Nazir 65a — the Talmud in English

B. In the surroundings of the grave, one may not prepare taharot unless

he examines from it onward twenty cubits,

to ascertain whether another dead person is buried there.

And if indeed

he found one at the end of twenty cubits,

then he

examines from it onward,

another

twenty cubits.

And why does he examine twenty cubits when he found only one at the end of twenty cubits?

Because

there is evidence

that there are additional dead people in the surroundings.

For had he found him at the outset

as this solitary dead person, he would have

taken him and his tefusa

and that would have sufficed.

But now, having already found three dead people in the surroundings, even though in this place he found only one, there is concern that additional graves will be found, and therefore he examines another twenty cubits.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: “One who finds a dead person initially, lying in its usual manner, takes him and his tefusa”:

Rav Yehuda said

to explain the wording of the Mishna: “

Found” [“

one who finds a dead person”]—

excluding one who is found!

This teaches us that he “takes him” only when it was not known that he was buried there.

That is to say, a dead person whose presence in this place was known, he may not take him from there.

For only a dead person who is not known may be moved, since, because his burial was not known, one may assume that he was buried there only incidentally, with the intention of moving him. “

Dead person”—

excluding one who was killed!

This teaches us that he takes his tefusa and that he has a burial area only when he died naturally, for since his blood is lacking,

there is no need to take his tefusa along with him. And even if he found two additional dead people, this is not a “burial area,” for every dead person who is lacking has neither tefusa nor a burial area. “

Lying”—

excluding

one who found the dead person

sitting,

not in the manner of Israel, who bury their dead lying down; and it explains the reason and proceeds. “

In its usual manner”—

excluding

one who found the dead person with

his head placed between his thighs,

not in the manner of burial of the dead of Israel; and it explains the reason and proceeds.

Ulla bar Hanina taught:

A dead person who is lacking: [

he has no rikav, and]

he has no tefusa, nor a burial area.

And the Gemara explains:

And all these—

one sitting or one whose head is placed between his thighs—

what is the reason they do not,

what is the reason that the law of our Mishna does not apply to them?

Because

we say,

because we say:

perhaps

he is a gentile

buried there.

If he found two, the head of this one beside the feet of that one, and the head of that one beside the feet of this one,

not in the manner of burial of Israel—

we say: perhaps they are gentiles, and therefore

they have neither tefusa nor a burial area.

And if

he found three

dead people,

one was known

to have been buried here,

and two initially,

that is, two of the three dead people were not known—

Or

even if he found

two initially and two known, they have

tefusa, but they do not have a burial area,

for there is a “burial area” only for three known ones or for three initial ones.

An incident involving Rabbi Yishvav, who

wanted to preserve a certain place in a state of purity, and

examined and found two known and one initially, and sought to make them a burial area.

Rabbi Akiva said to him:

All the labor that you labored was labor in vain.

For

they said that there is a burial area only either for three known ones or for three initially.

We learned in the Mishna: “One who finds a dead person initially, lying in its usual manner, takes him and his tefusa; two,”

takes them and their tefusa;

and the Gemara explains:

What are the circumstances of tefusa,

that is, where do we find that he must take tefusa along with him?

Rav Yehuda said:

For

the verse says: “The days of Israel drew near to die, and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, and so on: Please do not bury me in Egypt. And I shall lie with my fathers,

and you shall carry me from Egypt

and carry me from Egypt

and bury me in their burial,” and why was it necessary to add and say “from Egypt”? He should have said only, “And you shall carry me and bury me in their burial.” Rather, in order to teach:

From Egypt [

the earth of Egypt]

take along with me!

The Gemara further explains:

And how much

is the

measure of tefusa

in which we are concerned for impurity?

Rabbi Elazar explained

son of Pedat:

He takes loose earth [

soft] from beneath the dead person,

and digs

further beneath it

in

virgin soil

three fingerbreadths.

He raises an objection

from the beraita that we learned:

And how much is the measure of tefusa

in which we are concerned for impurity?

Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Zadok explained:

He takes,

separating from the earth in the grave:

the splinters [

remnants of the marble coffin that was crushed]

and the clods [

like “clods of earth”]—they are clods of earth concerning which it is clear to him that they are not from the bones of the dead person—

and throws

from the earth that he took

the certain things,

that is, what is clear to him is not from the bones of the dead person,

and places

in a concealed place

the doubtful things,

that is, the earth concerning which he is uncertain whether it contains bones of the dead person, so that those who prepare taharot from it will not become impure—

And the remainder,

which is certainly from the pulverized bones of the dead person,

joins

the measure of

the majority of the structure or

the measure of

the majority of the number [

of the bones of the dead person, for this is their measure for imparting impurity in a tent],

and to a quarter [

of a kav of bones coming from the majority of the number and the majority of the structure, which also impart impurity in a tent],

and

when it is rotten, it joins

to a full ladleful of rikav.

Thus, he is not concerned to take all the loose earth and the virgin soil beneath it; and this is a difficulty against Rabbi Elazar!?

And we answer:

he—

Rabbi Elazar son of Pedat—

said in accordance with this tanna, for it was taught:

And how much is the measure of tefusa?

Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Ben Azzai:

He takes loose earth and digs in virgin soil three fingerbreadths,

and this is in accordance with the words of Rabbi Elazar.

We learned in the Mishna: “If he found three and so on, this is a burial area,”

he examines from it

and onward twenty cubits: