Комментарий к Бамидбар 19:19

וחטאו ביום השביעי AND HE SHALL PURIFY HIM ON THE SEVENTH DAY — This is the completion of his purification (cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 129:2).

והזה הטהור על הטמא, “the ritually clean person is to sprinkle on the ritually impure person, etc.” Rabbi Akiva derived from the words על הטמא instead of simply עליו, “on him,” that the extra word teaches that if the ritually impure person was sprinkled with the ash/water mixture he would be purified by it, whereas if accidentally a ritually pure person was sprinkled with the same ash/water mixture such a person would become ritually impure as a result (compare Yuma 14). This is why Solomon said in Kohelet 7,23: “I said I want to acquire wisdom, but it has remained still far from me.”

This completes the purification. Rashi is answering the question: Is it specifically on the seventh day that he purifies him, but after the seventh day he would not be able to purify him? On the contrary there is a kal vachomer [a fortiori argument] that he may do so. Rashi explains the verse only comes to teach that the completion of the purification is on the seventh day, to exclude less than seven days. It is as if it stated, “On the day his purification is completed.”

V. 19. והזה הטהור על הטמא. V. 18 heißt es bereits ולקח וגו׳ איש טהור וגו׳, und würde daraus die Forderung absoluter Reinheit für den Fungierenden sich ergeben. Hier wird jedoch diese Forderung näher dahin präzisiert, dass es sich nur um den Charakter einer relativen Reinheit handelt, er braucht nur טהור im Gegensatz zu טמא, braucht nur nicht טמא zu sein, es genügt somit, dass er bereits einen Schritt aus der טומאה hinaus getan, bereits einen Grad der טהרה erreicht habe, wenn er gleich noch nicht völlig טהור geworden. Es wird daher daran die Halacha gelehrt, dass nicht nur zur הזיה, sondern überhaupt zum Vollzug des ganzen פרה-Aktes schon ein טבול יום tauglich ist, der mit טבילה bereits den ersten Grad der טהרה erreicht hat, und Dewarim 14, 8 טהור heißt: ורחץ במים וטהר (Joma 43b). Diese von der Halacha überlieferte Bestimmung, dass טבול יום כשר בפרה, ward von den Tradition leugnenden Saduzäern aufs heftigste bestritten. Um daher die Authentizität und Autorität bei einem so öffentlichen Akte wie פרה אדומה, bei welchem jeder einzelne hinsichtlich seiner טהרה so wesentlich beteiligt war, zu bezeugen und aufrecht zu halten, wurde öffentlich auf dem Ölberge vor Beginn seiner Funktion der fungierende Priester durch Berührung zu טומאה gebracht und sodann zur טבילה veranlasst, so dass offenkundig jede פרה אדומה durch einen טבול יום vollzogen wurde. מטמאין היו הכהן השורף את הפרה ומטבילין אותו להוציא מלבן של צדוקין שהיו אומרים במעורבי שמש היתה נעשית (Joma 2a). Dem gegenüber war aber der ganzen Prozedur der Charakter der טהרה in gesteigertem Maße zu wahren und wurden dazu die umsichtigsten Veranstaltungen getroffen (siehe daselbst und Para 3).

'והזה הטהור על הטמא ביום השלישי וגו, “and the ritually pure person shall sprinkle on the ritually contaminated person on the third day, etc.: previously the Torah had spoken of people who had touched a whole corpse; here the Torah speak of people who had touched only parts of a corpse, such as a bone, or merely had visited the grave and therefore presumably been in the same airspace as the dead.

That is that He commanded us and instructed us [to administer] the laws of purification water, about which they said that it renders impure in one way and purifies in another way - as is explained in the analysis of this commandment. And you should know that these thirteen types of impurities, the counting of which preceded this - being the impurities of a carcass; of creeping animals; of foods and drinks; of a menstruant woman; of a woman after childbirth; of tsaraat of a person; [of tsaraat of garments;] of tsaraat of houses; of a zav; of a zavah; of semen; of a corpse; and of purifying waters - and the purification of each one of them, is written in the Torah in many verses and with many laws and stipulations, as are written in Parashat Shemini, Parashat Tazria and Metzora and in Parashat Parah. And these four sections completely include all of these impurities. Moreover, the Order of Tahorot includes all of the laws of all of these types and the analysis of each type. Tractates Tahorot, Makhshirin and Oktzin - these three tractates only contain the impurity of food and that which is attached to [this topic], and those laws from other types of impurities the mention of which is relevant to it. However they only appear contingently. And likewise Tractate Niddah includes all the laws of [the impurities of a menstruant woman and a woman after childbirth. And some of the laws of a woman after childbirth are also in Tractate Keritot. And in Tractate Negaim are the laws of the blemishes of people, garments and houses. And Tractate Zavim includes the laws of] of a zav, a zavah and of semen. And Tractate Oholot contains the laws of the impurity of a carcass. And Tractate Parah includes the purifying waters, to render impure and to purify. But no tractate was dedicated to the impurity of carcasses or the impurity of creeping animals; however their laws are scattered in many places in this order, and the majority are in Tractates Kelim and Tahorot. And likewise did they speak about many questions about these topics in Tractate Eduyot. And we have already explained this order in its entirety (in the Commentary on the Mishnah) - meaning the Order of Tahorot. It is a commentary that does not require any other book with it for any topic related to impurity. (See Parashat Chukat; Mishneh Torah, Red Heifer 1-15.)