| מסכת כלים פרק ב משנה א | |
| כלי עץ | Wooden utensils, |
| כלי עור | leather utensils, |
| כלי עצם | cone utensils |
| וכלי זכוכית | and glass utensils, |
| פשוטיהן טהורים | the flat ones are tahor (i.e. are not susceptible to tumah) |
| ומקבליהן טמאים | and their hollow ones are tamei (i.e. are susceptible to tumah). |
| נשברו | If they break [after being tamei] |
| טהרו | they are tahor; |
| חזר ועשה מהם כלים | if one makes from them [new] utensils |
| מקבלין טמאה |
they are susceptible to tumah |
| מכאן ולהבא | from that point and on. |
| כלי חרס | Earthenware utensils |
| וכלי נתר |
and nesser (a variety of earthenware) utensils |
| טמאתן שוה | are identical in their tumah: |
| מתטמאין | they incur tumah |
| ומטמאין | and confer tumah |
| באויר | through airspace (if a tamei object was inside of them, or they were tamei and inside of another object, the tumah is imparted from one to the other, even without any physical contact), |
| ומטמאין מאחוריהן | and they incur tumah through their bottoms (if the bottom is hollow, similar to the dimple, or "punt", found on the bottom of a wine bottle), |
| ואינן מטמאין מגביהן | and they do not incur tumah from their exteriors [coming into contact with a tamei object], |
| ושבירתן היא טהרתן | and their breaking (to the degree that they have no utility) is their (only means of) purification. |
|
פרק א משנה ב |
|
| הדקין שבכלי חרס | The smallest of earthenware vessles |
| וקרקרותיהן | and (fragments of such small vessels from) their bottom's rims |
| ודפנותיהן | and their walls |
| יושבין שלא מסומכין | [that are able to] sit without support (and while in that position they have a hollow area that can contain liquid), |
| שעורן | their measure [to retain susceptibility to tumah] |
| מכדי סיכת קטן | is from enough (hollow space to hold sufficient oil) to anoint a (smallest finger or toe of a one-day-old) child |
| ועד לג | and up to a log (a log is variously defined as 11.7 to 20.3 fluid ounces; if the vessel was, prior to its breaking, able to hold more than a log then the limits are different, as set forth below); |
| מלג ועד סאה | [fragments of vessels sized] from a log to a saeh (which is 24 logim, or approximately 2.2 to 3.8 gallons) |
| ברביעית |
[are susceptible to tumah when they retain the ability to hold] a quarter [of a log] |
| מסאה ועד סאתים | [fragments of vessels sized] from a saeh to two saehs |
| בחצי לג |
[are susceptible to tumah when they retain the ability to hold] a half log |
| מסאתים ועד שלש | [fragments of vessels sized] from two saehs to three |
| ועד חמש סאין | to five saehs |
| בלג |
[are susceptible to tumah when they retain the ability to hold] a log; |
| דברי רבי ישמעאל | these are the words of Rabbi Yishmael. |
| רבי עקיבה אומר | Rabbi Akiva says |
| אני איני נותן בהן מדה | I do not give them a measure (based on their size, but rather based on their source and shape), |
| אלא הדקין שבכלי חרס | rather the smallest of the earthenware vessels |
| וקרקרותיהן ודפנותיהן | and their bottom's rims and their walls |
| יושבין שלא מסומכין | [that are able to] sit without support, |
| שעורן מכדי סיכת קטן | their measure is enough to anoint a (smallest finger or toe of a one-day-old) child, |
| ועד קדרות הדקות | and [this is the rule] up to [vessels the size of] small pots, |
| מהקדרות הדקות | from small pots |
| ועד חביות לודיות | until barrels of Lod, |
| ברביעית | with a quarter [of a log], |
| מלודיות ועד לחמיות | from [the barrels] of Lod until those of [Beis] Lechem |
| בחצי לג | with a half-log |
| מלחמיות ועד חצבים גדולים | from [the barrels of Beis] Lechem until large jars |
| בלג | with a log. |
| רבן יוחנן בן זכאי אומר | Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai says, |
| חצבים גדולים | large jars, |
| שעורן בשני לגין | their measure is two logs, |
| הפכין הגלילים | the Galilean flasks |
| והחביונות | and their small barrels, |
| שעור קרקרותיהן | the measure for their bottom's rims |
| כל שהן | is the any amount, |
| ואין להן דפנות | and they have no walls (fragments of which are susceptible to tumah, as their shape is uncurved and so they cannot hold any liquid). |
Notes
וכלי נתר - The exact type of material is a matter of dispute. Some (ר"ש ,רא"ש ,רע"ב and רש"י in ע"ז) define it as "alum", what they say is a naturally occurring white, reflective or crystalline substance used to create earthenware; others (רמב"ם and רש"י in משלי) say it is a chalky soluble earth; and still others define natron, a mineral salt consisting of hydrated sodium carbonate found in dried lake beds. The רמב"ם says that they are mentioned separately from other earthenware because they do not change colors when fired in a kiln, and so might be confused with כלי אדמה, which have different rules than כלי חרס; the תפראת ישראל says that it needs no firing, but need only to be dried to become hard, and so might be thought to be more akin to plaster or other כלי אדמה for that reason.
מכדי סיכת קטן - According to the ר"ש this is 1/96 of a לג.