1)

(a)The Mishnah discusses a case where a k'Zayis Meis is lying underneath a wall which serves as the outer wall for ten rooms, one on top of the other. The Tana declares all the rooms ...

1. ... Tamei (see Mishnah Achronah) - provided the Tum'ah is lying in a cavity measuring a cubic Tefach, but ...

2. ... Tahor - if it is not (because then we will apply the principle of Tum'ah Retzutzah).

(b)We do not divide the wall in two (like we did in the previous Perek) - because there is not even a crack in the wall in the vicinity of the upper floors (see Tos. Yom-Tov).

(c)And in a case where the Tum'ah is lying underneath a partition wall, where there is one room straddling both rooms, and nine rooms above it, one on top of the other, the Tana rules that - only the first room is Tamei (because of Tum'ah Retzutzah), but all the rest remain Tahor ...

(d)... because the cement prevents the Tum'ah from entering them.

2)

(a)In a case of 'Kosel Shunis, the Mishnah rules 'Tum'ah Boka'as ve'Olah, Boka'as ve'Yoredes'. 'Kosel Shunis' is - a wall that is built beside the seashore to stop the waves from advancing any further in a storm.

(b)The Tana is coming to teach us that - if Tum'ah is underneath it, then it goes directly up or down, and is not Metamei anything that is in front of it or behind it, since circumstances demand that the wall has no cavities (see Tos. Yom-Tov and Eliyahu Raba).

3)

(a)The closed Nefesh that the Mishnah now discusses is - a stone marker covering a grave.

(b)Assuming that it is built directly above the Meis (who is evidently not buried in a coffin), someone who touches its sides is ...

1. ... Tahor - if the space between the Meis and the Nefesh is less than a cubic Tefach, because the Tum'ah then goes straight up (Tum'ah Retzutzah) without affecting the sides of the Nefesh.

2. ... Tamei - if there is a cubic Tefach between the Meis and the Nefesh.

(c)The Tana Kama declares someone who touches the huts that adjoin the Nefesh - Tamei (see Tos. Yom-Tov).

(d)R. Yehudah - declares them Tahor.

4)

(a)The Mishnah now discusses Shipu'ei Ohalin. By ...

1. ... Shipu'ei, the Tana means - the slope of the tent.

2. ... Ohalim, he means - the roof (which is parallel with the ground).

(b)When the Tana says Kol Shipu'ei Ohalin ka'Ohalin, he therefore means that - the slope of the tent has the same Din as the roof (as we will explain shortly).

(c)The minimum width roof that is Metamei be'Ohel is - one k'Etzba (see also Tosx. Yom-Tov).

(d)The Shi'ur of Tefach was said with regard to - that area that the Ohel covers, which must be at least a cubic Tefach.

(e)The Mishnah now says (assuming it is an Ohel) that, in a case where there is ...

1. ... Tum'ah under the Ohel, and Keilim under the slope that - the Keilim are Tamei be'Ohel, and the same applies where the ...

2. ... Tum'ah is under the slope and the Keilim under the Ohel.

5)

(a)If there is a Meis in an Ohel, the Mishnah declares Tamei - Shiv'ah (for seven days) someone who subsequently touches the inside of the Ohel (see Tos. Yom-Tov), but only Tum'as Erev (for one day) if he touches the outside ...

(b)... because the inside and the outside of the Ohel are considered two Keilim. We compare ...

1. ... the inside of the Ohel - to a K'li that touched a Meis (which is an Avi Avos ha'Tum'ah [and the person who touches it, an Av]), and ...

2. ... the outside - to a K'li that touched a K'li that touched a Meis (which is an Av [and the person ... , a Rishon]), as we learned at the beginning of the Masechta.

(c)In the same two cases, but where the Tum'ah is Metamei the Ohel from the outside - then the same Dinim will apply, only in the reverse; the person who subsequently touches the outside of the Ohel will be Tamei for seven days, but only for one day, if he touches the inside.

(d)The dual status of the Ohel is based on the fact that - each one possesses a leniency vis-a-vis the other one. The Din Shiv'ah of ...

1. ... the inside of the tent does not extend to the outside - because the inside prevents the Tum'ah from extending beyond the roof (it negates the Din of Tum'ah Retzutzah Boka'as ve'Olah).

2. ... the outside of the tent does not extend to the inside - because the outside prevents the Tum'ah from descending to the depths (it negates the Din of Tum'ah Retzutzah Yoredes ad ha'Tehom).

6)

(a)The above distinctions will only apply - where the k'Zayis Meis has already been removed from the tent. Otherwise, the person touching the Ohel will always be Tamei for seven days (see Tos. Yom-Tov).

(b)The Ohel itself however, in all of the above cases - is Tamei for seven days, both on the inside and on the outside, since even the reverse side of where the Tum'ah is, is an Av ha'Tum'ah, as we explained.

(c)Whereas in a case where there is half a k'Zayis of Meis inside the Ohel and half a k'Zayis touching it from the outside - whovever touches the Ohel is Tamei only for one day, irrespective of where he touched (because it is as if he had touched Keilim that touched Keilim that touched a Meis) ...

(d)... although the Ohel itself - is Tamei for seven days.

7)

(a)If the Tum'ah is lying directly underneath a section of the tent that is trailing on the ground or on top of it, the Mishnah applies the principle - Tum'ah Retzutzah, Boka'as ve'Olah and Boka'as Yoredes (respectively [see Tos. Yom-Tov]).

(b)According to R. Yossi, if a section of an Ohel in an upper floor is trailing on the ground, and part of it covers a skylight, it prevents the Tum'ah from entering the rest of the upper room. The k'Zayis Meis is - in the room below (see Tos. Yom-Tov).

(c)R. Shimon - declares the upper room, Tamei.

(d)R. Shimon concedes however, that the upper room remains Tahor - if the skylight is directly underneath the Ohel itself.

(e)The Halachah is like R. Yossi (see Tos. Yom-Tov).

8)

(a)The Mishnah rules that if a room in which a Meis is lying, has a number of exits - then the Rabbanan decreed Tum'ah (see Tos. Yom-Tov here and DH 'u'Beis Hillel ... ') on all the Keilim that are lying on the threshold of those exits ...

(b)... even if all the exits are locked.

(c)If one of those doors is subsequently opened (see Tos. Yom-Tov) - then all the other doorways are Tahor (Keilim that are placed there from then on remain Tahor).

(d)The Tana also rules that in the event that the owner decides (see Tos. Yom-Tov) to take the Meis through ...

1. ... one of the doors before it has been opened, or through

2. ... a window - that is at least four by four Tefachim, all the other doorways remain Tahor.

9)

(a)According to Beis Shamai, the owner's decision will only save the Keilim in the other doorways if it was made before the Meis died - because they maintain that once the status of Tum'ah descends upon the doorway, it requires a positive act to remove it.

(b)Beis Hillel hold - that Machshavah, even after that, will suffice ...

(c)... provided the Keilim are placed on the threshold afterwards - but any Keilim that were there between the Misah and the Machshavah will remain Tamei (see Tos. Yom-Tov).

10)

(a)Assuming one of the doorways is built-up, Beis Shamai require four Tefachim by four Tefachim to be re-opened before that doorway will save the Keilim in the other doorways from Tum'ah. According to Beis Hillel - from the moment one begins to reopen it.

(b)Beis Hillel will concede that all the Keilim that are placed in the other doorways are Tamei however - if one begins working on a new opening, until it measures four by four Tefachim.

11)

(a)The Mishnah now discusses a case of a woman who is having difficulty in childbirth, and whom they moved from one room to another before the stillborn baby is born. The second room is obviously Tamei. The first one - is Tamei mi'Safek.

(b)R. Yehudah qualifies this ruling ...

1. ... by confining it to where the mother was carried from the first room to the second one, but ...

2. ... he declares the first room Tahor - if she walked there by herself, because once a woman begins to give birth, she cannot possibly walk.

(c)The Mishnah then requires a round head the size of a Pikah - in connection with R. Yehudah's ruling, to say that if the baby's head is smaller than that, then it is possible to walk, and the first room will be Safek Tamei.

(d)A Pikah is - the coil of the warp [see Tos. Yom-Tov]).

(e)The Halachah - is like R. Yehudah.

12)

(a)In a case where the first of two twins is born dead and the second, alive, when the Tana rules that he is Tahor, he means that - if they moved the dead baby out of the room before the second one was born, the second baby is Tahor from Tum'as Meis ...

(b)... because a fetus is not subject to Tum'as Meis as long as it is inside the womb (Taharah Belu'ah).

(c)In the reverse case, however, the Mishnah declares the live baby, Tamei - because Tum'ah Belu'ah is Metamei ...

(d)... since it is anyway destined to leave the womb (as we learned earlier in the Perek).

13)

(a)R. Meir disagrees with the Chachamim. He draws a distinction between twins that are born in the same placenta - by which he means one immediately after the other (in which case they are actually touching at birth), and twins that are born in separate ones - with a break in between (see Tos. Yom-Tov).

(b)When, in the latter case, R. Meir declares the live baby Tahor (assuming that each baby is born in its own placenta) - he disagrees with the latter ruling of the Tana Kama. He maintains that a Meis is not Metamei (even if the mother's womb is already open) until it emerges.

(c)He concedes though, that if they are born in the same placenta - that it is (see also Tos. Yom-Tov and Tiferes Yisrael).

(d)The Halachah - is like the Chachamim.

14)

(a)If a woman is having a hard time at childbirth and her life is in danger, the Mishnah prescribe - killing the fetus (cutting it up and extracting it from her womb piece by piece) ...

(b)... because, seeing as a fetus is not yet considered a baby, the mother takes precedence (Tos. Yom-Tov).

(c)One may no longer kill the baby - from the moment most of its head (the forehead) has emerged ...

(d)... because one has no right to kill one person in order to save another (see Tos. Yom-Tov).