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Text Excerpt
בטלו במעיה. ואי סלקא דעתך מכלים הוא דהדר ביה, אבל באוכלין כרבי יוסי ורבי שמעון סבירא ליה, אמאי בטלו במעיה לגמרי?
The purification waters are nullified in its innards and do not impurify the meat of the cow. And if it enters your mind that it was from his ruling with regard to liquids transmitting impurity to vessels by Torah law that R' Yehuda retracted his opinion, but with regard to foods he holds in accordance with the opinions of R' Yosei and R' Shimon that liquids transmit ritual impurity to food by Torah law, why does he say that the purification waters are nullified in its innards entirely and no longer transfer impurity at all?
נהי דטומאה חמורה לא מטמאו, טומאה קלה מיהא ניטמאו!
The Talmud elaborates: Although these waters do not transmit a severe form of ritual impurity to a person or vessel that comes into contact with them, in any event let them transmit a lesser form of impurity to food that comes into contact with them. R' Yehuda’s ruling with regard to the purification waters indicates that he retracted his previous opinion entirely and he maintains that there is no impurity of liquids by Torah law at all. Since this impurity is by rabbinic law, the rabbis did not extend their decree to the uncommon circumstance of the purification waters.
מאי ״בטלו במעיה״ נמי? בטלו מטומאה חמורה, אבל טומאה קלה מטמאו. מכלל דתנא קמא סבר: טומאה חמורה נמי מטמאו, הא ״בשרה טמא״ קתני!
The Talmud rejects this contention: What, too, is the meaning of R' Yehuda’s phrase: They are nullified in its innards? It means that they are nullified only from a severe form of impurity. However, according to R' Yehuda, the purification waters transmit a lesser form of impurity. This proves by inference that the first tanna maintains that the purification waters also transmit a severe form of impurity to people and vessels. This is a problematic conclusion, as the first tanna teaches: Its flesh is impure, which clearly indicates that its flesh alone is impure, whereas the purification waters swallowed by the cow do not transmit impurity to people or vessels. The result is that according to this approach, there is no difference between the opinions of R' Yehuda and the first tanna.