Rif Brachot 17a

17a

{Brachot 25b}
Rava said: excrement through a glass, it is permitted to read Shema opposite it. erva through a glass, it is forbidden to read Shema opposite it.
What is the reason? There {by excrement}, Dvarim 23:15:

טו כִּי ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ מִתְהַלֵּךְ בְּקֶרֶב מַחֲנֶךָ, לְהַצִּילְךָ וְלָתֵת אֹיְבֶיךָ לְפָנֶיךָ, וְהָיָה מַחֲנֶיךָ, קָדוֹשׁ: וְלֹא-יִרְאֶה בְךָ עֶרְוַת דָּבָר, וְשָׁב מֵאַחֲרֶיךָ. {ס

15 For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy; that He see no unseemly thing in thee, and turn away from thee. {S}

and there is {a separation}. And here {via erva}, it is written (Dvarim 23:15)

טו כִּי ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ מִתְהַלֵּךְ בְּקֶרֶב מַחֲנֶךָ, לְהַצִּילְךָ וְלָתֵת אֹיְבֶיךָ לְפָנֶיךָ, וְהָיָה מַחֲנֶיךָ, קָדוֹשׁ: וְלֹא-יִרְאֶה בְךָ עֶרְוַת דָּבָר, וְשָׁב מֵאַחֲרֶיךָ. {ס

15 For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy; that He see no unseemly thing in thee, and turn away from thee. {S}

and behold he {the one saying Shema} sees!
Abaye said: A smidgen of excrement is nullified with spittle.
And Rava said: And with thick spittle.
Rav {our gemara has Rava} said: if there is excerement in a furrow, he can cover it with his sandal and read Shema.
Mar the son of Ravina asked: If there was excrement stuck to his sandal, what {is the law}?
Teku {the question stands}.

And teku in the case of issur, we practice stringently.

Rav Yehuda said: a naked gentile, it is forbidden to read Shema opposite them.
And even though it is written in Yechezkel 23:20:

כ וַתַּעְגְּבָה, עַל פִּלַגְשֵׁיהֶם, אֲשֶׁר בְּשַׂר-חֲמוֹרִים בְּשָׂרָם, וְזִרְמַת סוּסִים זִרְמָתָם.

20 And she doted upon concubinage with them, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.

even so, it says regarding them erva, as it states in Bereishit 9:23:

כג וַיִּקַּח שֵׁם וָיֶפֶת אֶת-הַשִּׂמְלָה, וַיָּשִׂימוּ עַל-שְׁכֶם שְׁנֵיהֶם, וַיֵּלְכוּ אֲחֹרַנִּית, וַיְכַסּוּ אֵת עֶרְוַת אֲבִיהֶם; וּפְנֵיהֶם, אֲחֹרַנִּית, וְעֶרְוַת אֲבִיהֶם, לֹא רָאוּ.

23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.

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{The Mishna said:} "HE SHOULD NOT COVER HIMSELF EITHER WITH FOUL WATER..."
We explain it thusly: And he should not cover himself, not with foul water and not with water in which something has been steeped, and read Shema at all. And urine, he should not read until he pours into it water.

The Sages learnt {in a brayta}: how much should you pour into them {the urine}? A tiny amount. Rabbi Zakai said: a reviit {a quarter of a log}.
Rava {our gemara has Rav Yosef} said to his attendant: bring me {water in the amount of} a reviit like Rabbi Zakai.

And so is the halacha {that is, a reviit}.
And it does not matter if it {the water} was there initially {before the urine} or at the end.

The Sages learnt {in a brayta}:

A chamber pot of excrement and a chamber pot of urine {even empty}, it is forbidden to read Shema opposite them, whether they are before the bed {such that the bed does not intervene between him and the chamber pot} or whether they are after the bed.

Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel says: After the bed, he may read immediately {there, without distancing himself}. Before the bed, he distances himself 4 cubits and reads.

Rabbi Shimon ben Eleazer says: Even a room 100 cubits long, he should not read until he places them {the chamber pot} or until he removes them {from the room}.

What is the reason of Rabbi Shimon ben Eleazer?
He holds the entire house is considered like 4 cubits.
Rava said: the halacha is not like Rabbi Shimon ben Eleazer.

They learnt {in a brayta}:

a house that has a sefer Torah or tefillin, it is forbidden to have sexual intercourse until he takes them out or until he places them inside a vessel inside another vessel.

Abaye said: they only said this