Moed Katan 3

Chapter 3

א מתני׳ <big><strong>משקין</strong></big> בית השלחין במועד ובשביעית בין ממעיין שיצא בתחילה בין ממעיין שלא יצא בתחילה אבל אין משקין לא ממי הגשמים ולא ממי הקילון
1 <big><b>MISHNAH: </b></big>AN IRRIGATED FIELD<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' means lit. 'a house of channels', i.e., a plot of land which owing to situation or climate or nature of the soil requires to be watered artificially. It is often a laborious process and at times of vital importance to the crop.');"><sup>1</sup></span> MAY BE WATERED DURING THE FESTIVAL<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., during the middle period of the two longer Feasts, namely, the 'Feast of Unleavened Bread' (Passover) and that of Tabernacles, v. Introduction.');"><sup>2</sup></span> [WEEK] OR IN THE SABBATICAL YEAR<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'the seventh year'. Every seventh year in the Jubilee cycle was ordained to be a year of remissness, or sabbath for the land, when the regular processes of agriculture for its improvement were to be suspended. V. Ex. XXIII, 10-11; Lev. XXV, 2ff and infra 3a. iukhe');"><sup>3</sup></span>
ב ואין עושין עוגיות לגפנים ר' אלעזר בן עזריה אומר אין עושין את האמה בתחילה במועד ובשביעית וחכמים אומרים עושין את האמה בתחילה בשביעית ומתקנין את המקולקלות במועד
2 BOTH FROM A NEWLY-EMERGING SPRING AND FROM A SPRING THAT IS NOT JUST EMERGED, BUT NOT WITH WATER FROM STORED RAIN, NOR FROM A SWIPE-WELL;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' the Greek **, a mechanical contrivance for raising water by water-wheel or bucket from a deep well, like the shadoof in Egypt and the denkli or paecottah in India. The reason for the objections is stated in the GEMARA:');"><sup>4</sup></span> NOR MAY SMALL BASINS<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Circular depressions made about the stem of the vine, or a small trench drawn about a group of vines to retain the water. V. infra 4b. hkuekhe');"><sup>5</sup></span> BE FORMED ABOUT THE VINES.
ג ומתקנין את קלקולי המים שברשות הרבים וחוטטין אותן ומתקנין את הדרכים ואת הרחובות ואת מקוות המים ועושין כל צורכי הרבים ומציינין את הקברות ויוצאין אף על הכלאים:
3 R'ELEAZAR B. AZARIAH SAYS THAT A [WATER] CHANNEL MAY NOT BE NEWLY MADE DURING THE FESTIVAL [WEEK], NOR IN THE SABBATICAL YEAR; BUT THE SAGES SAY THAT A CHANNEL MAY BE NEWLY MADE IN THE SABBATICAL YEAR AND ONE THAT HAS GOT OUT OF ORDER MAY BE REPAIRED DURING THE FESTIVAL [WEEK]. AND IMPAIRED WATER WORKS<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Broken wells, cisterns or aqueducts; pools that have become muddy puddles, or blocked drains. ( _ Latin cloaculae, Baneth) .');"><sup>6</sup></span> IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN MAY BE REPAIRED OR CLEANED OUT; AND ROADS, BROADWAYS AND [RITUAL] POOLS<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For priests and pilgrims to purify themselves ritually or their vessels that have met with defilement. Cf. Lev. XI, 24-40; XXII, 1-7.');"><sup>7</sup></span>
ד <big><strong>גמ׳</strong></big> השתא יש לומר ממעיין שיצא בתחילה דאתי לאינפולי משקין ממעיין שלא יצא בתחילה דלא אתי לאינפולי מיבעיא
4 MAY BE PUT IN ORDER'AND ALL PUBLIC NEEDS MAY BE PERFORMED,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' E.g., removing rubbish and thorns, levelling the road and footways, mending bridges, etc. Cf. infra 5a.');"><sup>8</sup></span> AND GRAVESIDES MAY BE MARKED,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' With whitewash of lime to warn passers-by against defilement. Cf. infra 5a.');"><sup>9</sup></span> AND [PUBLIC COMMISSIONERS] MAY SET OUT ALSO<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [MS.M. omits 'ALSO' which is difficult to explain. V. Tosaf. Yom Tob].');"><sup>10</sup></span>
ה אמרי אצטריך אי תנא מעיין שיצא בתחילה הוה אמינא הכא הוא דבית השלחין אין בית הבעל לא משום דאתי לאינפולי אבל מעיין שלא יצא בתחילה דלא אתי לאינפולי אימא אפילו בית הבעל נמי
