Today, we have no choice but to go deep in the weeds. I will try to explain the laws of impurity for food, containers and liquids, but I am an Am Haaretz (unlearned person) and the details get hard to keep separate.

Before diving into the Daf, let’s start with some basic concepts. First their is Tumah or ritual impurity. We will also discuss Terumah which is the portion of a crop set aside for a Kohen (priest). The words sound very similar and I frequently confuse them. Many of the laws of Tumah deal with things coming into contact with Terumah, so I get even more confused.

People, articles, foods and liquids can all be Tumah and they can impart Tumah to other people, articles, foods and liquids. In addition, there are levels of Tumah. The highest level of Tumah (known as “the father of fathers” (Avi Avos Hatumah)) is a human corpse. Next comes the father or Av Hatumah. I will call this “primary Tumah“. Examples of sources of Primary Tumah include animal carcasses, a Zav (man who has experienced certain kinds of emissions), and a Niddah (woman who as menstruated). When a source of Primary Tumah touches something or someone, it may impart a weaker form of Tumah. Someone or something that contracts Tumah from a primary source is known as “Rishon l’Tumah” or first degree acquired Tumah. There is also second, third and fourth degree Tumah.

People and objects can only contract Tumah from a primary source or human corpse. People and objects cannot be lower than a first degree Tumah. Foods and liquids can go to the lower levels of Tumah. With foods and liquids, we need to know if it is Terumah (consecrated to a Kohen) or Chullin (unconsecrated). Unconsecrated foods and liquids can only go to the second degree of Tumah. Terumah (consecrated crops) can go to the third degree of Tumah but no lower. Only food designated as a sacrifice can go to the fourth level of Tumah.

Tumah people and most objects become ritually pure (Tahor) by immersing in a Mikveh. At that point the person or object cannot transmit Tumah to unconsecrated foods. However, the person or object must wait until sunset until Tumah cannot be transmitted to consecrated foods. In the time between immersion and sunset, the person or object is known as “Tevul Yom” (one who immersed that day).

A Tumah person or object is restricted from entering the Temple. However, impure food can be eaten and impure objects can be used for non-religious purposes. Note, that on top of all of these rules, there are rabbinic prohibitions that need to be considered.

I go into this explanation because yesterday we discussed the Eighteen Enactments. These enactments were pronouncements of the House of Shammai that were rammed through into law in a sort of rump parliament procedure when the students of Shammai outnumbered the students of Hillel at a peace conference. Shammai generally took a more strict approach to things than Hillel, but we almost always follow Hillel’s interpretation. The Eighteen Enactments, however, are different, because we follow Shammai’s interpretation. We will be discussing the Eighteen Enactments for the next several days and the first nine all deal with rules of Tumah.

We are now ready to jump into the Daf and discuss the Eighteen Enactments. We study the first two enactments together. If we eat food that is first degree acquired Tumah (first enactment) or food that is second degree acquired Tumah (second enactment), we become second degree acquired Tumah and may make Terumah impure. The reasoning behind these enactments relates to a dispute between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua. Rabbi Eliezer holds that we get the same degree of impurity as food we eat (as in the second enactment). Rabbi Yehoshua says we get the second degree of acquired impurity when we eat Tumah food, regardless of the level of impurity of the food. We appear to follow Rabbi Yehoshua’s reasoning. We also ask why does eating impure food at all transmit impurity. The Rabbis enacted these decrees because they were concerned that we might drink wine that is Terumah at the same time we eat. Liquids can transmit impurity, so we need this decrees to protect from contaminating Terumah. The third enactment provides that if we drink an impure liquid, we become the second degree of acquired impurity.

The next enactments (the fourth and fifth) concern bathing or showering after we immerse in a Mikveh. We learn that if we bathe (fourth enactment) or shower (fifth enactment) in drawn water when we are a Tevul Yom (i.e., that is we have immersed in a Mikveh, but sunset has not come), then we become impure again. A Mikveh must contain waters that are naturally collected. Waters that are drawn in a vessel do not count. The reason for these enactments is that people frequently used cave water, which was kind of gross, for a Mikveh. Afterwards, they would sometimes clean themselves with clean, drawn water. The Rabbis were concerned that people would think the clean water was somehow holier than the Mikveh, so they made these enactments. Indeed, the Rabbis concluded that a shower at any time, whether we are a Tevul Yom or not, renders us impure. I am not sure if this still applies today or, if it does, how we ever take a shower.

The sixth enactment states that holy scrolls (like a Torah) are always Tumah. This one is a little counter-intuitive. People would store Terumah next to Torahs, since both were holy and consecrated. The Terumah would attract mice that would then nibble on the scrolls. To protect the scrolls from the mice, the Rabbis decreed that they were ritually impure and therefore people would stop storing the Terumah next to the scrolls.

The seventh enactment seems so prescient as I write this while self-quarantining due to the coranavirus pandemic! We learn that hands are always Tumah of the second degree and WE MUST WASH HANDS before we touch Terumah. PEOPLE – WASH YOUR HANDS FREQUENTLY. THEY ARE IMPURE IN SO MANY WAYS. The Rabbis made this enactment because people’s hands are touching things so often, that the hands were likely to unknowingly touch something that was impure.

The Talmud next considers a statement that a person who is a Tevul Yom has second degree of impurity until the end of the day. This person can not touch Terumah, but does not pass impurity to anything else. Ultimately, the Talmud concludes that this is a biblical decree and not one of the Eighteen Enactments.

The eighth enactment concerns foods that have contacted a liquid of any degree. Such foods always have the second degree of impurity. The ninth enactment states that any articles that come into contact with liquids that are impure are also the second degree of impurity, regardless of the level of impurity of the liquids. Liquids are a special case with respect to the laws of Tumah. Liquids are always the primary degree of acquired Tumah regardless of the source of the impurity.

At the end of the Daf we take a break from the Eighteen Enactments and discuss rulings that pre-dated the Eighteen Enactments. I am going to skip most of these because they break the flow too much. I will mention only one. All lands outside of Israel are Tumah. Non-Jews do not mark their graves well, according to the Talmud. We thus must presume that when we are outside of Israel we have walked on the dead and are impure. Indeed, we assume that land from outside of Israel brought into Israel is impure.

In conclusion, WASH YOUR HANDS, FOLKS!