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Golel

Ohalot (15:9) | Yisrael Bankier | an hour ago

The Mishnah (15:9) discusses the cases where an earthenware sealed vessel was used as a golel. The simple understanding of a golel is a covering over a grave. If someone touches or stands over a golel they become tameh met even if they are not over the corpse itself. The Mishnah teaches that if the kli contains liquids and it is tzamid patil (sealed shut), the contents remain tahor. We shall try to understand this Mishnah.

Recall that for an earthenware utensil that is tzamid patil, the kli and its contents remain tahor, even in an ohel ha’met – in a room that has a corpse inside it. That would explain why in this Mishnah the contents remain tahor. What is noteworthy in this Mishnah is that if someone touches the kli they became tameh met. In other words, being defined as a golel is what can make it make another person tameh met. The Mishnah Achrona explains that this is learnt from the pasuk “anything that touches…”; even if the golel is itself not susceptible to tumah, it can make anyone that touches it tameh.

The Tifferet Yisrael also addresses this question. If the kli itself can make someone tameh met, why are the contents tahor? He provides two answers. One is that when it is sealed, the contents are considered blu’ah and therefore cannot become tameh. That is comparable to the case were a person swallowed a ring and then went through an ohel ha’met. In that case, the ring would not become tameh. The second answer he provides is that the tumah is not “attached” to the kli. His proof is that when the kli no longer acts as a golel it is tahor. Consequently, since it itself is not essentially tameh, the contents remain protected by the fact that it is contained in the earthenware kli.

The Chazon Ish (Ohalot 7:9) explains that only the outside of the kli is tameh. He explains further that the golel itself is not a source of tumah. Rather anyone that touches a golel become tameh. Put differently, tumah is not being transferred from a tameh golel – the golel itself is tahor. Instead, this is a case of “tameh by definition” – anyone that touches a golel becomes tameh met. To be more specific, this is only if they touch the outside of the kli. That being the case we can understand that the contents remain tahor since they are not touching that outside of the kli.

The Tosfot Yom Tov however notes that the status of the vessel once it is removed is the subject of debate. According to the Rambam, since it is not acting as a golel, it is completely tahor and no longer a source of tumah. Rashi on the other hand maintains that it can still make other things tameh after it is removed.

The Chazon Ish however asks, according to Rashi’s understanding, how can the contents remain tahor? Once we open the kli the contents should become tameh! The Chazon Ish therefore explains that we must say that even though the kli retains that status of a golel, that is only the outside. The inside continues to be defined as a distinct section and remains tahor.

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