b)With regard to Tum'as Midras (see below, entry #17), a cloth must be a minimum of three Tefachim square in order to become Tamei Midras. A cloth is the only material that has this distinction; the minimum sizes for all other materials are measured in Tefachim, whether for Tum'as Mes, Midras, etc. (The word "Etzba'os" is feminine; therefore the Gemara uses Shalosh for Etzba'os. "Tefachim" is masculine, therefore the Gemara uses Sheloshah for Tefachim.)

6)[line 7]המדולדליןHA'MEDULDALIN- that are hanging (i.e. the limb or the flesh have not yet been entirely severed)

7)[line 7]ששכןSHE'SHACHAN- that nested

8)[line 8]ובן שְׁמֹנָהBEN SHEMONAH

(a)According to Chazal, a woman can give birth to a viable child only from a seven-month or a nine-month term of pregnancy. The child that is born from an eight-month term will not be viable. Even if he appears normal upon birth, it is assumed that he will not survive and will die from a birth defect shortly.

(b)The Amora'im argue as to whether the child born at the beginning, but before the end, of the ninth month ("l'Mekuta'in") can be viable. According to all opinions, however, a woman who gives birth before the end of the seventh month of pregnancy can bear a viable child. (For example, Shmuel ha'Navi was born after six months and two days, as mentioned in Yevamos 42a, based on the verse in Shmuel I 1:20).

(c)If the features of a baby born in the eighth month (especially the hair and nails) are fully developed, he is deemed by Rebbi to have developed in seven months, but to have lingered in the womb until the eighth month (Yevamos 80a). Therefore, he is considered a viable child. However, some rule that his viability is in question until he lives thirty days (or twenty years, according to Rashi - see Insights to Yevamos 80:1).

9a)[line 10]השלגSHELEG- snow

b)[line 10]והברדBARAD- (O.F. glace) - hail

c)[line 10]והגלידGELID- ice; sleet

d)[line 11]והכפורKEFOR- (O.F. gresel) hoarfrost

10)[line 12]חזו לבהמתוCHAZU LI'VEHEMTO- are fit for [consumption by] his animal

11)[line 12]באפרזתאAFRAZTA- a plant that is poisonous to cattle, possibly hypericum or St.-John's-wort, a large and widely distributed genus of herbs and shrubs (family Guttiferae) that are characterized chiefly by their pentamerous and often showy yellow flowers. Hypericism is a severe dermatitis of domestic herbivorous animals due to photosensitivity resulting from eating hypericum.

12)[line 13]דקשו לכותלKASHU LA'KOSEL- they are harmful to the wall (since the grass roots tunnel into the wall and cause it to crumble)

13)[line 16]לקריעה דלבושאKERI'A DI'LEVUSHA- [as a patch] for a tear in a garment

14)[line 17]בסמיכתאSEMICHTA- a very thick [piece of cloth]

15)[line 17]חזו לאומנאCHAZU L'UMANA- [are they not] fit for use by a blood letter [for wiping the wound]?

16)[line 17]בריסקאRISKA- a very rough [piece of cloth]

17)[line 19]ארבעה על ארבעהARBA'AH AL ARBA'AH (TUM'AS MIDRAS)

(a)A Zav (see Background to Bava Kama 24:5), Zavah (see Background to Bava Kama 24:2), Nidah (see Background to Kidushin 80:2b), or Yoledes (see Background to Kidushin 13:16), can cause objects (other than Klei Cheres - earthenware objects) that are under them to become Avos ha'Tum'ah, whether they touch them directly or not. The objects become Tamei Midras (lit. an object that is treaded upon), otherwise known as Mishkav or Moshav ha'Zav, ha'Zavah, etc. (or the Tachton, of a Zav, etc.). An object that is under these people becomes a Midras only if it was made for lying, sitting, or leaning upon.

(b)The Mishnah (Keilim 27:2) states that an item of clothing can receive Tum'as Midras if it is the size of Sheloshah Al Sheloshah (three Tefachim by three Tefachim). If it is smaller than that, it is not suitable for a Zav to sit upon and does not become Tamei through Midras. The minimum size for pieces of sack material (such as the Riska of our Gemara) is four square Tefachim. Leather (Or) and mats woven of reeds (Mapatz) have bigger minimum sizes (five and six square Tefachim, respectively). As mentioned above (entry #5:b), the sizes for sack material, leather and mats apply for all Tum'os.

(c)A person who touches (Maga) or carries (Masa) either a Midras or a Zav or Zavah themselves gets the status of Rishon l'Tum'ah, and so do the clothes he is wearing and other utensils (except for earthenware utensils) that he is touching at the time.

(d)Utensils or clothes that lie above the Zav or Zavah also get the status of a Rishon l'Tum'ah, whether he touches them or not. These are called the Elyon of a Zav or Zavah.

18)[line 21]ערקא ואזלאARKA V'AZLA- it will run away

19)[line 22]פסיק, שדי לה לכלביםPASIK, SHADI LAH LI'CHELAVIM- [can he not] cut it (the limb or the flesh) off and throw it to the dogs?

