Parah, Chapter 12, Mishnah 10. This chapter deals with the practical details of sprinkling the mei chatas, the waters of the parah adumah, upon a person or a vessel that requires purification. Our mishnah begins with a dispute between Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel about a vessel that has two parts, and then turns to the question of who is qualified to perform the sprinkling.
A lid fastened to a kettle
The mishnah presents the case: "Kisoi mecham shehu mechubar leshalsheles" - the lid of a kettle that is attached to the kettle by a chain. The lid is not simply resting on top; it is physically joined to the body of the vessel. Are the two parts treated as one unit or as two?
The first opinion cited is that of Beis Shammai, who draw a distinction between two areas of halachah. Regarding tumah, the chain renders lid and kettle a single object: "chibur letumah". Regarding the purifying sprinkling, however, they remain independent of one another: "ve'eino chibur lahazayah". The practical result is that tumah reaching the lid spreads to the kettle, and tumah reaching the kettle spreads to the lid, since for that purpose they count as one item. But hazayah performed on one of them accomplishes nothing for the other, which stays tamei until it is sprinkled in its own right.
"Beis Hillel omrim: hiza al hamecham, hiza hakisoi." Beis Hillel hold that here the connection does work in one direction for sprinkling. If he sprinkled upon the kettle, the lid is included and is considered sprinkled as well, since it is attached to the main vessel. But if he sprinkled only upon the lid, the kettle has not been sprinkled.
Who may perform the sprinkling
The mishnah now states a general rule with a short list of exclusions: "Hakol kesheirim lehazos", every person is qualified to sprinkle, "chutz mitumtum ve'androginus", apart from a tumtum and an androginus, and further "ve'isha", a woman, "vetinok she'ein bo da'as". A tumtum is one whose gender cannot be established at all, so that we are unable to classify him as male or as female; an androginus bears the characteristics of both. The final case in the list is a small child who has not yet reached the level of da'as, the awareness needed for what he is doing.
Two requirements emerge from this list. First, the one who sprinkles must have understanding: he has to know what he is doing, which is why a young child who lacks that awareness cannot perform the sprinkling. Second, the pasuk speaks of a man, an ish, and therefore the one who sprinkles must be a man. That is why the woman, the tumtum and the androginus are all excluded.
How much may a woman help?
A woman is disqualified from sprinkling, yet she is not barred from taking part in the preparations. "Ha'isha mesad'aso umazeh": she may arrange matters for him and ready him for the task, and the sprinkling itself is then done by him. She may go further still, as the mishnah adds, "Ve'ochezes lo bamayim", holding the vessel of water in her hands on his behalf, "vehu tovel umazeh", with him immersing the ezov in those waters and carrying out the sprinkling.
There is, however, a limit. "Im achazah beyado, afilu beshas hazayah, pasul." If she took hold of his hand, even only at the actual moment of the sprinkling and not during the dipping or the other preparations, the sprinkling is invalid. Once her hand is joined to his in the act itself, it is as though she participated in the sprinkling, and a woman is not fit to sprinkle.
The Maharam explains this final clause as speaking of a woman who is assisting a child, one who does have understanding and is therefore qualified to sprinkle. She may hold the water for him, but she may not take hold of his hand while he sprinkles. And the same rule certainly applies when she is assisting an adult, exactly as the mishnah has taught us.