[In a case where] ten shawls [were placed] one on top of another, [and a zav] slept upon the top one, they are all tamei.  [In a case where] a zav was on [one] pan of a scale, and a couch or seat [was on the] opposite side, [if] the zav weighed down his side, they are tahor. [But if] they weighed down their side, they are tamei. R’ Shimon says: In [a case of] a single [couch or seat], it is tamei, but in [a case of] many, they are tahor, because no one [couch or seat] supports a majority of his [body].

[If] a zav is on [one] pan of a scale, and food and beverages are on the second pan of the scale, they are tamei. But with re-gard to a corpse, everything is tahor, except for a person.  This is a stringency [that applies] to a zav over a corpse, and [this is] a strin-gency [that applies] to a corpse over a zav: A zav creates a couch and seat beneath him [with the ability] to contaminate a man to contaminate [his] clothing, and on top of him [the zav creates] a madaf [with the ability] to contami-nate food and beverages, [whereas] a corpse does not [have the power to] contaminate [in] these [ways]. [This is] a strin-gency [that applies] to a corpse: that a corpse contaminates in an ohel and contaminates [others with] a tumah [that lasts for] seven [days, whereas] a zav does not [have the power to] contaminate [in] these [ways].

[If a zav] was sitting upon a bed, and [there were] four shawls under the four legs of the bed, they are tamei, because [the bed] cannot stand on three [legs]. R’ Shimon rules them tahor.  [If a zav] was riding upon an animal, and [there were] four shawls under the animal’s four legs, they are tahor, because [the animal] can stand on three [legs]. If there was a single shawl under [its] two forelegs, [or] under [its] two hind legs, [or] under [one of its] forelegs and [one of its] hind legs, it is tamei. R’ Yose says: A horse conveys tumah through its hind legs, while a donkey [conveys tumah] through its forelegs. For the [primary] support of a horse is on its hind legs, whereas the [primary] support of a donkey is on its forelegs.  [If a zav] sat upon the beam of an olive press, utensils that are in the pressing basket are tamei. [But if he sat] upon the launderer’s press, the utensils that are underneath it are tahor. R’ Nehemiah rules them tamei.

One who touches a zav or whom the zav touches, [or] one who moves a zav or whom the zav moves, contaminates food and beverages and immersible utensils through contact, but not through carrying.  R’ Yehoshua stated a general rule: Any [person] who contaminates [his] clothing during the time of his contact [with a source of contamination] contaminates food and beverages to [the degree that they will] become beginning level, and [contaminates another person’s] hands to [the de-gree that they will] become sheni, but does not contaminate people or earthenware utensils. After his separation from the source that rendered him tamei, he contaminates beverages to [the degree that they will] become beginning level, and food and [another person’s] hands to [the degree that they will] become sheni, but does not contaminate clothing.