Ohalos 5:5-6

Ohalos 5:5

If the vessel blocking the hatch between levels was made of dung, stone or (unbaked) clay, then everything in the attic remains clean. If it was a vessel kept ritually clean for sacrificial purposes or for purification water, then everything in the attic remains clean because everyone (even an unlearned person) is trusted regarding such vessels. Insusceptible vessels and earthenware vessels that are kept clean protect the contents of the attic together with tent walls.

Ohalos 5:6

An example of vessels protecting together with tent walls: if there was a pit or a cistern in a house and a large basket was placed over it, the contents of the pit or cistern remain clean. If there was a well whose edge was level with the ground or a beehive missing walls and the basket was placed on it, then the contents of the well or the hive are rendered unclean. If a smooth board or a screen without handles was placed on the well or hive, then the contents remain clean. This is because vessels only protect together with tent walls when the vessels also have walls. Such a wall must be a handbreadth high (about three inches). If there was half a handbreadth on one side and half a handbreadth on the other, it doesn’t count as a wall; there must be an entire handbreadth in one place.