Siman - Shabbos Daf 95

• Braiding is the melacha of boneh

Rebbe Abahu said it was explained to him in the name of Rebbe Yosi Bar Rebbe Chanina, that one who braids or fixes her hair on Shabbos, is liable for boneh, building.

The Gemara asks if braiding can be considered building. The Gemara brings a proof that it is, from Rebbe Shimon ben Menasya who explained the passuk, ויבן ה' אלקים את הצלע – And Hashem, G-d, built the side He had taken from the man (into a woman), that HaKadosh Baruch Hu braided Chava’s hair and brought her to Adam, for in the cities by the sea they call a braider a בנייתא, a builder.

• עציץ נקוב

The next Mishnah states that if one plucks a plant from an עציץ נקוב, a perforated flowerpot, on Shabbos, he is liable, but he is exempt if it was unperforated. Rebbe Shimon says one is exempt in both cases.

Rashi explains that according to the Tanna Kamma, in the case of the perforated pot, since the plant draws nourishment from the ground, it is considered attached to the ground. Plucking it would therefore violate the melacha of תולש, plucking, which a toldah of קוצר, harvesting.

• Five different measures of perforations

Rava said there are five different measures with regards to perforations in an earthenware kli:

1.A hole large enough to let out a liquid, will render a shard no longer susceptible to tumah since it no longer has a use.

2.A larger hole, that will enable a liquid to seep in, will render a kli unfit to be used for the mei chatas , because the passuk says that a “kli” needs to be used for the mei chatas, and this size hole makes it that it is not considered a proper kli.

3.A larger hole, the size of a small root, makes the kli an עציץ נקוב, a perforated pot, and the seeds inside are therefore considered attached to the ground, and cannot become tamei.

4.A larger hole, the size of an olive, will render an earthenware vessel no longer susceptible to tumah since it is typically no longer useable. However, if someone designates the kli, to store pomegranates, then they are still mekabel tumah.

5.A hole the size of pomegranate will render a kli  no longer susceptible to tumah, even if it was designated to be used to hold pomegranates. However, if iit is surrounded by a sealed cover, and it is inside a tent together with a dead person, it will prevent tumah from entering the interior, unless the majority of the kli is broken.

Rashi explains that tumah can only enter a kli through an opening, and not through a hole in its side.