Ein Feld, das bewässert werden muss (Beth Haschlachin) [Land, das "schwach" ist und nach Wasser dürstet. (Das Targum von (5. Mose 25:18): "schwach und müde" ist "meshalhei ul'ei".)] Kann auf Chol Hamoed und auf shevi'ith gewässert werden. [Für wesentliche Arbeiten ist Chol Hamoed gestattet. Und Beth Haschlachin, von dem Zeitpunkt an, an dem man anfängt, es zu gießen, wenn es nicht regelmäßig gewässert wird, ist es sofort "verloren". Wie wir unten erfahren (1: 3): "Samen, die vor Chol Hamoed nicht bewässert wurden, dürfen nicht auf Chol Hamoed bewässert werden", denn sie gehen nicht verloren. Wenn sie jedoch vor Chol Hamoed bewässert wurden, können sie auf Chol Hamoed bewässert werden. Und es ist nur ein bewässertes Getreidefeld, das auf Chol Hamoed bewässert werden kann, aber kein bewässertes Baumfeld, denn es wird keinen Verlust erleiden. Und auf Shevi'ith ist es erlaubt, Beth Hashhlachin und Beth Haba'al (ein natürlich bewässertes Feld) zu gießen, wobei "Beth Hashhlachin" gegenüber Chol Hamoed allein angegeben wird.] (Es kann bewässert werden) beide von einem Gerechten begann den Frühling, und von einem alten [und wir befürchten nicht, dass, seit es gerade angefangen wurde, vielleicht seine Ufer fallen und er kommen könnte, um es auf Chol Hamoed zu stützen und sich übermäßig anzustrengen.] Aber es darf weder von noch gewässert werden Regenwasser [ein Dekret aufgrund von Kilonwasser] oder aus Kilonwasser ["Kilon" ist Wasser aus einer tiefen Grube, in der Regenwasser gesammelt wird, dessen Aufarbeitung viel Anstrengung mit sich bringt.] und ugioth dürfen nicht hergestellt werden für Reben. ["ugioth" sind Spurrillen, die an den Wurzeln von Olivenbäumen oder Weinreben gegraben wurden, um mit Wasser gefüllt zu werden.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Moed Katan
משקין בית השלחין – a weary land and thirsty for water. The Aramaic translation of “tired and weary,” is thirstiness and tired.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Moed Katan
Introduction
The first mishnah of Moed Katan deals with watering a field during the festival. Watering a field is sometimes necessary or the crops will be lost. Therefore, watering in these types of situations tends to be permitted. However, watering is also quite laborious and hence some types of watering are prohibited.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Moed Katan
משקין במועד – for it is a business that cannot be postponed without irretrievable loss is permissible on the Festival (i.e., the Intermediate Days of the Festival). For a field which needs irrigation from the time when one begins to water it, if one does not water it frequently, it immediately becomes lost, as is taught at the end of Mishnah [3 – of this chapter, seeds which have not been watered before the Festival should not be watered on the Festival, for they will not suffer loss, but if they “drank” before the Festival, he should water them during the Festival. And specifically, a bright, shade-less field (i.e., vegetable or grain field) of grain which needs irrigation, we water them on the Festival, but fields which are moist of a tree, it is not permitted on the Festival, for they don’t suffer loss. And in the Seventh Year, it is permitted to water whether it is a field that needs irrigation or whether it is a field sufficiently watered by rain [and not needing irrigation], and because of the Festival alone, our Mishnah took this.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Moed Katan
They may water an irrigated field during the festival [week] or in the sabbatical year, both from a newly-emerging spring and from a spring that is not just emerged. “An irrigated field” refers to a field that cannot subsist on rainwater alone. Therefore, the mishnah allows one to water it on the festival. During the sabbatical year it is forbidden to work the land. However, irrigating a field is not considered to be working the field, as is plowing or planting. Nevertheless, the rabbis did prohibit watering during the sabbatical year, but they did not prohibit watering a field that needed to be irrigated. Certainly the field may be watered through an old spring, whose water has already been directed at the field. The mishnah says that it may be watered even from a new spring, despite the extra work of directing the water to the field.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Moed Katan
שיצא בתחילה – that goes out now from the start, and we don’t suspect for since it is new, lest its banks overflow and people come to repair them on the Festival and there is great trouble/labor.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Moed Katan
But they may not water the field with water from stored rain, and not with a swipe and bucket. Carrying water to the field from a cistern of stored rain water is a lot of work. Therefore they are not allowed to water the field in this way. They are also not allowed to water using a method called “swipe and bucket,” which was a type of sweeping pump used to get water out of deep cisterns. This was also considered too laborious. We can see that first the mishnah allows watering these types of fields because otherwise the crops will be lost. It then limits that by saying that some labors are prohibited because one shouldn’t be doing so much work on the festival.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Moed Katan
שלא יצא בתחלה – when it is sleeping.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Moed Katan
And they may not make small ditches around the vines. Finally, one may not make water ditches around vines. These ditches were made so that they would fill up and the water would seep into the roots. Again, digging these ditches was considered too much work for it to be permitted on the festival.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Moed Katan
אבל לא ממי גשמים – a decree because of water from a swipe well.קילון are water of a deep pit/cistern and in it is collected rain water, and from it there is greater trouble to draw it out.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Moed Katan
עוגיות – trenches that they would make in the roots of olives and in the roots of vines in order that they would fill up with water.
