טהרות ט׳:ו׳ - ט׳:ז׳

לגרגרם – to make of them shriveled olives. Meaning to say, to make that each and every berry will wither in the sun and dry out.

אפילו הן רום אמה – that when the upper ones wither, the lowest ones from the moisture and the moistness of the liquid, nevertheless, since it is his intention that they dry out, they are not made fit for Levitical uncleanness . And there are those who explain "לגרגרן"/to shrivel them, to sweet them in the sun in order that make an incision in them with salt and to consume them. And because they all do not become sweet at once, because of this, it (i.e., the Mishnah) takes [the term]: "לגרגרן"/to make of them shriveled olives, that is to say that he takes the shriveled olives that sweeten one by one and consumes them, and we have the reading: "אפילו הן רום אמה"/even if they are piled a cubit in height, they are fit for Levitical uncleanness, meaning to say, even that they are a cubit high for now those lowest ones are sweetened, they are made fit for Levitical uncleanness by liquids that exude from them. For it is satisfactory for him that they sweat there, that it appears better for consumption.

שילקו (that they might putrefy) – that they will be crushed and will be burst.

לעתיד להעלותן לגג – afterwards to sweeten them there in the sun.

נתנן בגג שיפתחם – that the olives will burst open and will salt them.

הרי אלו מוכשרים – for all these it is satisfactory to him with the sweating of the oil that is saved.

עד שישמר – that he will prepare to guard it on its roof. He covers it from reeds and straw that they make at the top of the roof to sit there to guard.

אינן מוכשרים – for it is not satisfactory to him with the moisture that exudes from them.

רצה ליטול מהם בד אחד (If he wanted to take – enough from – them for a single pressing) – olives which had completed their work of preparation and they were not fit for Levitical uncleanness as for example, that it was his intention to purchase and to add upon them as is taught in the Mishnah at the beginning of our chapter (Mishnah 2), and he comes to take from them a small/minute measure that they place in the olive press on one occasion, or two presses and make [olive] oil from them, and leave from them a lot in the vat/pit where olives are packed until they form a viscid mass.

בית שמאי אומרים קוצה בטומאה (let him set them apart in a state of uncleanness)- he cuts off what he wants to cut off from the cluster of olives that are in the vat where the olives are packed until they form a viscid mass, a single pressing or two pressings in defilement, since they had not completed their work of preparation and were not fit for Levitical uncleanness.

ומחפה בטהרה (and cover up in a state of ritual purity) – when he finished taking what he wanted to take, he covers the remainder that is in the vat in purity as if it was made fit for Levitical uncleanness, for his taking of what he takes is defrauded to consider the remainder as if he completed his work of preparation.

אף מחפה בטומאה – for even that which remains is not fit to receive Levitical uncleanness, since their work of preparation had not been completed and it was his intention to add upon them. But however, if he uprooted all the olives that were in the vat in order to make them in the olive press, they were fit to receive Levitical uncleanness according to the House of Hillel.

ר' יוסי אומר חופר בקרדומות (Rabbi Yossi says he digs out with metal axes/hatchets) – and uproots all of the olives that are in the vat.

ומוליך לבית הבד בטומאה – because they are not fit to receive Levitical uncleanness, and it (i.e., the Mishnah’s) use of the word קרדומות, it is a noteworthy point because they are vessels of iron and they are prepared for the defilement through a corpse more than other vessels. And the Halakha is according to the School of Hillel.