5 TO INSPECT DIVERSE<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lev. XIX, 19: Thou shall not sow thy field with two (or more kinds of) seeds (promiscuously) . They are neither to be sown nor preserved by active process. Infra 2b, ');"><sup>11</sup></span> SEED-CROPS. <big><b>GEMARA: </b></big>Now, one might argue that after [having permitted] watering FROM A NEWLY EMERGING spring - which is apt to come along tearing up [the soil]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., by erosion, necessitating immediate repair of the damage during the restricted period.');"><sup>12</sup></span>
ו קא משמע לן לא שנא מעיין שיצא בתחילה ולא שנא מעיין שלא יצא בתחילה בית השלחין אין בית הבעל לא
6 - need further mention be made of [drawing from] A SPRING THAT IS NOT NEWLY EMERGING-which is unlikely to come tearing up [the soil]?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Running on its habitual course. kgc ,hc');"><sup>13</sup></span> - I may answer that it is necessary [to mention the latter]; for if [the Tanna] had mentioned only the newly emerging spring I might have said that only here [where it is] for an irrigation plot it is permitted - but not for a Baal-plot,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' , lit., 'Baal's area', or field - an old pagan denomination of a fertile soil, i.e., a soil favoured by 'Baal Lord of the heavens', Baal-Shamen, with fertilizing rain and sunshine. V. Cooke's N.S.I. p. 45, n. 1 etc. and Robertson Smith's Religion of the Semites (ed. 1894) pp. 96-97. Cf. Isa. LV, 10 and Ta'an. 6b: 'Rain is earth's husband'; also Krauss, TA II, p. 546, n. 115.');"><sup>14</sup></span> because it is apt to come tearing up [the soil]; but [on the other hand], from a spring that i not newly emerging, which is unlikely to come tearing up [the soil], I might say that even a Baal-plot [may be watered]; therefore he informs us<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' From here to the end of the sentence is not in DS., being seemingly a gloss from 2b.');"><sup>15</sup></span>
ז ומאי משמע דהאי בית השלחין לישנא דצחותא היא דכתיב (דברים כה, יח) ואתה עיף ויגע ומתרגמינן ואת משלהי ולאי
7 that there is no difference; be it a spring newly emerging, or a spring not newly emerging, an irrigation plot may be watered therefrom, but a Baal-plot may not be.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' From a new or old spring.');"><sup>16</sup></span> And whence [know we] that the term BETH HA-SHELAHIN<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Rendered 'AN IRRIGATED FIELD'. ihjka hvka v j');"><sup>17</sup></span> denotes a 'thirsty'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Or 'a languid track.' The term (channels) is here explained by popular etymology as derived from (the gutturals and interchanging) , 'weary', 'exhausted'. V. n. 2. vka');"><sup>18</sup></span>
ח ומאי משמע דהאי בית הבעל לישנא דמייתבותא היא דכתיב (ישעיהו סב, ה) כי יבעל בחור בתולה ומתרגמינן ארי כמה דמיתותב עולם עם בתולתא יתייתבון בגויך בנייך
8 field? - It is written: When thou wast faint and weary,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. XXV, 18. Han. and Aruch s.v. (VIII, 80b) quote more appropriately Gen. XXV, 29 referring to Esau's exhaustion and thirst. Cf. Isa. XXIX, 8 and Ps. LXIII, 2. hvk');"><sup>19</sup></span> and we render the word 'faint' [in Aramaic] by meshalhi.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A participle Shafel from meaning 'exhausted'. This derivation is grammatically unsound. In B.B., Sonc. ed. p. 271 it is more correctly connected with the root in the sense of sending water across the fields in channels. Cf. Ezek. XXXI, 4;. Ps CIV, 10; Job V, 10. It is surmised that jak the name of the Pool of Siloam () is derived from the same root. V. Krauss, TA. II, p. 547, n. 117.');"><sup>20</sup></span> And whence [know we] that Beth ha-Baal<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. supra p. 2, n. 7.');"><sup>21</sup></span>
ט מאן תנא דפסידא אין הרווחה לא ואפילו במקום פסידא מיטרח נמי לא טרחינן
9 denotes 'settled' soil? - It is written: For as a man be the husband [yib'al] of maiden, so shall thy sons be as husbands unto thee<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Isa. LXII, 5.');"><sup>22</sup></span> and we render [in Aramaic], 'Behold as a young man settles down with a maiden, thy sons shall become settled<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Cf. our expressions husbandry and husbandman.');"><sup>23</sup></span> in the midst of thee'.
י אמר רב הונא ר' אליעזר בן יעקב היא דתנן רבי אליעזר בן יעקב אומר מושכין את המים מאילן לאילן ובלבד שלא ישקה את השדה כולה
10 Who may be the [unnamed] Tanna<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In the first clause of the MISHNAH:');"><sup>24</sup></span> who maintains that [work<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' During the Festival week.');"><sup>25</sup></span> to prevent] loss is allowed,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., watering a languid soil.');"><sup>26</sup></span>
יא אימור דשמעת ליה לרבי אליעזר הרווחה דלא טירחא במקום פסידא מי שמעת ליה
11 but [to augment] profit<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' E.g., watering a fertile field to make it still more productive.');"><sup>27</sup></span> is not allowed; and that even in [averting] loss we should not do any laborious work?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'excessive trouble', e.g., to use rainwater or raise water by swipe.');"><sup>28</sup></span> Said R'Huna: It is [the view of] R'Eliezer B'Jacob, as we learned:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. infra 6b, MISHNAH:');"><sup>29</sup></span>
יב אלא אמר רב פפא הא מני רבי יהודה היא דתניא מעיין היוצא בתחילה משקין ממנו אפילו שדה בית הבעל דברי רבי מאיר רבי יהודה אומר אין משקין אלא שדה בית השלחין שחרבה רבי אלעזר בן עזריה אומר לא כך ולא כך יתר על כן אמר רבי יהודה לא יפנה אדם אמת המים וישקה לגינתו ולחורבתו בחולו של מועד
12 R'Eliezer B'Jacob says: Water may be trained along from tree to tree, provided that one does not water thus the entire field.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' To water the whole field in that manner is all exertion to be avoided during the Festival week.');"><sup>30</sup></span> I grant<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'say'.');"><sup>31</sup></span> you may understand R'Eliezer [b.
יג מאי חרבה אילימא חרבה ממש למה לי דמשקי לה אמר אביי שחרבה ממעיין זה ויצא לה מעיין אחר
13 Jacob]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So correctly, R. Han., DS.');"><sup>32</sup></span> to disallow exertion to enhance profit,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As he forbids watering the entire field, presumably thinking it unnecessary to give it an extra watering to increase its fertility.');"><sup>33</sup></span> but could you also understand him [from here] to disallow exertion [even] where loss is [involved]?
יד רבי אלעזר בן עזריה אומר לא כך ולא כך לא שנא חרב מעיינה ולא שנא לא חרב מעיינה מעיין שיצא בתחילה לא
14 Rather, said R'Papa, (whose view is it)?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Omitted in DS.');"><sup>34</sup></span> It is R'Judah's, as it is taught: 'A spring newly emerging may be [used for] watering even (a field that is)<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A doublet occurring also in the texts given in the next note.');"><sup>35</sup></span> a Baal-plot.
טו וממאי דלמא עד כאן לא קאמר רבי יהודה בית השלחין אין בית הבעל לא אלא מעיין שיצא בתחילה
15 So R'Meir; R'Judah<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' J.M.K. I, 1 (81a) and Tosef.,1, I read here, 'and the Sages say' instead, showing that it is R. Judah's view that has been adopted in the MISHNAH: Obviously, the Babylonian teachers engaged in this critical discussion did not have that reading.');"><sup>36</sup></span> says, None but (a field that is)<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A doublet occurring also in the texts given in the next note.');"><sup>35</sup></span> a 'languid plot' that has dried up may be watered [therefrom]. R'Eleazar B''Azariah says, Neither one nor the other.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., that a newly emerging spring may not be used either for a generally nourished field (again at R. Meir's view) , nor in a 'languid field' even where it has replaced a dried-up old spring (against R. Judah's view) .');"><sup>37</sup></span> R'Judah<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' He went further in his restrictions, even in the case of a 'languid field'. (Tosaf. v. Ritba) .');"><sup>38</sup></span> went even further and said, 'A person may not clean out a water channel<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A running brook or ditch which has become muddy and shallow, which he may clean out under certain conditions discussed infra 4b.');"><sup>39</sup></span> and [with the dredging] water his garden of debris - [heap]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Used as a vegetable garden or bed for nurslings. V. Tosaf. Lit., 'his garden and his ruin'.');"><sup>40</sup></span> during the festival week'. [Now] what is [meant by a 'languid plot'] that dried up?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., that is waste.');"><sup>41</sup></span> If you say, literally dried up' what is the good of watering it? - Said Abaye, It means that this [old] spring has run dry<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'it is dried up from this spring'.');"><sup>42</sup></span> and another has [just] emerged [instead].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [All of which shows that R. Judah does not permit any laborious work even in order to avert loss, as in the case of the old spring having dried up, whereas R. Judah permits watering from the new spring that has emerged but not from rain-water or a swipe-well, which is in agreement with our Mishnah].');"><sup>43</sup></span> R'Eleazar B'Azariah says, Neither one nor the other'. [By this he means to say that] it makes no difference whether the [old] spring has run dry or has not run dry, a newly emerging spring is not to be used. But how [do you arrive at this conclusion]? Perhaps when R'Judah said that a languid plot may be watered from a newly emerging spring and a Baal-plot may not be,