20)[line 25]בקלניתאKALNISA- a very small, lean bird

21)[line 26]לינוקאYENUKA- a child

22)[line 26]במסרטB'MESARET- [we are dealing with a bird] that scratches

23)[line 27]אתי חבריה, שרי ליהASI CHAVREI SHARI LEI- his friend may come and set him free

24)[line 28]בחבושי מלכותCHAVUSHEI MALCHUS- a prisoner of the king

25)[line 29]דריא ליהDARYA LEI- she will carry him away

26)[line 30]שוחה עליוSHOCHAH ALAV- leans over him (the eighth-month baby)

27)[line 31]במרירתאMERIRASA- bitter [salt]

28)[line 31]חזיא לעורותCHAZYA L'OROS- [is it not] fit for [tanning] hides?

29)[last line]דיתבא אחספאD'YASVA A'CHASPA- it is lying on a potsherd

30)[last line]תיחוץTEICHOTZ- should intervene [and block the Tum'ah from passing through the window]

20b----------------------------------------20b

31a)[line 1]חרס, כדי ליתן בין פצים לחבירוCHERES, KEDEI LITEN BEIN PATZIM L'CHAVEIRO- [in order to be liable for the Melachah of Hotza'ah (see Background to Bava Kama 117:4) with regard to] a piece of earthenware, [the minimum size required is] (a) big enough to act as spacers between the upright slats of a window; (b) big enough to act as spacers between straight window-frame slats so that they do not warp, when storing them in a pile (RASHI to Shabbos82a); (c) big enough to use as filler pieces when using more than one slat of wood to complete a window or door frame (when the thickness of the window is greater than the width of a single slat), in order to make the resulting frame even (RASHI to Beitzah 39a)

b)[line 2]פציםPATZIM- a window or door frame

32)[line 2]דמיטנףMITANAF- it is disgusting

33)[line 4]בבלויBALUY- it is worn out

34)[line 6]ורבבREVAV- oil, fat [in which to dip one's bread]

35a)[line 7]במלח סדומיתMELACH SEDOMIS- salt from the Dead Sea: 1, which is hard as rock (RASHI), 2. which is very fine (Girsa of GILYON HASHAS, based on Rashi Beitza 39a)

b)[line 7]במלח איסתרוקניתMELACH ISTEROKNIS- coarse desert-salt or fossil salt that is mined (The RASHASH to Beitzah 39a cites the ARUCH who writes that Isterokan is the name of a place. The Rashash claims that this salt is obtained from Astrakhan', located in the Caspian Depression, to the north of the Caspian Sea, which is a saltwater lake.)

36)[line 9]שני צבורי מלח, ומניח עליהם קורהSHNEI TZEVOREI MELACH, U'MENIACH ALEIHEM KORAH- two piles of salt, and he places upon them a beam (according to the Girsa of the GILYON HASHAS, it is Melach Sedomis, not Melach Isteroknis, which would need to be weighed down in this manner)

37)[line 14]טיריאTIRYA- vibrations

38)[line 15]האיסטרובילISTEROBIL- the lower millstone, surrounded by a wooden frame (O.F. cerche - the wooden framework surrounding a millstone)

39)[line 16]הקלתKELAS- (O.F. tremuie) the grain hopper, the large funnel through which the grain reaches the grinding area

40)[line 23]מעזיבהMA'AZIVAH- (O.F. estrich) - a mixture of mud and sand or stone chips, etc., that covers a ceiling and serves as a floor for the upper story

41)[line 28]רפת בקרREFES BAKAR- a cowshed

42)[line 28]באמתB'EMES- (lit. in truth) it is an accepted Halachah. (According to the Yerushalmi (Shabbos 1:3), "b'Emes Amru" translates as "it is a Halachah l'Moshe mi'Sinai." From the Rambam's introduction to Perush ha'Mishnayos, though, it may be inferred that this is true only when "b'Emes Amru" is stated in a Mishnah (as in our Mishnah), but not when it is mentioned in a Beraisa. Rashi to Sukah 38a DH b'Emes Amru applies the Yerushalmi's translation even to a "b'Emes Amru" that is mentioned in a Beraisa. Accordingly, it could mean "it is as clear as a Halachah l'Moshe mi'Sinai" - see MAHARATZ CHAYOS to Beitzah 17a.) See Background to Bava Metzia 60:11.

43)[line 32]כירה דנחתומיןKIRAH D'NACHTOMIN- a baker's stove (that is constantly fueled)

44)[line 35]אכסדרהACHSADRAH- a structure that is covered by a roof and is enclosed on three of its sides

45)[line 41]קוטרא דשרגאKUTRA DI'SHERAGA- the smoke of an oil lamp

46)[line 42]ואספסתאASPASTA- any plant especially adapted for use as animal fodder; grass [that is being stored in the lower apartment]

47)[line 47]הפטישPATISH- a hammer

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