Ohalos 10:1-2

Ohalos 10:1

Let’s say that a hatchway in a house has an opening of a handbreadth. If there’s impurity in the house, what’s directly opposite the hatch remains clean. If the impurity is directly opposite the hatch, then the house remains clean. If the impurity is either in the house or opposite the hatch and a person put his foot over the hatch, he combines the impurity. If part of the impurity is in the house and part is opposite the hatch, the house is rendered unclean and what is opposite the impurity is rendered unclean.

Ohalos 10:2

If the hatchway doesn’t have an opening of a handbreadth, then if there’s impurity in the house, what’s opposite the hatch remains clean. If the impurity is opposite the hatch, the house remains clean. If the impurity is in the house and someone put his foot over the hatchway, he remains clean. If the impurity is opposite the hatch and one put his foot over it, Rabbi Meir rules him unclean. The Sages say that if the impurity was there before his foot, he is rendered unclean, but if his foot was there first, he remains clean. Rabbi Shimon says that if two people’s feet, one above the other, were there before the impurity, then if the first person removes his foot and the other person’s foot remained, that second person remains clean because the first person’s foot was there before the impurity.