Derasha 3 on Metzora 15:06

Parashas Metzora · Passuk 15:06

The Complete Passuk

וְהַיֹּשֵׁב֙ עַל־הַכְּלִ֔י אֲשֶׁר־יֵשֵׁ֥ב עָלָ֖יו הַזָּ֑ב יְכַבֵּ֧ס בְּגָדָ֛יו וְרָחַ֥ץ בַּמַּ֖יִם וְטָמֵ֥א עַד־הָעָֽרֶב׃

Chabad.org — English translation + Rashi

Source Citation

Torah Temima points to Toras Kohanim.

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
אֲשֶׁר יֵשֵׁב עָלָיו — אֵין לִי אֶלָּא שֶׁיּוֹשֵׁב עָלָיו וְנוֹגֵעַ בּוֹ; מִנַּיִן לַעֲשָׂרָה מוֹשָׁבוֹת זוֹ עַל גַּבֵּי זוֹ, וַאֲפִלּוּ אֶבֶן מַסְמָא? תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר וְהַיּוֹשֵׁב עַל הַכְּלִי אֲשֶׁר יֵשֵׁב עָלָיו הַזָּב יִטְמָא — מָקוֹם שֶׁהַזָּב יוֹשֵׁב וּמְטַמֵּא, יָשַׁב הַטָּהוֹר וְיִטְמָא.

English: “On which he sits” — I have only [learned] when he sits on it and touches it; from where [do we learn about] ten seats one atop another, and even a stone-masma? Scripture teaches: “And the one who sits on the article on which the zav sits shall be impure” — a place where the zav sits and conveys impurity, [if] the pure person sits [there], he becomes impure.

Type of Learning

Stacked seats and stone-masma

What Is Learned

Chazal extend midras impurity through stacked layers and to the special case of a stone-masma configuration.