Kilayim, Chapter 9, Mishnah 10 - this is the final mishnah of Tractate Kilayim. Nowadays, when someone brings a garment to the laundry, and sometimes to a tailor as well, he finds a tag or a number attached to it in order to identify its owner. This practice was common in ancient times too: when someone brought a garment to a weaver or a launderer, they would sew a mark into it with loose stitches, a mark that identified the garment as his.
"Osos ha-gardin ve-osos ha-kovsin":
The Mishnah rules: "Osos ha-gardin ve-osos ha-kovsin asuros mishum kilayim" - the marks sewn by the gardin, that is, the weavers, and likewise the marks used by the launderers, are forbidden on account of kilayim. In other words, the mark may not be made of wool in a linen garment, or the reverse.
What counts as a 'connection'?
The Mishnah now discusses what constitutes a connection between wool and linen: "Ha-tochef techifah achas - einah chibbur" - if one sews only a single stitch, passing the thread through one hole a single time, this is not a connection. This ruling has implications in three areas of halachah:
Regarding tumah and taharah: a single passage of thread does not join two separate garments to one another, and therefore if someone who is tamei touched one of them, this has no effect on the second garment.
Regarding kilayim: "ve-ein bah mishum kilayim" - there is no problem here of shaatnez, the subject of our tractate.
Regarding Shabbos: "ve-hashomtah beShabbos patur" - one who undoes the stitch on Shabbos is exempt. Even though tearing or cutting in order to sew constitutes a forbidden labor on Shabbos, here he is exempt, since from the outset this is not considered attached.
By contrast: "Asah shnei rasheha le-tzad echad" - when both ends of the thread are on the same side, meaning that the thread was passed through twice, this is a connection for all purposes: a connection regarding tumah and taharah, "ve-yeish bah mishum kilayim" - the two garments are considered attached and are forbidden, and "ve-hashomtah beShabbos chayav" - with regard to the labor of tearing.
A dispute among the commentators about tying:
The commentators disagree as to whether the thread must also be tied, and not merely passed through:
According to one view, passing the thread through twice suffices even without tying, and that is considered a connection, and the Mishnah is speaking even where there is no tying. Accordingly, the first case as well - that a single passage is not a connection - is stated where there is no tying, for if he tied the ends together, even a single passage would be considered a connection.
According to the second view, the Mishnah is dealing even with tying: even a single passage together with tying is not a connection, and only two passages together with tying are considered a connection.
The view of Rabbi Yehudah:
"Rabbi Yehudah omer: ad she-yeshalesh" - passing the thread through twice is not enough, and a third passage is required.
"Ha-sak ve-hakupah mitztarfin le-kilayim":
The Mishnah concludes with the sack and the basket, which are considered attached and combine with regard to kilayim. The case is a sack to which a patch of wool was attached, and a basket to which a patch of linen was attached. When the sack and the basket are joined to one another, the wool and the linen are connected only indirectly, and nevertheless this is a connection, and they combine for the prohibition of kilayim.
With this we complete Tractate Kilayim. Thank you for joining us, and we look forward to learning the next tractate together - Tractate Shevi'is, which deals entirely with the laws of shemittah, so relevant this year in Eretz Yisrael.