Study Sukkah folio 14A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
יורדין לידי טומאה במחשבה, ואין עולין מטומאתן אלא בשינוי מעשה. מעשה מוציא מיד מעשה ומיד מחשבה. מחשבה אינה מוציאה לא מיד מעשה ולא מיד מחשבה.
descend into their state of ritual impurity by means of thought? Although an unfinished vessel ordinarily cannot become ritually impure, if the craftsman decided to leave it in its unfinished state, it immediately assumes the legal status of a completed vessel and can become ritually impure. However, they ascend from their state of ritual impurity only by means of a change resulting from an action. Merely deciding to complete the unfinished vessel does not alter its status. It loses its status as a vessel only when he takes action to complete it. Action negates status created by action and status created by thought; however, thought negates neither status created by action nor status created by thought. Therefore, once the straw of the grain harvested for food is considered a handle and is susceptible to ritual impurity, its status cannot be negated by thought alone.
וכי תימא הני מילי כלים דחשיבי, אבל ידות, דלצורך אכילה נינהו — במחשבה נעשה ובמחשבה סלקא. והתנן: כל ידות האוכלין שבססן בגורן — טהורות (ורבי יוסי מטמא).
And if you say: There is a distinction between the cases, as this principle applies only to vessels, which are significant, but with regard to handles that are not independently significant but are merely for the purpose of handling food, perhaps by means of thought they become handles and by means of thought they emerge from that status; but didn’t we learn in the Mishnah to the contrary? All handles of food that one besasan on the threshing floor are ritually pure, as through one’s actions he indicated that has no use for them and does not consider them significant. And R' Yosei deems them capable of becoming ritually impure.