Mishnah Kelim 13:2-3

Sugya Map

• Issue: The threshold for tumah in multi-functional metal implements when a component part is compromised.
• Nafka Mina: Whether the hechsher (susceptibility) of a composite tool is linked to its wholeness or its residual functional utility.
• Primary Sources: Mishnah Kelim 13:2-3, Rambam (Comm. ad loc.), Rash (ad loc.).

Text Snapshot

Mishnah Kelim 13:2: "A koligrophon whose spoon has been removed is still susceptible to impurity on account of its teeth; if its teeth have been removed it is still susceptible on account of its spoon."

• Leshon Nuance: The Mishnah employs a binary logic—functional redundancy. Even when "damaged" (nifgam), the remaining extremity retains the vessel's status.

Readings

• Rambam (Comm. ad loc.): Emphasizes the shiur of usability. He explains that if the remaining handle is too short to hold safely while using the functional end, the tool is tahor. The tumah is not merely an ontological category of "vessel-hood," but a functional one; if it cannot perform its labor, it ceases to be a keli.
• Rash (ad loc.): Notes the underlying category: kol hanei kelei... meshamshei sheini tashmishin (all these tools serve two functions, one at each head). The chiddush is that the tool is essentially a hybrid entity; removing one head does not destroy the keli, provided the second head remains "fit for its usual work."

Friction

• Kushya: If the tool is defined by its purpose (the spoon or the fork), why does the Mishnah rule that removing one head makes it susceptible on account of the other? Why isn't it considered a "broken vessel" (keli she-nishbar) immediately?
• Terutz: The Sages view the tool as a single unit composed of two potential keilim. As long as one functional end remains, the "vessel-ness" (shem ha-keli) persists. It is not a broken vessel, but a modified one.

Intertext

• Mishnah Kelim 14:1: Parallels the status of a vessel that loses its capacity to hold, reinforcing the principle that shiur (measure) is the arbiter of tahara.

Psak/Practice

The heuristic is functional integrity. In modern halacha, this translates to the bitul of utility. If an object is designed for a specific function, its tumah status remains as long as it retains the minimum operational capacity required for that specific function. If it cannot be used, it is tahor.

Takeaway

Tumah follows function, not form. A tool remains a "vessel" as long as its remaining parts can perform the task for which they were intended.