Rambam - 3 Chapters a Day

All bundles of vegetables in the marketplaces and all the flour and fine flour in the marketplaces can be assumed to have been made susceptible to ritual impurity: the bundles of vegetables, because it is common practice to continually sprinkle water upon them and flour and fine flour, because the kernels of grain are washed and afterwards, they are ground. Similarly, when kernels of wheat are crushed in a mill into two or three pieces in order to be cooked as groats or the like, it can be assumed that they were made susceptible to ritual impurity in all places, whether they are from the marketplaces or from private homes, because they are washed to remove their shells.

All of the above that are assumed to have become susceptible to ritual impurity are also assumed to have contracted impurity, because everyone touches them and they have already become susceptible to impurity. In all such situations, the word of an unlearned person is accepted if he says: "They were not made susceptible to impurity." Needless to say, with regard to other foods about which such assumptions are not made, the word of an unlearned person is accepted if he says: "They were not made susceptible to impurity."

It is assumed that all fish have been made susceptible to ritual impurity. In this instance, if an unlearned person says that they were not made susceptible to impurity, his word is not accepted. For this reason, fish are always assumed to be impure.

Whether fish are caught in a large net, a small net, or a snare, if it was not turned over upon them, they do not become susceptible to impurity. If it is turned over upon them, they do become susceptible to impurity. The word of an unlearned person is not accepted if he says: "I did not turn the snare over upon them." It is assumed that they are impure unless one had the intent to catch them in a state of purity.

It is assumed that all fish brine has been made susceptible to ritual impurity. When even the slightest amount of water falls into pure fish brine, the entire mixture is considered as a liquid. It makes substances susceptible to ritual impurity and it itself can contract the impurity that affects liquids. Therefore it is assumed to be impure.

If wine, honey, or milk fall into fish brine, the ruling is determined by the majority of the mixture. Similarly, if fruit juices become mixed with liquids that are susceptible to impurity aside from water, the ruling is determined by the majority of the mixture. If the fruit juice becomes mixed with even the slightest amount of water, the entire mixture is considered as a liquid that imparts impurity and it is susceptible to contracting impurity as liquids do and it makes other foods susceptible to impurity.

Brine from unkosher locusts does not make foods susceptible to impurity, but it does contract the impurity associated with liquids.

When a person purchases fish brine from an unlearned person, he can make it pure by connecting it to the water of a mikveh. The rationale is as follows: If the majority of the brine is water, the water regains purity because of the mikveh. If the majority is fish brine, it is not susceptible to impurity and the water within the mixture is considered as negligible because of the small amount that is present.

When does the above apply? When one seeks to dip bread in the mixture. If, however, one seeks to cook it in a pot containing water, one type finds its fellow and it becomes significant. Thus the majority of the water is impure, since the minimal amount that was in the brine was not purified in a mikveh.

Produce is always considered as pure, even if the seller is a gentile unless it is known that they became susceptible to impurity through contact with water or are from the types of produce that we can assume became susceptible to impurity.

In all places, sumach berries can be assumed to be impure. Similarly, all zucchini, squash, and other vegetables that are hung by reeds at the entrance to stores can be assumed to have been susceptible to impurity and to have contracted impurity.

All that is written in the Torah and the words of Scripture concerning the laws of ritual purity and impurity apply only with regard to the Sanctuary, sacrifices consecrated for it, terumah, and the second tithe. For individuals who are ritually impure were warned against entering the Sanctuary or partaking of sacrificial foods, terumah, or the second tithe while impure. There is no prohibition at all against partaking of ordinary foods while impure. Instead, it is permitted to eat ordinary foods that are impure and partake of ordinary beverages that are impure. Behold, it is written in the Torah Leviticus 7:19: "The meat that will come in contact with any impurity should not be eaten." It can be inferred that that it is permissible to partake of ordinary foods while impure, because the verse is speaking only about sacrificial foods.

If so, what is the intent of the statement: Ordinary food that is a primary derivative of impurity is impure and that which is a secondary derivative is disqualified?. The intent is not that the food itself is forbidden to be eaten, instead, its status is important only when counting levels with regard to terumah and sacrificial foods. For if ordinary food that is a secondary derivative of impurity touches terumah, it disqualifies it and causes it to be considered as a tertiary derivative. Similarly, if it touches sacrificial food, it imparts impurity to it and causes it to be considered as a tertiary derivative, as we explained. Similarly, if a person who ate ordinary food that was a secondary derivative of impurity touches terumah, he disqualifies it.

Just as it is permitted to eat impure ordinary food and drink impure ordinary beverages, so too, it is permitted to impart impurity to ordinary food in Eretz Yisrael. Even as an initial preference, one may impart impurity to food from which terumah and the tithes were separated.

Similarly, it is permissible for a person to touch all sources of impurity and contract impurity from them. This is evident from the fact that the Torah warned a priest and a nazirite from becoming impure through contact with a human corpse. One can infer from this that all other members of the people are permitted. Moreover, even priests and nazirites are permitted to contract impurity from all other sources of impurity with the exception of a human corpse.

All Israelites are warned to be pure on every pilgrimage festival, because at that time, they are ready to enter the Sanctuary and partake of consecrated foods. The Torah's statement Leviticus 11:8: "You shall not touch their carcasses," applies only on the festivals. Moreover, if a person does contract impurity, he is not liable for lashes. During the remainder of the year, one is not prohibited at all.

"The impure and the pure may partake of it" [Deuteronomy 12:22. According to the Oral Tradition, it was taught: an impure person and a pure person may eat from the same plate. Nevertheless, a husband may not eat from the same plate as his wife when she is in the nidah state, nor may he drink with her, nor may he pour her a cup of beverage for her, as we explained. Similarly, a zav should not eat with a zavah because familiarity may lead to sin, for perhaps they will engage in intimate relations.

Even though it is permitted to eat impure foods and drink impure beverages, the pious men of the early generations would partake of their ordinary food in a state of ritual purity and would avoid all of the sources of impurity throughout their lives. They are called perushim.

This is an extra measure of holiness and a path to piety: to be separate from people at large, to hold oneself apart from them, not to touch them, nor eat and drink with them. For setting oneself apart leads to the purification of the body from wicked actions. Purifying one's body leads to sanctifying one's soul from wicked character traits. And the holiness of the soul causes one to resemble the Divine presence, as Leviticus 11:44 states: "And you shall make yourselves holy; and you shall be holy, because I, God, Who makes you holy, am holy."

Blessed be God who grants assistance.

Introduction to Hilchos Kelim

The purpose of this collection of laws is to know which keilim are susceptible to any of these types of impurity, those keilim which are not susceptible to impurity, and how keilim contract and impart impurity.

This concept is explained in the ensuing chapters.

There are seven types of keilim that are susceptible to impurity according to Scriptural Law. They are: clothes, keilim from sackcloth, leather keilim, keilim made from bone, metal keilim, wooden keilim, and earthenware keilim. For Leviticus 11:32 states: "From all wooden implements, garments, leather articles, or sackcloth." And with regard to metal utensils, Numbers 31:22 states: "But the gold and the silver...." And with regard to earthenware utensils, Leviticus 11:33 states: "And every earthenware container into whose inner space one of them will fall, everything inside of it will contract impurity and the container should be broken."

According to the Oral Tradition, it was taught that the Torah's statement Numbers 31:20: "And anything made from goats" includes keilim made from the horns, hooves, and bones of goats. The same applies to keilim made from the body parts of other domesticated and undomesticated animals. keilim made from the bones of fowl, by contrast, are not susceptible to impurity with the sole exception of keilim made from the wings of an osprey and an ostrich egg that was coated. Since they resemble bones, they are susceptible to ritual impurity as a bone implement is. It appears to me that their impurity is of Rabbinic origin.

Keilim that are fashioned from the bones or the hide of sea-animals are pure. Everything from the sea is pure and is not susceptible to any form of impurity, including the impurity stemming from articles that contracted impurity from a zav. Even if one weaves a garment with "wool" growing in the sea, it is not susceptible to impurity.

This is implied by the phrase: "garments or leather articles." According to the Oral Tradition, it was taught "Just as it is only a garment that comes from plants that grow on the earth that is susceptible to ritual impurity, so too, only leather keilim that come from plants that grow on the earth are susceptible to ritual impurity.

The following law applies if one connected fabric from plants that grow in the sea with fabric from plants that grow on the earth, even if only by a thread or a fringe. If they were connected in a way that they are considered a single entity with regard to ritual impurity, i.e., if one became impure, the other became impure, the entire entity becomes susceptible to impurity.

