Keilim, Chapter 16, Mishnah 7. Our chapter continues to sort through utensils of leather and of wood, asking of each one whether it is the kind of object that can take on tum'ah at all. The Mishnah here begins with a short list of four items that remain tahor, then turns to two covers whose halachah differs from one another, then presents a long list of eighteen more items that are tahor, and finally supplies the principle that ties the whole discussion together.
Four items that remain tahor
"Hamalkot shel bakar": the leather blinders placed over the eyes of an ox as it threshes, so that it will not be drawn away from its work by whatever it sees around it. "Vehachasam shelo": the rope muzzle that goes over the animal's mouth. "Vehamadaf shel devorim": a flat strip of leather laid beneath a beehive in order to clear the bees out of it. The beekeeper who wished to gather the honey would set this leather underneath the hive and kindle something below, and the rising smoke would drive the bees away. "Vehaminfeh": a leather fan, which a person would wave to cool himself on a hot day.
"Harei eilu tehorim": all four are tahor and cannot receive tum'ah. Each of them is flat, and none of them forms any sort of receptacle that holds something inside it.
A utensil that serves another utensil
At the end of the Mishnah a general principle will be stated, and it is worth having it in hand from the start. There are objects that in their own right would not be susceptible to tum'ah at all, and yet they take on tum'ah on the level of a decree of the Sages because of the service they render to another utensil. The condition is that the service be constant: the item must accompany the other utensil both while that utensil is in use and while it is not in use. The lid of a pot is the classic case, and it is regarded as belonging to the utensil it serves. If, however, the item attends to the other utensil only during the time that the other one is actually in use, it stays tahor.
Two lids now come before us, and the ruling on each one turns out differently. "Kisuy shel kufsa tamei": a woman's little ornament box has a separate lid, made either of wood or of leather, and that lid is susceptible to tum'ah. Why? Because it is placed over the box to shut it even at a time when there is nothing stored inside, so halachah views it as one with the box it serves. "Kisuy kamtera tahor": the lid of a chest in which clothing is kept is a different matter. The chest itself is capable of contracting tum'ah, but the lid does not share that status, since it does not remain with the chest permanently; when there is nothing inside, people ordinarily do not leave the lid sitting on it.
Eighteen items of wood and leather that are tahor
The Mishnah proceeds to list eighteen more utensils of leather and wood that are all tahor, some for the very reason we just saw regarding the cover of the clothing chest, and some for reasons of their own.
- "Kisuy teivah": a lid that belongs to a plain box.
- "Kisuy teni": the lid that closes a basket woven of reeds.
- "Vehamachbesh shel charash": the clamp with which a carpenter presses down his work.
- "Vehakesset shetachat hateivah": the leather cushion laid underneath a wooden box so that it should not decay; "vehakimron shelah": the arched covering spread over that same box to keep the rain off it.
- "Ve'angilin shel sefer": the leather wrapper in which a scroll is held so that it should not be ruined.
- "Beit haneger": the leather sheath of a door bolt; "beit hamanul": the leather sheath of a lock; "uveit hamezuzah": the metal container into which a mezuzah is placed.
- "Vetik nevalin": the holder of a nevel; "vetik kinorot": the holder of a kinor. Each one shields the stringed instrument kept inside it from harm.
- "Veha'imum shel godlei mitznefot": the wooden block over which turban makers formed their headwear.
- "Vehamarkof shel zamar": the wooden horse figure that a performer would use while he sang.
- "Udevit shel ayalit": the instrument played by a woman whose trade was wailing at funerals.
- "Vehaginugnit he'ani": a pauper's satchel, holding whatever little he owned.
- "Vesamchot hamitah": the wooden props set beneath a bed's frame to hold it up.
- "Utefus shel tefillah": the wooden form on which the compartment of the tefillin was shaped.
- "Ve'imum shel osei sutot": the dummy that garment weavers used, upon which they wove the clothing.
"Harei eilu tehorim": all of these remain tahor.
The general rule
"Zeh hakelal": the Mishnah closes by giving us a rule, taught in the name of Rabi Yose. "Kol meshamshei meshamshav shel adam", every article that assists an article which itself assists a person, "bish'at melachah", accompanying it at the hour it is put to work, "veshelo bish'at melachah", and no less when it is standing idle, "tamei", such an article is able to contract tum'ah. That is exactly the reasoning behind the lid of the ornament box, which is closed over the box whether or not there is anything lying inside.
And the reverse: "vechol she'eino", anything that is found with the other utensil "ela bish'at melachah", only at the hour when that utensil is actually being put to work, "tahor", stays outside the laws of tum'ah. Such is the lid of the clothing chest, which people do not leave sitting on the chest once there is nothing stored in it.
With this single principle the Mishnah accounts for the long list before it. An accessory that is bound up with its utensil at every hour has become part of that utensil and shares its halachah; an accessory that appears only at the moment of use has never joined it, and stands outside the laws of tum'ah altogether.