Comentário sobre Levítico 11:32

במים יובא IT MUST BE PUT INTO WATER — but even after it has been immersed, טמא IT IS UNCLEAN in respect to using it to hold the heave - offering,

AND EVERY THING UPON WHICH ANY PART OF THEM, WHEN THEY ARE DEAD, DOTH FALL, SHALL BE UNCLEAN: WHETHER IT SHALL BE ANY VESSEL OF WOOD etc. It appears to me in the interpretation of this verse that most likely the expression any of them, when they are dead, alludes to all those mentioned above — impure animals, creeping things, and beasts. For why should He mention the law of impurity of vessels and garments only with reference to creeping things, when it applies also to carcasses? Similarly, all the rules that He mentions with reference to making food susceptible to impurity²⁴⁰Further, 34, 37-38. [conveyed by creeping things], apply equally to all [forms of] impurity, and Scripture speaks of the general concept of them. Do not find it difficult to accept that the expression touch them when they are dead in the first verse²⁴¹In Verse 31: These are which are unclean to you among all that creep; whosoever doth ‘touch them, when they are dead,’ shall be unclean until the even. applies to the creeping things, while the same expression any of them when they are dead [in Verse 32 before us] applies to all things that convey impurity, for such is the case in many places in Scripture [where similar words apply to different things].
It is possible to say that Scripture waited until it had mentioned all impure things amongst cattle, beasts, and creeping things, and then at the end mentioned impurity of vessels with reference to one of them [namely, the creeping things], with which it had concluded this theme, in order that the law of all the others be derived from it, for the opinion of our Rabbis²⁴²Chagigah 11 a. is that the expression any of them when they are dead [in Verse 32 before us] refers [only] to creeping things, and from that they learn that a creeping thing in [a minimal] size of a lentil conveys impurity.²⁴³Since Scripture (here in Verse 32) states ‘any of them’ when they are dead, it shows that even though one has not touched the whole creeping thing but “any” part of it, he is rendered impure. “Now since the sand-lizard [one of the eight creeping things that convey impurity] when born is the size of a lentil,” therefore that amount of any of the eight creeping things when dead also conveys impurity (Chagiga ibid.). Thus according to the interpretation of the Rabbis, Verse 32 before us also speaks only of the impurity conveyed by creeping things, and not, as explained above, about all other impurities. Scripture dealt likewise with the subject of immersion, in mentioning at the end of all [the laws of] impurity, the impurity [conveyed by creeping things] to vessels and their purification by immersion,²⁴⁴Verses 34-36. and from it we learn the law of man and vessels with reference to all the impurities mentioned above.

מכל כלי עץ, the legislation mentioned here does not apply to vessels constructed out of stone or out of earth.

וכל אשר יפול עליו מהם במותם, “and anything which falls upon them when they are dead, etc.” Nachmanides writes that according to our sages this verse applies only to the eight species of “teeming creatures” mentioned in verse 29. They derived from this verse that the minimum size of such a teeming creature’s ability to confer ritual impurity is the size of a lentil. (Compare Chagigah 11) According to the plain meaning of the text it would appear that the words מהם במותם, “of them when they are dead,” refer to what the Torah had written earlier in the context of בהמה טמאה, חיה, שרץ, mammals and all land based animals which are ritually unclean and cannot serve as food for Israelites, for why would the Torah mention ritual impurity affecting clothing as a separate subject, seeing that the same rules of impurity also apply to cadavers. Similarly, they all require the same qualifying symptoms in order to potentially be fit for consumption by Israelites. The Torah therefore is presumed to speak of all of these categories here.

After its immersion it is unclean. I.e., you should not say that because it was put into water, that is, it was immersed, it would be impure until evening, as would be understood from, “shall be brought into water and is unclean until the evening.” Therefore, Rashi adds “even after its immersion” — it does not depart from its impurity until after the setting of the sun. Meaning: For terumah, whereas for ma’aser (tithes) it is pure immediately after it is immersed and comes out, as it says in Yevamos (75a) (Kitzur Mizrachi).

מכל כלי עץ, “be it any vessel made of wood;” the letter מ at the beginning of the word מכל, teaches that if a piece of wood, or a tree, is too large to be carried by one person falls on to such a dead creature, the wooden object would not become ritually unclean. (Sifra) [The same limitation applies to the other raw materials mentioned in this verse. Ed.]