It appears to me that utensils made from the skin of a fowl are not susceptible to impurity like its bones. One might object, saying: Such skin is acceptable to have tefillin written upon it like the hide of a domesticated or undomesticated animal. [That objection can be refuted as follows:] The skin of a fish is not susceptible to ritual impurity. [Nevertheless,] were it not for its filth which never ceases, it would be acceptable to be used for tefillin. Thus it is derived that even an entity that is not susceptible to ritual impurity is acceptable to be used for tefillin if it is not characterized by filth.

Glass keilim are not susceptible to ritual impurity according to Scriptural Law. Our Sages decreed that they would be susceptible to impurity. The rationale is that since, at the outset, they are made from sand like earthenware utensils, they are considered as earthenware utensils. Since their inside can be seen like their outside, the Sages did not decree that they would contract impurity from their inner space. Instead, the impurity must touch them, whether on the inside or the outside, as is true with regard to metal utensils. They did not establish this decree with regard to flat glass keilim, only those that serve as containers. Once such containers contract impurity, they cannot be purified in a mikveh. Terumah and sacrificial food is not burnt after contact with them, for it was decreed only that their state would be held in abeyance.

Utensils made from animal turds, stone, or earth are always pure. They are not susceptible to any form of impurity, nor to the impurity that stems from articles that contracted impurity from a zav, neither according to Scriptural Law, nor according to Rabbinic Law, neither flat keilim, nor containers.

When an elephant swallows thin branches and then excretes them as feces, if one fashions utensils from them, their status is unresolved. It was not determined whether they are considered as utensils made from feces or utensils made from wood as they would have been had they not been swallowed. When, however, a basket that had contracted impurity was swallowed by an elephant and was excreted as feces, it remains impure.

Flat earthenware utensils, e.g., a lamp, a chair, a table, or the like made of earthenware are not susceptible to any of the types of impurity, nor to the impurity that stems from articles that contracted impurity from a zav, neither according to Scriptural Law, nor according to Rabbinic Law, as implied by the phrase, Leviticus 11:33: "Into whose inner space one of them will fall." One can infer that any earthenware utensil that has a receptacle is susceptible to impurity. If it does not have a receptacle, it is pure.

Metal keilim, whether flat, like knives or scissors, or containers like pots or kettles, are all susceptible to ritual impurity, as implied by Numbers 31:23: "Any entity that will pass through fire," i.e., whether a container or a flat implement. Even a chest or a drawer, or the like that are made from metal and which contain 40 se'ah of liquid measure or more are susceptible to ritual impurity, as implied by the phrase: "Any entity that will pass through fire."

Containers made from wood, leather, or bone, e.g., a kneading trough, a drinking pouch, or the like, are susceptible to ritual impurity according to Scriptural Law. Keilim made from wood, leather, or bone that are flat, e.g., tablets, a chair, a leather mat on which one eats, and the like, by contrast, are susceptible to ritual impurity only according to Rabbinic Law, as implied by the phrase: "From all wooden keilim... or sackcloth." According to the Oral Tradition, it was taught: "Just as the sackcloth which is susceptible to ritual impurity has a receptacle, so too, keilim made from all the other substances mentioned must have a receptacle. keilim made from bone are governed by the same laws as those made from wood in all matters.

When does the statement that flat utensils made from these substances are susceptible to impurity only according to Rabbinic Law apply? With regard to all impurities other than the impurity contracted from a support that contracted impurity from a zav. With regard to the impurity resulting from a support that contracted impurity from a zav or others like him, they contract impurity according to Scriptural Law, as implied by Leviticus 15:4: "Any surface on which one lies upon which a zav will lie." This includes everything made to lie upon or ride upon, as we explained. Similarly, glass keilim made to lie upon contract impurity according to Rabbinic Law.

Any article that is woven, whether from wool, from linen, hemp, silk, or other fabrics that grow on land, is called a garment with regard to impurity. Felt is like a garment with regard to all matters.

Sackcloth refers to threads of hair that are braided like a chain or woven like garments, whether they are made from goats' hair, camels' wool, the hairs of a tail of a horse or cow or the like. This applies whether they are woven like sacks or braided like a band for donkeys or the like. Ropes or strands, whether they are spun from goats' hair or from wool or linen are not susceptible to ritual impurity on their own accord.

All utensils that are fashioned from reeds, from willow-branches, from bulrushes, from date branches, from leaves and branches, the bark of the tree, and grasses, e.g., small baskets, large baskets, rugs, or mats are all considered as wooden utensils, for anything that grows from the earth is considered as wood.

The same laws that govern earthenware utensils govern sandstone utensils. Any utensil that is made from earth or sand and is then burnt in a kiln is considered as an earthenware utensil. An oven, a range, a stove or the like, i.e., structures in which food is baked or cooked, all are susceptible to ritual impurity according to Scriptural Law. The laws governing their impurity are the same as those governing that of an earthenware utensil.

Whenever a person makes a receptacle, it is susceptible to impurity according to Scriptural Law regardless of its size. There is no minimum measure for a receptacle, provided it is made from a lasting substance that will be maintained.

What is implied? When a person makes a utensil from a hide that was not processed at all, from paper, even though the paper itself is not susceptible to impurity, or from the shells of pomegranates, nuts, or acorns, even if children hollowed out the shells to measure earth or they were prepared to be used for scales, the utensils are susceptible to ritual impurity. The rationale is that the deeds of a child, a deafmute, a mentally or emotionally compromised person and a minor are halachically significant, although their intent is not halachically significant.

If, however, one makes a utensil from a dried turnip, esrog, or squash, hollowing them out to measure with them or the like, they are pure, for it is impossible that they will last longer than a short while.

All of the following - the horizontal rod of a scale and a leveling rod that have a receptacle where metal can be placed, a peddler's pole that has a receptacle where coins can be stored, a wooden pole that has a place where water is stored, a staff that has a receptacle for a mezuzah or a place for a pearl, a wooden sharpener that has a receptacle for oil, a wooden writing tablet that has a receptacle for wax - are susceptible to ritual impurity according to Scriptural Law, because they have a receptacle, even though it may be of the smallest size.

According to Scriptural Law, it is only the receptacle that these keilim contain and the part of the k'li that serves the receptacle and that the receptacle requires that is susceptible to impurity. The remainder of a flat k'li that is not necessary for the receptacle, is pure according to Scriptural Law. It is susceptible to impurity according to Rabbinic Law, as we explained.

When a receptacle is intended to be filled, it is not considered as a receptacle. What is implied? When a receptacle is hollowed out from a block of wood and then a metal anvil is inserted into it, if it is a blacksmith's, it is not susceptible to ritual impurity. Although it has a receptacle, it was made to be filled. Similar laws apply in all analogous situations.

If the anvil was for jewelers, the k'li is susceptible to ritual impurity, because whenever they desire, they lift up the iron and collect the filings of gold and silver that collect there, under the anvil. Thus the hollow is meant to serve as a receptacle. Similar laws apply in all analogous situations.

When a cup is carved below the legs of beds, chests, and the like, even though it is a receptacle, it is pure. It is considered as if it does not have a receptacle, because it is not intended to collect anything, but rather to support furniture.

A hollow piece of straw is susceptible to impurity like any wooden k'li that is susceptible to impurity even if it can only take in one drop. A hollow reed is not susceptible to impurity until all the white sap in it is removed. If it was not cut for the sake of taking in other substances, it is considered like other flat wooden keilim. The hollow stems of gall and the like are not considered as keilim, but rather as foods.

When one cuts a straw, inserted a mezuzah inside of it, and then placed it inside a wall, it is susceptible to impurity even if he placed it in the wall with its open part pointed downward. If he affixed it to the wall, affixing it with its open part pointed upward, it is susceptible to impurity. If the open part is pointed downward, it is pure.

Should one place the straw in the wall and then insert the mezuzah inside, if the open part was pointing upward, it is susceptible to impurity. If the open part is pointing downward, it is pure. If he affixed it to the wall, even if its open part is pointing upward, it is pure.

The following laws apply to a k'li that is made by weaving pieces of wood or sh'am for the purpose of spreading clothes over it while incense is burned below it so that they become fragrant. If it was made like a beehive that has no base, it is pure. if it has an opening where a covering can be placed, it is susceptible to impurity.

A metal foot-covering for an animal is impure. If it is made from sh'am, it is pure, because that is not considered as a receptacle.

When a person bundles a pearl in a hide and, after he removes it, a hollow is left, it is susceptible to impurity until it is smoothed out. For any container is considered a receptacle if it can hold even the slightest amount and, in the above instance, something resembling a small pocket is left. If, however, one bundles coins in a hide, it is not susceptible to impurity, because such a bundle does not have the form of a container at all.