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Perek 3

Mishnayos Kerisos Perek 3 Mishnah 8

כריתות פרק ג׳ משנה ח׳

8
And furthermore, Rabbi Akiva asked Rabban Gamliel and Rabbi Yehoshua in the meat market of Emmaus: What is the status of a dangling limb of an animal? Does it impart ritual impurity like a severed limb? They said to Rabbi Akiva: We have not heard a ruling from our teachers in that specific case, but we have heard with regard to a dangling limb of a person that it is ritually pure. And in this manner would the people afflicted with boils, whose limbs were dangling due to their affliction, act in Jerusalem: Each of them would go on Passover eve to the doctor, who would cut the affected limb almost completely until he would leave it connected by a hairbreadth of flesh, so that neither the doctor nor the afflicted would be rendered ritually impure by a severed limb. Then, the doctor would impale the limb on a thorn attached to the floor or the wall, and the afflicted would pull away from the thorn, thereby completely severing the limb. And that person afflicted with boils would perform the rite of his Paschal offering, and the doctor would perform the rite of his Paschal offering, as neither had come into contact with the limb once it was severed. In any case, as long as it was dangling, the limb did not impart impurity. And I consider that these matters can be derived from an a fortiori inference. If a person’s limb, the impurity of which when amputated is severe, does not impart impurity when it is dangling, it is all the more so logical that an animal’s limb, the impurity of which when amputated is lenient, does not impart impurity when it is dangling.

וְעוֹד שְׁאָלָן רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא. אֵבָר הַמְדֻלְדָּל בִּבְהֵמָה, מַהוּ. אָמְרוּ לוֹ, לֹא שָׁמַעְנוּ. אֲבָל שָׁמַעְנוּ בְּאֵבָר הַמְדֻלְדָּל בְּאָדָם, שֶׁהוּא טָהוֹר. שֶׁכָּךְ הָיוּ מֻכֵּי שְׁחִין שֶׁבִּירוּשָׁלַיִם עוֹשִׂין, הוֹלֵךְ לוֹ עֶרֶב פֶּסַח אֵצֶל הָרוֹפֵא וְחוֹתְכוֹ עַד שֶׁהוּא מַנִּיחַ בּוֹ כִשְׂעֹרָה, וְתוֹחֲבוֹ בְסִירָה, וְהוּא נִמְשָׁךְ מִמֶּנּוּ, וְהַלָּה עוֹשֶׂה פִסְחוֹ, וְהָרוֹפֵא עוֹשֶׂה פִסְחוֹ. וְרוֹאִין אָנוּ שֶׁהַדְּבָרִים קַל וָחֹמֶר:

ח׳

אבר המדולדל בבהמה – most of it is detached and part of it is interwoven.

מהו – that he should become defiled because of [the prohibition of] a limb from a living animal, as if it was detached completely, but we hold in [Tractate Hullin, Chapter 9, Mishnah 8] “The Flesh and the Juice,” that a limb from a living animal defiles like a carrion. But a limb that is detached completely from a human being completely defiles like the dead person.

באבר המדולדל באדם – that it is partly interwoven, it is ritually pure.

מוכי שחין (afflicted with boils) - that their limbs are falling.

וחותכה – not because of ritual purity, for before this, it is also ritually pure, but rather so that it is not detestable on the Festival with a dangling limb.

שמניח בו כשערה – but doesn’t cut it off completely, so as to not defile the person who cuts it (i.e., the doctor) when he touches it at the time of its separation.

ותוחבו – to the limb.

בסירה – with a thorn that is attached the ground.

והוא – the sick person.

נמשך – and the limb is torn away on its own, and the sick person is not ritually impure because he pulls himself with strength at one clip and the limb is detached from im with power and there is no contact at the time of separation.

שהדברים קל וחומר – for just as a person is susceptible to ritual defilement while alive, the dangling limb from him is ritually pure, an animal which is not susceptible to ritual impurity while alive, is it not the case that the limb that is dangling from it is ritually pure?

אבר המדולדל בבהמה. תלוש רובו ומעורה במקצתו:

מהו. שיטמא משום אבר מן החי כאילו נתלש לגמרי. וקיימא לן בהעור והרוטב, דאבר מן החי מטמא כנבילה. ואבר הנתלש מן האדם לגמרי מטמא כמת:

באבר המדולדל באדם. שמעורה קצת, טהור:

מוכי שחין. שאבריהן נופלין:

וחותכה. לא משום טהרה, שקודם לכן נמי טהור. אלא שלא יהא מאוס ברגל באבר המדולדל:

שמניח בו כשערה. ואינו חותכו לגמרי, שלא יטמא את החותכו שנוגע בו בשעת פרישה:

ותוחבו. לאבר:

בסירה. בקוץ המחובר לקרקע:

והוא. החולה:

נמשך. ונתלש האבר מאליו. והחולה אינו טמא לפי שמושך עצמו בכח בבת אחת והאבר נתלש ממנו בכח וליכא נגיעה בשעת פרישה:

שהדברים קל וחומר. ומה אדם שמקבל טומאה מחיים, האבר המדולדל ממנו טהור, בהמה שאינה מקבלת טומאה מחיים אינו דין שיהא האבר המדולדל ממנה טהור: