Yerushalmi Berakhot 8:3 ירושלמי ברכות ח׳:ג׳

MISHNAH: The House of Shammai say, one dries his hands⁹²After washing one’s hands for the meal. with a towel and puts the latter on the table; the House of Hillel say, on the pillow.

HALAKHAH: The Mishnah deals with a table of marble or one of parts screwed together that cannot become impure⁹³The House of Shammai can prefer the table over the pillow only if the table cannot become impure and, hence, not impart any impurity to the fluids on the towel. No vessel made of stone can become impure; that includes marble tables. The Tosephta (Kelim Bava bathra 1:10) even states that a wooden table that contains a frame into which a marble table top is put cannot become impure since wooden implements become impure only if they enclose a volume and in this case the frame is filled with material that cannot become impure. The table whose legs are screwed in and can be unscrewed without tools is covered by the Tosephta (loc. cit. 1:11): “Restaurant chairs, even those having holes, that have their legs screwed in are permanently pure; if legs are fixed with a nail then they may become impure.” The parallel in the Babli (52b) states that the House of Shammai will forbid the use of a table that is ritually unclean; both Babli and Tosephta (5:27) note that the House of Hillel will never allow one to put the towel on the table because the fluid on the towel might touch the food and render it impure in the second degree (and by eating from it an amount greater than the volume of two eggs one’s body becomes impure in the second degree, Mishnah Ṭahorot 2:2). The arguments of the Babli are incompatible with those of the Yerushalmi.. What is the reason of the House of Shammai? That the fluids on the towel should not become impure from the pillow⁹⁴Since fluids in contact with primary or secondary impurity become a primary source of impurity and, while a human can become impure only from a “father of impurity”, his hands become secondarily impure from contact with primary impurity. The arrangement would be more logical if the order of these two sentences were inverted. and in turn defile his hands.

What is the reason of the House of Hillel? In case of doubt, fluids and hands are considered pure⁹⁵Mishnah Ṭahorot 4:11: “In doubtful cases involving hands to become impure, to transmit impurity, or to be pure, they are declared pure.” Hence, since the House of Shammai agree that the entire matter is one of doubt, there is no problem since the hands of the person eating remain pure.. Another explanation: “Hands” are not for profane food⁹⁶The entire institution of secondary impurity for hands has no Biblical basis for profane food; it has been instituted following “the discipline of terumah.” Hence, there is no reason to follow strict rules in case of doubt since it is a principle that doubts regarding Rabbinic institutions must be resolved leniently..

Do the House of Shammai hold that “hands” are for profane food⁹⁷Given the explanation of the House of Hillel, they seem to presuppose that the secondary impurity of hands has a Biblical root. This is incredible.? Explain it either following Rebbi Simeon ben Eleazar or following Rebbi Eleazar, son of Rebbi Ẓadoq. Following Rebbi Simeon ben Eleazar as it has been stated⁹⁸Tosephta Tahorot 1:6 in the reading of Rabbenu Simson of Sens. In the printed editions and the Vienna manuscript, the reading is “hands are of primary impurity for sacrifices.” That reading is rejected by R. David Pardo in his commentary on the Tosephta. The statement is quoted several times in the Yerushalmi and also in Babli Ḥulin 33b. The interpretation here is that profane food can become impure only from the source of impurity or primary impurity. Hence, unwashed hands must be of primary impurity in order to influence profane food. In contrast, terumah becomes unusable if it was in contact with secondary impurity; hence, primary impurity causes the same result for profane food as secondary impurity for terumah. This seems to be the opinion of Maimonides (הלכוֹת אבוֹת הטוּמאה יא׃טו), who often is influenced by the Yerushalmi, also in Ḥulin; it is incompatible with Rashi’s interpretation of the text in Ḥulin. There it is stated that hands can become primarily impure only if held into the windows of a house afflicted with leprosy. That would not make a good reason for the House of Shammai.: “Rebbi Simeon ben Eleazar said in the name of Rebbi Meïr, hands are primarily impure for profane food and secondarily for terumah.” Or following Rebbi Eleazar, son of Rebbi Ẓadoq, as we have stated there⁹⁹Mishnah Ṭahorot 2:8, quoted in Babli Ḥagigah 20a, Ḥulin 35b. Profane food can receive only primary impurity. Terumah can receive both primary and secondary impurity; the third stage is called “unusable” since it cannot be eaten, but it does not transmit the impurity further. Sacrifices become impure also in a tertiary way; only the fourth stage is “unusable.”: “Profane food that was prepared under the rules of purity of sacrifices is still profane food. Rebbi Eleazar, the son of Rebbi Ẓadoq said, it is like terumah becoming impure in two stages and unusable in a third.”

There (Mishnah Idiut 4:6) we have stated: “Someone who rubbed himself with pure oil, then he became impure, he descended¹⁰¹He descended into the miqweh for purification. and immersed himself. The House of Shammai say, he is pure even if it¹⁰²The oil was not washed off but is still on his body. Since his body is pure, so is the rubbing oil which became part of his body. drips, but the House of Hillel say impure¹⁰³It seems that they declare only the oil to remain impure, but one can also make the argument that the person remains impure since the water of the miqweh cannot touch his skin where it is covered by oil.. But if the oil was impure to start out with, the House of Shammai say, up to the anointing of a small limb¹⁰⁴Both Talmudim (Yerushalmi Šabbat 8:1, Babli Šabbat 77a) agree that “a small limb” is a small limb of a newborn. This is the maximum amount that can become pure by immersion of one’s body.; but the House of Hillel say, moist fluid¹⁰⁵It feels moist but does not transfer moisture to anything that touches it.. Rebbi Yehudah says in the name of the House of Hillel, moist and making moist.” The opinions of the House of Hillel are reversed! There they say “impure” and here they say “pure.” There it is visible, here it is absorbed in the towel.