Parshat Matot

Every now and then we come across a verse in the Torah whose interpretation is the matter of Halachic dispute. We have an example of this in this week’s parsha. When the Jews came back from the war against Midian they were told how to kasher the utensils that they took as booty. These instructions form the basis of the halachot known to us as libun and hagala. While these instructions (which appear in chap. 31 verse 23) are fairly straightforward there is an ambiguous phrase as well. The ambiguous phrase is “…ach b’mei nidda yitchata…”

What are mei nidda? We find the phrase mei nidda in parshat Chukkat (19:13) used to describe the mixture of ashes and water which are sprinkled on the person who is tamei meit as part of the purification ritual. The word nidda in this context does not mean a menstruating woman, but rather “sprinkled.” In other words mei nidda means the water which is sprinkled. This is what Rashi explains both in parshat Chukat and in our parsha as well. This is also the opinion of Onkelos who in both verses translates mei nidda as mei adayuta (adayuta means “sprinkled” in Aramaic). Our parsha deals with utensils captured in battle, and in all likelihood came into contact with corpses. After their kashering, they needed to be purified with mei nidda.

There is another interpretation of mei nidda. The Gemara in Avoda Zara (page 75b) says that this verse teaches us the mitzva of tevilat kelim. The Gemara considers the possibility that mei nidda here means the same thing that it does in parshat Chukkat, but rejects it. The Gemara points out that the phrase mei nidda is prefaced by the word ach. Ach is a word that breaks a verse into independent clauses. The part of the verse preceding the word ach deals with already known laws, specifically the laws of kashrut. Then the word ach introduces a new law, the law of tevilat kelim. And what does mei nidda mean according to the Gemara? It means the water in which a nidda immerses herself.

So is tevilat kelim a mitzva d’Oraita or a mitzva d’Rabanan? A person could reasonably conclude that it is Torah-based mitzva since the Gemara bases it in our parsha. But most students of the Talmud know that many derashot fall within the category of asmachta (as I am very aware of my shortcomings I will not explain this term. Instead I refer the curious to the Encyclopedia Talmudit and its definition of the word).

Rashi on the pasuk says peshuto of the verse is that mei nidda refers to purification from tumat meit. It may be that Rashi means that the Gemara’s drasha is therefore within the category of asmachta but I don’t know. The Rambam (Ma’achalot Asurot 17:5) writes that tevilat kelim is m’divrei Sofrim and known to us m’pi hashmu’a. Again, most Talmud students know the uncertainty surrounding what the Rambam means when he writes m’divrei Sofrim. Those readers unfamiliar with the question can learn about it by studying the Kesef Mishneh to the Rambam’s Hilchot Ishut (1:2). So, I can’t say for now if the Rambam views tevilat kelim as aTorah-based or Rabbinic mitzva. The Ramban in his commentary to the pasuk says clearly that the Gemara’s drasha is asmachta and that the mitzva is Rabbinic. But the Rashba in his comments to Torat Habayit called Bedek Habayit quotes the Ramban as having said that that tevilat kelim is probably (mistama) a mitzva d’Orayta.

You might ask, what difference does it make if it’s a mitzva d’Orayta or not? Well, one difference is pointed out by the medieval Gadol, known as the Terumat Hadeshen. The Terumat Hadeshen (in siman number 257 of his responsa) held that tevilat kelim is a mitzva d’Orayta . Consequently, the Terumat Hadeshen ruled that parents cannot send their minor-aged children to perform tevilat kelim. The reason is that minors are not considered reliable witnesses. A minor cannot testify that the vessel in question was properly immersed in the mikveh. If, however, tevillat kelim were a Rabbinic enactment one could send a minor to perform it, since we are lenient in Rabbinic law with regard to the testimony of minors.

The halacha is that tevilat kelim is a mitzva d’Orayta (see Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 120:14, and the comments of the Taz there).