In Bezug auf einen Trog in einem Felsen [in dem sich Wasser aus einer nahe gelegenen Quelle sammelt] darf man [Wasser, das mit Asche der roten Färse geheiligt werden soll] nicht damit füllen, und man darf [Wasser mit Asche der roten Färse] darin nicht heiligen und man darf nicht [geheiligtes Wasser als Teil des Reinigungsrituals] davon streuen, und es erfordert keine „dichte Versiegelung“ [um seinen Inhalt vor Verunreinigungen zu schützen, sondern eine bloße Abdeckung reicht aus], und das tut es auch eine Mikwe nicht ungültig machen [wenn sich Wasser im Trog sammelt und dann in eine Mikwe fließt , wird es nicht als gezogenes Wasser betrachtet]. Wenn ein Gefäß [am Boden] mit Gips befestigt war, kann man [Wasser zur Heiligung] damit füllen, und man kann [Wasser] darin heiligen, und man kann daraus streuen, und es erfordert eine „dichte Versiegelung“. [um seinen Inhalt vor Verunreinigungen zu schützen], und es macht eine Mikwe ungültig [wenn Wasser einfloss, wird es als gezogenes Wasser und damit als ungültig angesehen]. Wenn es von unten oder von der Seite durchstochen wurde und keine Wassermenge aufnehmen kann, ist es [jede mit Wasser gefüllte Mikwe ] gültig. Und wie weit muss das Loch spannen? Wie die Breite des Kolbenrohrs. Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira sagt: Es geschah in Bezug auf den Yehu-Trog in Jerusalem, der wie eine Kolbenröhre durchstochen wurde und auf dem alle Reinigungen Jerusalems durchgeführt wurden, und Beit Shammai sandte [Abgesandte] und verringerte ihn, wie Beit Shammai sagte : [selbst wenn es ein kleines Loch hat, wird es immer noch als Gefäß betrachtet und macht somit eine Mikwe ungültig ], bis der Großteil davon verringert ist.
Bartenura on Mishnah Mikvaot
השקת (a grooved stone to receive and carry off the overflow of a well, sink, trough) – a hollowed-out stone that is on the rim of the spring. And the water enters into it through a cavity/hole in its wall, and provide water for the cattle in it.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Mikvaot
Introduction
Today's mishnah deals with the water gathered either in a trough found inside a rock, or with some sort of containing vessel made out of the stone of such a trough.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Mikvaot
אין ממלאים ממנה (see also Tractate Parah, Chapter 5, Mishnah 7) – [and they don’t draw from it] water for the waters of purification (which were mixed with the ashes of the red heifer, which was used to purify people and vessels that became ritually impurity with impurity imparted by a corpse).
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English Explanation of Mishnah Mikvaot
In the case of a trough in a rock: One may not fill up [the hatat waters] from it, nor may the [hatat waters] be consecrated in it, nor may one sprinkle from it. And it does not require a tightly stopped-up covering, And it does not invalidate the mikveh. While the trough is still in the rock, it doesn't count as a vessel. There are three areas of consequence to this. The first is that it can't be used for various parts of the preparation of the "hatat waters" those waters into which the ashes of the red heifer are mixed. This same mishnah can be found in Parah 5:7. Secondly, since it is not a vessel it does not need a tightly-fitting cover to protect its contents from becoming impure if found in a tent (an ohel) with a dead body. Third, the water in it is not considered drawn water such that it doesn't disqualify a mikveh.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Mikvaot
ואין מקדשין בה – they don’t places the ashes of the heifer on the water that is in it, for it is not considered a utensil. But here, we are speaking of an attached rock that was hollowed out/made into a receptacle, and even something detached that was attached and then ultimately hollowed out/made into a receptacle, since it did not have upon it the designation/status of a utensil while detached, it is not considered a utensil.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Mikvaot
If it was a vessel and had been joined to the ground with lime: One may fill up the hatat waters from it and the hatat waters may be consecrated in it, and one may sprinkle from it, And it requires a tightly stopped-up covering; And it invalidates the mikveh invalid. If he cut the trough out of the rock and made a vessel out of it, all of the opposite is true. Now it is a vessel so it can be used for the hatat waters but not for the mikveh.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Mikvaot
ואינה צריכה צמיד פתיל (and it doesn’t require being closely covered with a lid) – if it is in the tent of a dead person (i.e., corpse), it saves what is inside it with a covering alone without being closely covered with a lid, because it is not considered a utensil but rather like a cistern or a subterranean masoned store-room, that saves what is in it with a covering alone.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Mikvaot
If a hole was made in it below or at the side so that it could not contain water in however small a quantity, it is valid. And how large must the hole be? Like the tube of a water-skin. Rabbi Yehudah ben Batera said: it happened in the case of the trough of Yehu in Jerusalem that there was a hole in it like the tube of a water-skin, all the pure things in Jerusalem were made using it. But Bet Shammai sent and broke it down, for Bet Shammai say: [it remains a vessel] unless the greater part of it is broken down. A trough can be nullified from being a vessel by having a hole in it the size of the tube of a water-skin. This is about two fingers in width. Since it can no longer contain water, it is no longer considered a vessel. Rabbi Yehudah ben Batera relates a story that happened during the Second Temple period in Jerusalem. The water in this trough was used to in the mikvaot of Jerusalem and everything that went through those mikvaot was considered pure. Until Bet Shammai came along, that is. Bet Shammai holds that the trough remains a vessel until the greater part is broken. So Bet Shammai actually sent for the trough and had it broken down to accommodate their purity stringencies. The mishnah does not say how Bet Hillel responded, but I am sure they were not happy.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Mikvaot
ואינה פוסלת את המקוה – if rain water fell from inside it to a Mikveh, they are not considered drawn waters to invalidate the Mikveh/ritual bath.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Mikvaot
וכמה יהא הנקב – to neutralize it from the law of being a utensil s that it does not invalidate the Mikveh from the reason of drawn [water].
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Bartenura on Mishnah Mikvaot
כשפופרת הנאד (like the tube – i.e., mouthpiece – of the leather bottle) – and its measurement is that they would be two fingers of the hand closest to the thumb that return in their width at the extension within the incision.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Mikvaot
וכל טהרות של ירושלים נטבלים על גבה – that they immerse within it and make them pure, but there weren’t forty Seah [of water] in the grooved stone/trough [to receive and carry off the overflow] but rather a complete Mikveh was at its side and the waters of the grooved stone/trough mix with it through the incision in the tube/mouthpiece [of the leather bottle].
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Bartenura on Mishnah Mikvaot
עד שתפחת רובה – even if there is in the incision like that of a tube of a leather bottle, it always has the status/designation of a utensil upon it until its greater part will be broken down.
