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Machshirin 1:3-4

Machshirin 1:3

If one shook a tree in order to extricate water from it and the tree fell over another tree, or if he shook a branch and it fell over another branch, and there were seeds or vegetables below that were still attached to the ground (and they got wet), Beis Shammai say that ki yutan applies to them while Beis Hillel say that it doesn’t. Rabbi Yehoshua said in the name of Abba Yosi Choli-Kofri of Tivon that one should wonder if there’s any liquid in the Torah that renders food susceptible to ritual impurity other than that which a person places on food intentionally as per Leviticus 11:38, “If water is placed on seed….”

Machshirin 1:4

If one shakes a bunch of vegetables in order to remove water from them and it goes from the top of the vegetables to the bottom, Beis Shammai say that ki yutan applies and Beis Hillel say that it doesn’t. Beis Hillel asked Beis Shammai: if one shakes a stalk, is he careful to keep the water from traveling leaf to leaf? Beis Shammai replied that a stalk is one vegetable (so ki yutan doesn’t apply), while a bunch is many vegetables (so it does). Beis Hillel responded: What if a person pulls out a bag of fruit that fell in the river and puts it on the shore – is one careful to keep the water from traveling from the top to the bottom? However, if one retrieved two such bags and put one on top of the other, then ki yutan applies to the one on the bottom. Rabbi Yosi, however, rules the contents of the lower bag insusceptible to impurity.

Author: Rabbi Jack Abramowitz