Siman - Pesachim Daf 20
- Chibas hakodesh does not act as a machshir
On Daf 19A, Rebbe Chanina Sgan HaKohanim testified concerning a needle discovered in the flesh of a slaughtered korban that while the hands and knife are tahor, הבשר טמא – the flesh is tamei. The Gemara asks, האי בשר דאיתכשר במאי – What was machshir the flesh to make to give it the ability to be mekabel tumah? After the first two suggestions were rejected the Gemara suggests, דאיתכשר בחיבת הקודש – It was machshir through the esteem for holy things. Whereas the external moisture on food gives it the finishing touch that gives it the status of food, the special esteem in which kodesh is held elevates it to the status of food thereby enabling it to be mekabel tumah without the addition of moisture.
The Gemara rejects this answer since chibas hakodesh effects tumah only in regard to making the kodesh itself unfit for consumption, but not to act as a machshir to giving something else the capacity to be mekabel tumah. The Gemara concludes that the case was where the owner brought the korban through a river and it was still moist at the time of shechitah.
- How a sheretz is metamei a kli
The Gemara brings a Mishnah from Keilim that states, שרץ שנמצא בתנור – If a sheretz was found in an oven, הפת שבתוכו שניה מפני שהתנור תחילה – the bread in the oven is a sheini, because the oven is a rishon. Rav Adda bar Ahava said to Rava, נחזי להאי תנור כמאן דמלי טומאה דמי – Let us view the oven as though it is full of tumah (from the sheretz) and let the bread become a rishon through “contact” with this tumah?
Rava answered that one should not think that the oven is full of tumah, as it was taught in the following Baraisa that one might think that all keilim can be mekabel tumah through being in the airspace of an earthenware vessel, the Torah therefore states, כל אשר בתוכו יטמא – anything that is inside (the vessel) shall be tamei, and states immediately after the following qualification, מכל האוכל – of any food. This teaches that foods and beverages can contract tumah through the airspace of a kli cheres but not keilim. Now if we would view the vessel as though it is full of tumah, a kli would be able to be mekabel tumah through being in the airspace, for since it touches the air, it would be considered as if it touched the sheretz itself. Therefore, it must be the vessel is tamei because it contains a sheretz, making the kli a rishon, which in turn makes the food and beverage within it a sheini.
- Takala
The Gemara notes that there is a machlokes about תקלה, that one must take measures so as not to commit an aveira. It was taught in a Baraisa, חבית של יין של תרומה שנטמאת – Concerning a cask of terumah wine that became tamei, Beis Shamai say, תשפך חבל – it should be spilled out in volume. Rashi explains that we must spill it out at once and do not allow it to be used for sprinkling in small increments out of concern one might accidentally drink from it. Beis Hillel says, תעשה זילוף – it should be used for sprinkling for the purpose of spreading its aroma. Rebbe Yishmael attempts to tip the balance between these two views but his attempt is rejected.
