Chagigah Daf 20 חגיגה דַף 20

Perushim, people who are extra machmir and eat their chullin in a state of taharah, must have constant attention to guard the tahor items in order for them to maintain their status of tahor. If the person has היסח הדעת – they diverted their attention from the item even for a moment, the object immediately becomes tamei. The Gemara brings a number of related rulings. Rebbe Yonasan ben Elazar said: נפלה מעפרתו הימנו – If a parush’s shawl fell off him, and he said to his friend, “Give it to me,” and he gave it to him, it is tamei. Rashi explains that even if the friend is tahor, there is a principle, חזקה אין אדם משמר מה שביד חבירו – it is a chazakah that a person does not guard what is in his friend’s hand. So, the one who dropped it is not guarding it while the other one picked it up. And the one who picked it up will reason to himself, that since the person who dropped it does not know if I am tamei, yet he asked me to pick it up, it must mean that he is not careful about taharah. Therefore, he will not guard it from tumah, and the object is deemed tamei.

The Gemara asks if a נטירותא לפלגא – a partial guarding would be valid, where the person had his mind on certain items grouped together but not on other items. The Gemara answers that there is and brings the following Baraisa which taught: הושיט ידו בסל והסל על כתיפו והמגריפה בתוך הסל – If one put his hand into a basket containing figs, and the basket was on his shoulder and a shovel was in the basket, and his mind was on the basket and the figs but not on the shovel, the basket and figs are tahor and the shovel is tamei. Ravina explains that the reason why the figs do not become tamei from the shovel is that the case is where the person said: שמרתיו מדבר שמטמאו ולא מדבר הפוסלו – I guarded the shovel from something that would make it tamei to the point that it would be metamei something else, but not from something that make it passul.

The opening Mishnah of the third perek states: חומר בקודש מבתרומה – The stringency of kodesh over terumah is and proceeds to enumerate eleven stringencies. These chumros were instituted by the Rabbanon to protect the taharah of various items. The first chumrah is שמטבילין כלים בתוך כלים לתרומה אבל לא בקדש – that we may toveil keilim within other keilim for terumah but not for kodesh. The second chumrah is אחוריים ותוך ובית הצביטה בתרומה אבל לא בקדש – The outside, and the inside of a kli, and tzevitah place, which the Gemara later on will define as the handle, are considered separate keilim with regard to terumah but not with regard to kodesh. Rashi explains that a kli, where the inside, outside and handle all have functions, each one is treated separately, so that if one became tamei from a tumah d’Rabbanon, the other two parts are tahor. The Mishnah continues listing the other nine distinctions which will be explained in the dapim to follow.