One-Page Learn · The Halachos at a glance
טֻמְאַת מֵת
Defilement by a Corpse 3-5
Sefer Taharah · The full inventory of what conveys the impurity of the dead and by which of the three routes, the measures that must be met and the sources that may be added together, and how far the contamination travels before the chain runs out
12
Entities conveying impurity by touch, carrying and overshadowing
7
More that convey by touch and carrying but never through a roof
3
Categories of contact, which never combine with one another
2
Links in the chain the Torah itself holds liable for the Temple
Ch 3What conveys the impurity, and by which route
- Twelve by all three routes, seven by two. A corpse, an olive of flesh, an olive of netzal, a limb with the required flesh from the dead or the living, the backbone, the skull, the majority of the structure, the majority of the number of the bones, a quarter kab of bones, and two kinds of revi'it of blood convey by touch, carrying and ohel; a deficient limb, a deficient backbone or skull, a bone the size of a barley corn, the earth of the nations and a beit hapras convey by touch and carrying only. (3:1, 3:2)
- The Rambam limits Scriptural impurity by a test from elsewhere. It appears to him that a quarter kab of bones through ohel, a revi'it of blood, and a limb lacking flesh are not of Scriptural origin, since a nazirite need not shave for them and one is not liable for entering the Temple after them; every corpse impurity that does not require a nazirite to shave he holds Rabbinic. (3:3)
- Rekev is a narrow category. The decomposed mass conveys only where the corpse was buried naked and intact in marble, glass or the like; garments, wood or metal in the grave disqualify it because their rot or rust mixes in, and two bodies together, buried hair and nails, a woman buried with her fetus, a ground-up corpse, or one who was slain are all excluded. (3:4, 3:5, 3:6)
- Destroy the form and the impurity ends. A burned corpse whose backbone and ribs remain conveys like a whole corpse, but one burned until its form is destroyed is pure, as are the ashes of the burned, flesh gone powdery and flourlike, and worms generated from the flesh of a corpse whether alive or dead. (3:9, 3:10)
- Processed human skin, and the reason for the decree. Skin is flesh, but fully processed skin is pure by Scriptural law and was made impure by Rabbinic decree so that people do not become accustomed to processing human skin and using it; teeth, hair and nails are pure because they are replaced, though impure while attached. (3:11, 3:13)
RememberIf even the slightest amount is lacking from any of these measures, the whole of it is pure.
Ch 4Measures that combine, and joining that counts
- One source, or nothing. A revi'it of blood from two corpses is pure, and a backbone, skull, quarter kab or limb assembled from two corpses conveys only by touch and carrying, not through a roof; a limb from a living person drawn from two people is pure, and even from one person it is pure once cut in two. (4:1, 4:2)
- Only equal measures combine. An olive of flesh from two corpses combines, an olive of netzal from two combines, and half an olive of flesh joins half an olive of netzal; all other sources of corpse impurity are never combined with one another, because they are not of equal measures. (4:3)
- Anything joined by man is not joined. An olive-sized portion cut up, flattened and pressed together conveys through ohel and by carrying but not by touch; flesh grown on a bone by heaven brings impurity into a house while flesh pushed into the bone by human hands does not; a depleted backbone conveys through ohel only in the grave, because the grave joins it. (4:5, 4:7, 4:9)
- Presumption of purity, and retroactive impurity. An olive-sized portion lost in a house and searched for without being found leaves the house pure, but if it is later discovered the house is deemed impure retroactively from the time it was lost until the time it was found. (4:12)
- Blood needs a place to rest. A revi'it poured into an open space conveys if it coagulated or collected in a low place; spilled on a doorstep that slopes inward or outward the house is pure, because the blood did not come to rest, and blood absorbed in a garment conveys through ohel only if washing would discharge a full revi'it. (4:13)
RememberCarrying, touching and ohel are three categories. Halves from one category combine and convey; halves from two categories are pure.
Ch 5How far the impurity travels
- Seven days, then one evening, with a narrow Rabbinic extension. Whoever touches, carries or is overshadowed contracts seven-day impurity; one who touches him is impure until evening by Scriptural law, and the Rabbinic ruling giving the second man seven days while the first still holds the corpse applies to terumah and sacrificial food only, never to a nazirite or one bringing the Paschal offering. (5:1, 5:2)
- A sword is like a corpse. Keilim that touched a corpse or were under the same shelter convey seven-day impurity to whatever touches them, whether person or vessel; the man who kills with a sword is impure because he handled the implement that touched the body, not because of the killing. (5:3)
- Only the first two are liable by Scriptural law. For karet on entering the Temple or eating sacrificial food, liability rests on the one who touched the corpse and the one who touched him; touching keilim touched by an impure person, or touching a person who touched such keilim, is exempt. (5:5)
- Primary sources and derivatives. A primary source conveys impurity to people, garments and vessels of every kind, while a derivative conveys only to food and drink; earthenware never becomes a primary source at all, so it contracts impurity from a corpse and conveys it to nothing. (5:6, 5:7)
- A roof is impure only if it is built like the Sanctuary. A tent encompassing a corpse contracts seven-day impurity when made of cloth, sackcloth, hide or a wooden vessel, since the term tent applies only to what is woven or made of hides; slats, matting, bone, metal and building materials are pure, and the phrase that the house is impure means the people and keilim inside it. (5:12)
RememberOne who contracts impurity from a corpse conveys it by touch alone. He does not convey it by standing over a vessel, and a corpse renders nothing beneath it a couch or a seat.