Uktzin 2:1 - 2:2

זיתים שכבשן – in wine or vinegar or in other liquids.

בטרפיהן – with their leaves. The leaf of an olive, we translate in Aramaic as טרף זיתא/the leaf of an olive.

טהורים – if a creeping reptile/insect touched/came in contact with the leaves, the olives and the leaves are ritually pure, for the leaves are not considered neither a handle nor a protector.

לפי שלא כבשן- with their leaves.

אלא למראה – in order that they would look nicer when their leaves are with them, for they appear as if they were newly detached/plucked.

כשות של קישות (fine hairs/fibers of cucumbers) - when the cucumbers are small, they have a kind of small hair, and it is called כשות/fine hairs/fibers.

והנץ שלה (its blossom, sprout/flower) – in the mouth of the cucumbers there is like a bit of a long blossom/flower.

טהורים – for they are not considered neither a handle nor a protector.

לפני התגר טמאה (before the vendor/travelling merchant) – for it is satisfactory to the vendor with hair and with a blossom, and because of this the cucumbers appear beautiful and it is as if they were newly plucked/detached, and since he wants their preservation, they are considered as a protector for the fruit. Alternatively, because the cucumbers are soft and everyone’s hand touches them to buy them, they are ruined/spoiled if not because that hair protects them from all dirt and filth.

הגלעינים (the stones/kernel of a stone fruit, globule/pits) – like גרעינים/globules, the stone or kernel of a stone fruit.

ולא מצטרפות – [and do not join together] with the food to complete it to be like an egg’s bulk, for it is considered a handle, but not a protector.

גלעינה של רוטב (stones of moist olives) – a stone of a moist olive and it is appropriate to suck.

אע"פ יוצאה (even though it is detached) – meaning to say, even though it is detached from the food, it joins with the food, because it is consumed, that one sucks it on account of its moistness.

לפיכך חותל של יבישה (the membranous enclosure separating the stone of a date from its flesh, pericarp – as far as not eatable) – a berry of grapes or figs has a membranous enclosure, that seals the incision of the fruit, and that at the top of the membranous enclosure/pericarp is a peduncle, such is what my Rabbis have explained. And their explanation has difficulties, of what therefore. And I found in the Mishnayot accuracy, therefore, the membranous enclosure separating the stone of the date from its flesh/pericarp, and such is the reading of Maimonides (i.e., חותל של יבישה ) and he explains the reason – that the kernel of a green date, that is of a moist date, combines/joins together, because it is a protector to the fruit, for without the globule/stone or kernel of a stone fruit, the fruit would be lost. But that of pericarp does not combine/join together, for again, the globule/stone or kernel of a stone fruit is not a protector of the fruit, for the moisture that is in the date has already ceased and the globule does not protect it so that it doesn’t become lost. Therefore, the membranous enclosure separating the stone of the date from its flesh/pericarp, and it is the membrane/skin that is wrapped and attached on the globule of the date, combines/joins with the date when it is dry, because the membrane/skin is a protector and not the globule/kernel of a stone fruit.

ושל רוטב – that is, the moist date, the membrane does not join/combine. For the globule/stone or kernel of a stone fruit is the protector and not the membrane. And that membrane is called a חותל/membranous enclosure separating the stone of date from its flesh/pericarp. Because it is wrapped and attached to the globule/stone or kernel of a stone fruit. It is the language of (Ezekiel 16:4): “[As for your birth, when you were born your navel cord was not cut, and you were not bathed in water to smooth you; you were not rubbed with salt] nor were you swaddled.”

גלעינה שמקצתה יוצאה (a pit, part of which was detached) – as for example the globule of the moist date, half of which is consumed and half of it remains with the globule.

מה שכנגד האוכל (that which is near the edible part) – is considered a protector and combines/joins together, but not the other part. And similarly, a bone that has upon it an olive’s bulk of flesh.

היה עליו – there was flesh on the bone on one side that does not surround the bone, Rabbi Shimon states that we see if there is meat the measurement that it is able to surround its thickness like the thread of woof like a ring around the bone that joins/combines. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Shimon.

כגון הסיאה והאזוב והקורנית (as for example, a plant classified with hyssop/Satureia Thymbra/savory, and the hyssop/marjoram and the thyme) – for also with these, such is their law. What is near the edible part joins together, what is not near the edible part does not join together. And סיאה and קורנית are a species of hyssop. סיאה is TALIAZ in the foreign language and קורנית is SHADRIAH in the foreign language.