עד הערב UNTIL THE EVENING, AND — afterwards — וטהר IT BECOMETH CLEAN at the setting of the sun (Yevamot 75a).

IT MUST BE PUT INTO WATER, AND IT SHALL BE UNCLEAN UNTIL THE EVEN; AND IT SHALL BE CLEAN. “Even after it has been immersed, it is still impure with regard to the heave-offering, until the setting of the sun, and afterwards at the setting of the sun it becomes pure.” This is Rashi’s language. And the interpretation in the Torath Kohanim is:²⁴⁵Torath Kohanim, Shemini 6:9. “And it shall be unclean until the even. I might think that [it shall be impure] for all [purposes]; Scripture therefore says, and it shall be clean. But if so, I might think that it is pure for all purposes; Scripture therefore says, and it shall be unclean until the even. How then can this be explained? It is pure with respect to ordinary food²⁴⁶In Tractate Yebamoth 74a the reading [instead of “ordinary food”] is “the Tithe;” i.e., eaten by the owner in the city of Jerusalem in a state of purity. But the law regarding it is less stringent than that which applies to terumah (the heave-offering) eaten by the priest. Thus if an Israelite who was impure immersed himself to be purified, he may straightaway eat of the Second Tithe, even though the sun has not yet set. But a priest who was impure and immersed himself before sunset, may not eat of the heave-offering until the sun has set and the stars have come forth. when it is still daytime [immediately after it was immersed to be purified], but regarding the heave-offering it is not held to be pure until it becomes dark.” The interpretation of the verse according to the explanation of the Torath Kohanim is thus: “it must be put into the water [before sundown] and it shall remain unclean till the evening.” But by way of the simple meaning of Scripture [the verse is to be transposed, thus]: “it must be put into water and it shall be clean, but it shall be unclean until the evening.”
Now Scripture mentioned in all the sections [that the impurity is] “until the evening,”²⁴⁷Verses 24-25, 27-28, 31-32. because it refers to the degree of purity required for the holy heave-offering, as He said, The soul that toucheth any such [unclean things] shall be unclean until the even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he bathe his flesh in water. And when the sun is down, he shall be clean; and afterward he may eat of the holy things, because it is his bread.²⁴⁸Further, 22:6-7. “The holy things” here mean the terumah (the heave-offering). But the purification required for ordinary food or the [Second] Tithe²⁴⁹See above, Note 246. is attained after immersion alone, and it is not mentioned here because it is not mandatory upon an impure person to purify himself in order to eat ordinary food,²⁵⁰As explained above in Ramban, Verse 8, at the end. for if he wants to, he may eat it in a state of impurity.²⁵¹Hence Scripture always speaks about the impure person being “unclean till the even,” because in order to be able to eat the heave-offering, the impure priest must purify himself, and wait till evening, whereas for ordinary food there is no requirement that it must be eaten in a state of purity, and thus no necessity to immerse oneself. If he does wish to eat it in a state of purity, however, he attains this immediately after immersion and even before sundown, as explained above in Ramban and in Note 246.

שק, a garment made of goat’s hair.

וטמא עד הערב וטהור, “he will remain in a state of ritual impurity until nightfall, and then he will become ritually clean.” This verse speaks of terumah, the heave (gift) from the grain given to the priest, which after immersion in a ritual bath remains in a state of impurity until evening. Nachmanides writes that the reason why this formula of עד הערב, until nightfall,” is repeated on so many occasions, is that in each of these examples we speak of terumah or something like it, i.e. something which possesses a degree of holiness by definition. Food that is of a secular type, may be consumed by the ordinary Israelites, even when they are in a state of ritual impurity without their having been immersed in a ritual bath. Therefore, if such food has been immersed in a ritual bath there is certainly no need to await sundown before it may be eaten.

או שק, or sack, ”woven or embroidered materials,” but not vessels constructed of ropes and cords (Rash’bam).

אשר יעשה מלאכה בהם, something that is being actively used, as opposed to something which only serves as a cover.

אשר יעשה מלאכה בהם, “wherewith any work is being done;” this excludes fabrics used only as covers, or whose insides by definition remain empty.

במים יובא, “it shall be put into water (ritual bath); the whole vessel must be immersed in water at one and the same time.” Just as the process of becoming ritually clean again at sunset occurs at one moment, so the removal of contamination must also occur at one and the same time, not piecemeal.