Introduction
In yesterday’s section we encountered a mishnah in which R. Judah says that any "tent" not made by a person doesn’t count as a tent. Today’s section asks whether this is really R. Judah’s opinion.
וסבר רבי יהודה כל אהל שאינו עשוי בידי אדם אינו אהל? ורמינהו: חצירות היו בנויות בירושלים על גבי הסלע, ותחתיהם חלל מפני קבר התהום, ומביאין נשים עוברות ויולדות שם, ומגדלות בניהם שם לפרה. ומביאין שוורים ועל גביהן דלתות, ותינוקות יושבין על גביהן וכוסות של אבן בידיהם. הגיעו לשילוח – ירדו לתוך המים ומילאום, ועלו וישבו להם. רבי יוסי אומר: ממקומו היה משלשל וממלא, מפני קבר התהום. ותניא, רבי יהודה אומר: לא היו מביאין דלתות אלא שוורים.
והא שוורים, דאהל שאינו עשוי בידי אדם הוא, וקתני, רבי יהודה אומר: לא היו מביאין דלתות אלא שוורים!
Is then R. Judah of the opinion that a tent which is not made by a person is not considered tent? But we contrast this with the following: Courtyards were built in Jerusalem over rock, and beneath them was a hollow [made] because of [the fear of] a grave in the depths, and they used to bring there pregnant women, and there they gave birth to their children and there they raised them for [the service of the Red] Heifer. And they brought oxen, upon whose back were placed doors, and the children sat upon them with stone cups in their hands. When they reached the Shiloah they went down into the water and filled them, then ascended and sat again [on the doors]. R. Yose said, [Each child] used to let [his cup] down and fill it from his place because of [the fear of] a grave in the depths.
And it has been taught, R. Judah said, They did not bring doors, but oxen.
Now oxen, surely, are a tent which is not made by the hands of man, and does it not nevertheless teach, R. Judah said: They did not bring doors, but oxen?
This mishnah discusses how in the Second Temple period would preserve the purity of the children of priests so that they could perform the red cow ritual (needed to purify others from corpse impurity) without ever having become impure. This was an extra stringency due to the high degree of gravity with which they took the red cow ceremony.
They would not build the courtyards in which these children were raised directly over the ground just in case there was a grave deep in the ground, and the dead body’s impurity would rise and defile the priests above. The hollow between the rock and the building platform would serve to capture the impurity and prevent it from rising. This was a concept we learned much about in Mishnah Ohalot a space the size of one handbreadth by one handbreadth prevents impurity from rising up above the space.
They would bring pregnant women there to give birth and raise their children there so that the children would never become impure. Again, this is not strictly necessary but it demonstrates the extra degree of severity with which they treated this purity ritual.
The end of the mishnah describes how they would draw water from the Shiloah spring without possibly coming into contact with a source of impurity. The children would ride oxen down to the spring. The doors on the oxen’s backs would prevent the children from overshadowing (making an ohel over) any source of impurity. They used stone cups because stone cannot become impure.
They filled their cups from the Shiloah spring which is on the southern side of Jerusalem (also called the Silwan). Rabbi Yose says that they didn’t even get off the backs of their oxen to do so. Again, this was an extra stringency to make sure they did not become impure.
The Talmud then cites a baraita in which Rabbi Judah says doors aren’t necessary because the oxen themselves would form a tent to stop the feared impurity from rising from the depths and defiling these kids. This contradicts his earlier opinion from the mishnah in Ohalot where he says that for something to function halakhically as a tent it must have been made by a person.
כי אתא רב דימי אמר רבי אלעזר: מודה רבי יהודה כמלא אגרוף.
תניא נמי הכי: ומודה רבי יהודה בשקיפין ובנקיקי הסלעים. –
When R. Dimi came he said in the name of R. Elazar, R. Judah agrees in, the case [of a tent that is as large as] a fistful.
So it has also been taught: R. Judah admits in the case of overhanging crags and clefts of rocks.
R. Dimi responds that R. Judah agrees that if the "tent" is as large as a fistful, meaning larger than a cubed handbreadth, it can count as a tent even if it was not made by a human being. There is also a baraita in which R. Judah agrees that an empty space like a crag or cleft in a rock, formations clearly not made by human beings, can still count as "tents."
והרי דלת, דיש בה כמה אגרופין, וקתני, רבי יהודה אומר: לא היו מביאין דלתות אלא שוורים! –
But a door has many fistfuls and yet R. Judah teaches, They did not bring doors but oxen ?
The problem with R. Dimi’s interpretation is that R. Judah seems to say the opposite. R. Judah seems to imply that they didn’t use doors because the oxen were sufficient. And yet the doors would have had many fistfuls of distance from the ground to the door.
אמר אביי: לא הוצרכו להביא דלתות. רבא אמר: לא היו מביאין דלתות כל עיקר, שמפני שדעתו של תינוק גסה עליו שמא יוציא ראשו או אחד מאבריו, ויטמא בקבר התהום.
Abaye replied, [It means that] they did not need to bring doors.
Rava said, [It means that] they did not bring doors at all because the child, feeling confident might put out his head or one of his limbs and thus contract uncleanliness on account of a grave in the depths.
Abaye answers that what R. Judah meant was that the doors on the backs of the oxen were unnecessary. But the doors would have been sufficient to act as a tent.
Rava gives a slightly different answer. They didn’t bring the doors because the kids sitting on the doors might get curious and peak their heads over the door. This would cause them to be defiled because of the fear of the dread "grave in the depths."
Thus both Abaye and Rava uphold R. Dimi’s explanation. R. Judah does not disallow a tent not made by human hands, as long as that "tent" is at least a fistful in size.
תניא כוותיה דרבא, רבי יהודה אומר: לא היו מביאין דלתות כל עיקר, מפני שדעתו של תינוק גסה עליו, שמא יוציא ראשו או אחד מאבריו ויטמא בקבר התהום. אלא מביאין שוורים המצרים שכריסותיהן רחבות, והתינוקות יושבין על גביהן וכוסות של אבן בידיהן, הגיעו לשילוח ירדו ומלאום ועלו וישבו להן על גביהן. –
It has been taught in agreement with Rava: R. Judah said, They did not bring doors at all, because the child, feeling confident, might put out his head or one of his limbs and thus contract uncleanness on account of a grave in the depths, but they brought Egyptian oxen with wide bellies, and the children sat on their backs with stone cups in their hands. When they came to Shiloah they descended, filled them, and ascended and sat again on their backs.
This baraita accords with what Rava said. It also provides a little bit of extra detail about the oxen they would bring.