Today we continue our study of Maseches Keilim and complete the twenty-ninth chapter. We will learn the eighth Mishnah, which concludes the chapter, and from there we will turn to the thirtieth chapter - the final chapter of the tractate.
"Shiyarei charchur milmatan shivah":
We learned in chapter 25, Mishnah 2, about the mardea - a long pole used in plowing. At one end a nail called a darvan is fixed, whose function is to guide the animal and keep it on its course in the desired direction. At the other end a metal blade called a charchur is fixed, which is used to dig out the earth beneath the plow and to clean off the clumps of soil that stick to it.
The Mishnah teaches that if the mardea broke and the lower portion of it remained, the part facing the charchur side, with the charchur attached at its end - if it is seven tefachim long, all of those seven tefachim are considered a connection to the charchur. Less than seven tefachim is not considered a connection, since it has no use. This is the view of some of the commentators on the Mishnayos, in line with their approach to understanding the Mishnah in chapter 25. It is worth noting that there are different approaches to explaining the phrase "shiyarei charchur milmatan shivah," and the approach presented here is that of the Tiferes Yisrael.
"Yad magreifah shel baalei batim":
The magreifah is an implement that rakes and brushes the ashes out of the oven, as well as the plaster and whatever accumulates at its bottom. Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel disagree about the length of handle that is considered a connection to the magreifah:
A magreifah of homeowners: Beis Shammai say that seven tefachim are considered a connection, and Beis Hillel say eight.
A magreifah of plasterers - professionals whose job is to clean the lime and plaster out of the oven, and who presumably need a longer handle: Beis Shammai say nine tefachim, and Beis Hillel say ten.
"Yaser mikan, im ratzu lekayem - tamei":
To what do these words refer? There are two approaches on this question:
The approach of the Bartenura: The phrase "yaser mikan" refers to the magreifah alone - a plasterers' magreifah whose handle is longer than ten tefachim according to Beis Hillel, or a homeowners' magreifah whose handle is longer than eight tefachim according to Beis Hillel. If a person wished, for whatever reason, to keep a handle longer than the prescribed measure, the entire handle - even at a length of twelve, fifteen or twenty tefachim - is considered a connection and is susceptible to tumah.
The approach of other commentators: The words "yaser mikan" do not refer only to the immediately preceding case and to the dispute of Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel between a homeowners' magreifah and a plasterers' magreifah. Rather, they reach all the way back to Mishnah 4, to the cord of a scale used for weighing gold coins, and they teach a general rule: the measures that were listed - three fingerbreadths, a tefach, two tefachim, three tefachim, ten tefachim - are the ordinary measures; but if a person wished, for whatever reason, to have a longer handle, a longer cord or a longer extension, he is permitted to do so, and it is all considered a connection with no limit on length.
"V'yad meshamshei ha'ur - kol shehu":
With this the Mishnah concludes, and with it chapter 29 comes to a close. The reference is to the handles of implements used to stoke a fire: a long pan in which one fries over the fire, or a spit - a long rod, part of which turns over the fire to roast a bird and the like. These handles need to be very long, since a person does not want to come close to the fire. Therefore, with implements that are used directly in the fire, any length at all is considered a connection, since a person seeks to keep himself as far from the fire as possible.
In summary: In this Mishnah we learned the measure of the remnants of the ox-goad (mardea) that are considered connected to the charchur, the dispute between Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel regarding the length of the handle of a rake belonging to householders and to plasterers, the two approaches to explaining "yaser mikan im ratzu lekayem tamei", and the rule that the handles of implements used with fire are considered connected no matter how long they are.
With this we have completed twenty nine chapters of Maseches Keilim, a lengthy tractate, and from here we will begin the thirtieth chapter - the final chapter of the tractate.