Tum'at Met - Chapter 8

When a grave became lost in a field, its earth imparts ritual impurity when one touches or carries it like the earth of a beit hap'ras, for perhaps the grave that was there was crushed and there are bones the size of a barley-corn in its earth. Similarly, one who stands over any portion of the field contracts ritual impurity. If one builds a structure there, everything inside the structure contracts impurity, for perhaps the structure he constructed in that field is constructed over the grave.

The following laws apply when a person built a house and a loft on top of it in such a field. If the entrance to the loft was directly above the entrance to the house, the loft is pure. Even if the grave was under the lintel of the house, the loft is pure, for there is one structure on top of another structure, as will be explained. If they were not directly above each other, the loft is also impure, for perhaps the entrance to the loft is above the grave and thus the loft is projecting over the grave.

It is permitted to sow any type of seeds in this field, because the roots of the plants growing from the seeds do not reach the grave. One should not, however, plant any fruit trees inside of it, because their roots will reach the corpse.

We operate under the presumption that low hills that are close to a town and near to a cemetery or to the road leading to the cemetery, whether ancient or new, are impure, because women bury fetuses that they miscarry there and lepers bury their limbs there. Different rules apply to those hills which are distant from a town. The new ones are pure, but the ancient ones are impure. The rationale is that perhaps they were close to a town that was destroyed or a road that was lost.

What is meant by a hill close to a town? Any hill that does not have another one closer than it. What is meant by an ancient one? One that no one remembers whether there was a cemetery there or not.

The following laws apply to a field for weeping, i.e., a place near a cemetery where women sit and weep over the departed: Even though its earth is pure, because it has not been established that a corpse is buried there, trees should not be planted there, nor should crops be sown there, so as not to have people frequent it, for perhaps a corpse was buried there. Our Sages had this suspicion, because its owner will have despaired of its use, because it is close to the cemetery. Therefore it is possible that a person will come and bury a corpse there.

One may use the earth of such a place to make ovens to cook sacrificial meat, because it has not been established that impurity was there.

When a grave is discovered on one's property, it is permitted to disinter the corpse and rebury it elsewhere. If it was reburied, the place around the first grave is impure and it is forbidden to benefit from it until it is checked, as will be explained. When it is known that a grave is located in a field, it is forbidden to disinter the corpse and rebury it elsewhere. If it was reburied, the place around the first grave is pure and it is permitted to benefit from it.

When a grave causes harm to people at large, the corpse should be disinterred. Its place is impure and it is forbidden to benefit from it.

The following laws apply when a person encounters a meit mitzvah. If he finds it within the city's Sabbath limits, he should bring it to the cemetery. If he found it outside the Sabbath limits, even in a field of saffron, it acquires its place and should be buried where it is found.

If he found it in the public thoroughfare, he should move it to the side. If an uncultivated field was on one side and a plowed field was on the other side, he should bury it in the uncultivated field. If there was a plowed field on one side and a field that had been sown on the other side, he should bury it in the plowed field. If a field that had been sown was on one side and a vineyard on the other side, it should be buried in the field that had been sown. If there was an orchard on one side and a vineyard on the other, he should bury it in the vineyard, because of the impurity of ohel. If both fields were of equal value, he may bury it wherever he chooses.

When a grave is discovered, it imparts impurity retroactively. If someone comes and says: "it is definitely clear to me that there was not a grave here," even if he is speaking about a period twenty years earlier, the grave does not impart impurity except from the time of its discovery onward.

Whenever a person discovers a grave, a corpse, or a portion of a corpse that would impart impurity through ohel, he should designate it, so that it will not create an obstacle for others.

During Chol HaMoed, agents of the court go out to designate the graves. A designation is not made over a portion of a corpse that is exactly the size of an olive, because ultimately, its size will be reduced in the earth.

With what is the designation made? With lime. It should be mixed and poured over the place of the impurity. The designation should not be placed on the exact perimeters of the impurity, but instead, should extend somewhat on either side so as not to ruin pure articles. The designation should not be extended much beyond the place of the impurity so as not to spoil Eretz Yisrael. A designation is not made on places that are definitely known to be used for burial, for their identity is universally known, only on the places that are doubtful, e.g., a field in which a grave was lost, the low-hanging branches of trees, or rocks jutting out from a wall.

When a person discovers a field that has been designated and does not know what the nature of the problem is, he should follow these guidelines. If it does not have trees, he should assume that a grave was lost in it. If it has trees in it, he should assume that a grave was plowed over in it, as will be explained.

When a person finds a stone that is designated, the area under it is impure. Should there be two such stones, if there is lime between them, the area between them is impure. If there is no lime between them, only on top of them, the following laws apply: If there is a shard between them, they are pure, because they are the remnants of a building. If there is no shard between them, and a light layer of lime was smoothed out over their heads on either side, we assume that this is a designation and they are impure.

If one boundary line of a field is designated, it is impure and the remainder of the field is pure. This applies also if a second or a third boundary line is designated. If all four boundary lines are designated, they are pure and the entire field is impure, for the sign should not be placed far from the place of the impurity.