We are all tumat met these days?

Question

I'm looking for sources around the idea that these days everyone in the world is tumat met – particularly:

• the earliest souces reaching this conclusion, and
• any sources which explain why we would all be tumat met.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Many people think this, but you will not find a source for it because it simply is not true. What is true is that the overwhelming majority of people are.

I saw some misunderstanding in the comments, so let me give a basic understanding of how tumat Meit works:

1) The dead body itself is an "Avi Avot Hatumah"

2) Anyone who touches the body becomes an "Av Hatumah"

3) Anyone who touches them is a "Rishon Latumah".

It is only the first two categories that all called Tumat Meit. The ashes of the Para Adumah are required to purify anyone who is Tumei Meit. While it is true that this cannot be done today, anyone who has never come into contact with a dead body is simply not Tumei Meit.

However there is another issue here. Rambam writes in Hilchot Tumat Met 11:2

טֻמְאַת אֲוִיר אֶרֶץ הָעַכּוּ''ם לֹא עָשׂוּ אוֹתָהּ כְּטֻמְאַת עֲפָרָהּ אֶלָּא קַלָּה הִיא מִמֶּנָּה. שֶׁעַל טֻמְאַת עֲפָרָהּ שׂוֹרְפִין תְּרוּמוֹת וְקָדָשִׁים. וְהַמִּתְטַמֵּא בְּגוּשָׁהּ טָמֵא טֻמְאַת שִׁבְעָה וְצָרִיךְ הַזָּיָה שְׁלִישִׁי וּשְׁבִיעִי. אֲבָל הַנִּטְמָא בַּאֲוִירָהּ אֵין צָרִיךְ הַזָּיָה שְׁלִישִׁי וּשְׁבִיעִי אֶלָּא טְבִילָה וְהַעֲרֵב שֶׁמֶשׁ. וְכֵן תְּרוּמָה וְקָדָשִׁים שֶׁנִּטְמְאוּ מֵחֲמַת אֲוִירָהּ תּוֹלִין לֹא אוֹכְלִין וְלֹא שׂוֹרְפִין:

Essentially, this means Rabbinically, everyone outside of Israel is Tumei Met.

Thus, while this will not be true for the majority, there are very likely some minority of people who have never left Israel or come into contact with a Met (most likely these would be young children). Thus, it is correct that almost everyone is Tamei Met, but this is not a categorical rule as much as a rule of thumb which likely has exceptions.