Introduction The first three mishnayoth contain four things upon which Rabbi Hanina, the chief of the priests testified. The first mishnah discusses burning impure things.
Rabbi Hanina, chief of the priests, testified concerning four matters:
Through all their days the priests never refrained from burning meat which had been defiled by an “offspring” of impurity with meat which had been made impure by a “father” of impurity, although they were [thereby] increasing its impurity by a [higher] impurity. Rabbi Akiba added: “Through all their days the priests never shrank from lighting oil which had been rendered unfit by a tevul yom in a lamp made impure by one who was made impure by a corpse, although they were [thereby] increasing its impurity by a [higher] impurity.” In order to understand the first “testimony” of Rabbi Hanina we must explain some rules concerning impurity. There are a number of things which are considered to be “fathers” of impurity, including a human corpse. If a “father” of impurity touches something it becomes an “offspring” of impurity. There are several levels of “offspring” of impurity. The “first offspring”, when it touches food or liquids (but not people and things) causes them to be a “second offspring”. “Second offspring” makes only terumah food but not normal food into “third offspring”. “Third offspring” can make holy things such as sacrifices into “fourth offspring”. Rabbi Hanina testifies that the priests did not refrain from burning meat which had been made impure by an “offspring” with meat that had been made impure by a “father” of impurity, even though the latter meat, which is a “first offspring” increases the impurity of the former meat, which according to the Talmud had been a “third offspring”, to the status of “second offspring”. The reason is that all of this meat was going to be burned anyway, since impure sacrifices are forbidden to eat. Although it is generally forbidden to intentionall make sacrifices impure, that refers to already pure sacrifices. It is not a problem to increase the impurity of already impure sacrifices. Rabbi Akiva adds another example. The priests did not refrain from burning oil which had contracted a light form of impurity with oil that had contracted a serious form of impurity, even though this will increase the impurity of the oil. The light form of impurity is contracted by coming into contact with a “tevul yom”, one who had already been immersed in a ritual bath and was merely waiting for the sunset to become fully pure. The serious form of impurity is that which is contracted from a corpse.