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מסכת כלים פרק ו משנה ד

שתי אבנים

Two stones

שעשאם כירה

that were made into a kirah (by placing them next to each other and cementing them with clay)

ונטמאו

and that became tamei,

סמך לזו אבן אחת מכאן

and then one placed one stone next to one from here

ולזו אבן אחת מכאן

and one stone next to one from here (the four stones are arranged in a row, with the tamei pair in the middle and one new stone on either side of that pair),

חציה של זו טמא

half of this one is tamei

וחציה טהורה

and half (the half that would support a pot with the newly placed stone) is tahor,

וחציה של זו טמא

and half of this one is tamei

וחציה טהורה

and half it tahor (in other words, the halves of the tamei stones that now serve to support pots with the newly placed stones are tahor);

ניטלו טהורות

If the tahor ones are [subsequently] removed,

חזרו אלו לטמאתן

they return to their status of tumah (i.e. the two originally tamei stones become completely tamei again.

 

פרק ז משנה א

הקלתות

The stove bases (earthenware slabs that formed the bottom of kirahs)

של בעלי בתים

of householders

שנפחתה

that was missing a part (creating an indentation in the floor of the oven),

פחות משלשה טפחים

if [the depression is] less than three handbreadths [deep],

טמאה

it [the stove] is tamei (i.e. is susceptible to tumah),

שהוא מסיק מלמטן

as one heats it from below

וקדירה בשלה מלמעלן

and the pot cooks above (i.e. even though the fire is now lower down, the heat still reaches to the pot above),

 יתר מכאן טהורה

more than that is tahor (as the greater distance of the flame from the pot keeps it from cooking properly, it is no longer susceptible to tumah);

נתן אבן או צרור

if one place a stone or a pebble (in such a depression of greater than three handbreadths, thus raiding the flame)

טהורה

it is tahor (as these are not physically attached to the stove or its base, it is still considered 'broken'),

מרחה בטיט

if he covered them with clay (if one attached the stone or pebble filling the depression with clay)

מקבלת טמאה

it [the stove] is susceptible to tumah

מכאן ולהבא

from that point on.

זו היתה תשובת רבי יהודה

This was the response of Rabbi Yehuda

בתנור

about a tanur

שנתנו על פי הבור

that was placed over the mouth of a pit

או על פי הדות

or the mouth of a cistern (I.e. his position in 5:6 that an tanur placed over a cistern or pit in which there is a fire is tamei only if the fire heats the tanur.)

Notes

הקלתות - There are those who say that a קלת was a type of earthenware vessel sometimes used as a stove; wider on top than at its bottom, it required a special lid atop which a pot would be place to cook.  The lid had a hole in its middle and the mishna, according to this interpretation, is discussing when the opening of the lid was widened, or a hole developed in the side of the lower vessel; if larger than three handbreadths this would allow too much heat to escape for it to be an effective cooking vessel.  Yet another interpretation is that הקלתות  were small table-top stoves, which had a very thick bottom to protect the table from its heat.  According this, the mishnah addresses a case where part of the base is missing from the inside of the vessel, leading to a flame that was not as near to the cooking surface at its top.