- Adding a degree of tumah to tamei meat
The next Mishnah and the following seven blatt are known as the sugya of Rebbe Chanina Sgan HaKohanim, because the Mishnah opens with the following statement: Rebbe Chanina Sgan Hakohanim says, מימיהם של כהנים לא נמנעו מלשרוף את הבשר שנטמא בולד הטומאה עם הבשר שנטמא באב הטומאה – In all the days of the Kohanim, they never refrained from burning meat of kodshim that had become tamei from a vlad hatumah (making the meat a sheini) together with meat of kodshim that had become tamei from an av hatumah (making the meat a rishon), אף על פי שמוסיפין טומאה על טומאתו – even though by doing so they added a degree of tumah to its previous tumah. Rashi explains that since the meat was being burned away, the Kohanim were not concerned about an increase in the tumah.
The Gemara begins by asking what tumah is added, since a sheini that touches a rishon remains a sheini? Rav Yehudah said, הכא בוולד וולד עסקינן דהוי ליה שלישי – Here we are dealing with meat that became tamei through a sheini making it a shelishi, and by burning it together with a rishon raises it to a sheini and Rebbe Chanina holds it is mutar to make a shelishi into a sheini.
- Food is matemei food mid’Rabbanon
The Gemara persists in questioning how the degree of tumah was increased since food cannot be metamei food as it was taught in a Baraisa, יכול יהא אוכל מטמא אוכל – It might be thought that a food can be metamei food, the Torah therefore states, תלמוד לומר "וכי יתן מים על זרע ונפל מנבלתם עליו טמא הוא" – But if water has been placed on a seed and then their carcass (referring to a sheretz) falls upon it, it is tamei. The phrase “it is tamei” implies that the seed itself is tamei but it cannot make something else of its nature, meaning another food, tamei. Therefore, when one burns meat that is a shelishi together with meat that is a rishon, what tumah is being added?
The Gemara concludes that although a food cannot be metamei another food mid’Oraysa, it can be metamei mid’Rabbanon and Rebbe Chanina was teaching that one can burn the shelishi meat with rishon meat even though it becomes a sheini midRabbanon.
- Metal is like the body in that it takes on its degree of tumah when they touch
In the Mishnah Rebbe Akiva added and said, מימיהן של כהנים לא נמנעו מלהדליק את השמן שנפסל בטבול יום בנר שנטמא בטמא מת – In all the days of the Kohanim they never refrained from lighting terumah oil from a tevul yom who is a sheini, making the oil a shelishi, in a lamp that had become tamei from one who had become tamei from a corpse, making the lamp a rishon, even though it added a degree of tumah to its previous tumah. The Gemara asks what Rebbe Akiva is adding since it is the same case of a shelishi being touched by a rishon to become a sheini, like Rebbe Chanina’s case? Rav Yehudah answered that we are dealing with a metal lamp, of which the Torah teaches, בחלל חרב – the body of someone felled by a sword, חרב הרי הוא כחלל, a sword, or any metal utensil, that touches a dead body, is itself like the body in regard to tumah and becomes an avi avos hatumah. If it touches a person who touched a corpse, it becomes an av hatumah like the person. Rebbe Akiva holds that terumah which is a shelishi may be made into a rishon when it touches the lamp which is an av hatumah.
