LEVEL 01
רמת המתחיל
Base — Beginner & Intermediate
The Hebrew text of the nine seifim with a flowing English translation: pitch and mor on glass, the rule of particularity and of the greater part, the soot on a cauldron, broken handles, a vessel immersed mouth-down, a vessel within a vessel, the narrow neck and the handle to be cut — with the twenty-six entries of the Shach, the Taz, the Baer Hetev and the Nekudot HaKesef, cited one by one, then the thirteen seifim of the Arukh HaShulchan.
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LEVEL 02
רמת הלמדן
Lamdan — Talmid Hakham
Pilpul: the hakira between the stuck substance and the trapped air, the two readings of the mishnah on glass, the dispute of the Beit Yosef, the Bach, the Taz and the Nekudot HaKesef about a wide vessel, the Taz’s question from siman 201 and his two answers, the Arukh HaShulchan’s question on the Rama’s gloss, the shefoferet hanod and its two uses, and the version of the gemara in חולין.
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LEVEL 03
חזרה וסיכום
Synthesis — Revision
The master table of the nine seifim, the two obstructions set apart, the four thresholds of interposition, the handle clause by clause, the three conditions of a vessel within a vessel, the positions on the wide vessel, the vocabulary, the golden rules and the classic pitfalls.
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LEVEL 04
הלכה למעשה
Halakha lema‘asse — Psak
The practical halakha according to the ש״ך, the ט״ז, the באר היטב, the נקודות הכסף and the ערוך השולחן, then contemporary cases: the label, the glue, the soot, the loose handle, the bottle, the basket. Note: the פתחי תשובה does not comment on this siman. Note also: the Admur HaZaken did not write a Shulchan Arukh on Yoreh De’ah — a level of ruling, not “Daat HaRav”.
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Frequently asked questions — Siman 202
What interposes in the immersion of a vessel?
Seif 2 gives the rule, and it has two thresholds:
What people are generally particular about interposes even over a small area; what they do not mind interposes only if it covers the greater part. The Taz ties the rule to the immersion of persons in siman 198 and recalls that it is rabbinic. For your own case, ask your Rav.
Does soot on a pot prevent the immersion?
The gloss says so expressly, and the Taz draws the converse:
On the outside, soot is like the wall of the vessel and does not interpose. Within, where one is particular, it interposes. For your own case, ask your Rav.
May one immerse a glass upside down?
Seif 6 refuses it, and the Taz tells why the word “somewhat” was added:
The trapped air keeps the water from reaching the base. The Bach holds this true of any vessel, even a wide one; the Taz grants it except for a bowl; the Nekudot HaKesef reject the Taz’s distinction. In practice one immerses mouth upward, or turns the vessel under the water. For your own case, ask your Rav.
May one immerse several pieces at once in a basket?
The gloss sets the conditions and the Shach spells them out:
The container’s mouth must be wide enough, the pieces must be free, and none may press on another. Laid side by side, even many together, it is permitted from the outset. For your own case, ask your Rav.
What is to be done with a narrow-necked bottle?
Seif 8 settles it, and the Shach gives the reason:
One fills it with water before putting it in, or waits until it fills. And width exempts nothing: if the water does not enter of itself, the same precaution applies. For your own case, ask your Rav.
Does a wooden handle interpose?
Seifim 3 to 5 answer, and the criterion is not the material:
A handle well inserted and meant to stay is one body with the vessel. A handle that will have to come off interposes — and a temporary repair, reed or string, repairs nothing, whereas a lasting bond makes the object one. For your own case, ask your Rav.