Commentary for Mikvaot 7:8

יש מעלין – complete/raise it to forty Seah.

Some materials raise the mikveh up [to the required quantity] and do not make it invalid.
Some make it invalid and do not raise it up [to the required quantity];
And some neither raise it up [to the required quantity] nor make it invalid.
These raise it up to the required quantity and do not make the mikveh invalid. Snow, hail, frosted dew, ice, salt, and thin mud.
Rabbi Akiva said: Rabbi Ishmael once argued against me saying; snow does not raise up the mikveh [to its required quantity]. But the men of Madeba testified in his name that he had once told them: go and bring snow and with it prepare a mikveh from the outset.
Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri says: hailstones are like drawn water.
How do they raise it up [to the required quantity] and not render it invalid? If the mikveh contained forty seahs less one, and a se'ah of them fell in and made up [the required quantity], they thus make up [the required quantity] but do not render it invalid.
Sections 1-3: These sections serve as an introduction to the next few mishnayot which will explain each section and case, one at a time.
Section four: If one of the following materials falls into a mikveh that does not have forty seahs, and with the addition of the material the mikveh now has forty seahs, the mikveh is valid. In addition, if any of these materials fall into a mikveh, they do not invalidate it, even if they were put into a vessel. In other words, these materials can only benefit and not harm the mikveh.
Section five: Rabbi Akiva says that Rabbi Ishmael tried to argue that snow does not count in raising the mikveh up to its requisite amount. However, his argument failed because some men from Madeba (a city in Jordan, there is a famous mosaic map of the Holy Land there) testified that Rabbi Ishmael once told them to fill up a mikveh with snow, even though he wasn't sure if this was valid.
We should note that this is a very interesting and unique case where one rabbi testifies that another rabbi argued a position with which he did not agree.
Section six: Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri says that hailstones are treated like water. If they have been drawn in a vessel and then they were put into a mikveh, they render the mikveh invalid.
Section seven: This section explains how any of these substances can raise a mikveh up to the requisite quantity.

ולא פוסלין – with three LOG of drawn [water] and in all of them it explains how.

הכפור (hoar-frost) – rain that falls curdled.

גליד (ice-coating on the water) – water that froze on the face of the ground or on the face of the water.

טיט הנרוק (soft, miry clay – in the bath reservoir) – soft and spitting plaster that is made like spittle.

אבן הברד כמים (hailstones like [drawn] water) – like drawn water as we say later on (see the next Mishnah) invalidates [the Mikveh] but does not raise it. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri, but the Halakha is according to the testimony of the people of Medva who make a Mikveh from the snow even ab initio.

נמצאו מעלין – that they complete/raise it.

ולא פוסלין – with three LOGS of drawn [water], for a Seah is much more than three LOGS and the Mikveh is not invalidated through this.

המים – drawn [water] whether impure or pure.

These invalidate the mikveh and do not raise it up to [the required quantity]: Drawn water, whether clean or unclean, water that has been used for pickling or for boiling, and grape-skin wine before it becomes vinegar. How do they make the mikveh invalid and do not raise it up [the required quantity]? If a mikveh contained forty seahs less a kortov, and a kortov of these fell into it, it does not raise it up [the required quantity]; And if there were three logs of any of these, they would invalidate the mikveh. The mishnah now explains the types of materials that do invalidate a mikveh. As we have learned many times, drawn water certainly invalidates a mikveh, at least one that doesn't already have forty seahs of valid water. This is true regardless of whether the water is pure or impure. Similarly, water that has been used for pickling or for boiling invalidates the mikveh. Grape-skin wine is really water with a little bit of flavor in it. This type of wine invalidates a mikveh only before it turns into vinegar. Grape-skin wine that has fermented into vinegar is dealt with in section two. If one of these substances falls into a mikveh and thereby raises the level of the mikveh to forty seahs, it does not cause the mikveh to have the requisite amount. And if three logs or more fall in, they invalidate the mikveh.

מי כבשים (water in which food has been pressed) – water that they pressed in them olives or kinds of vegetables.

But other liquids, and the juice of fruits, brine, and liquid in which fish has been pickled, and grape-skin wine that has fermented sometimes raise it up to [the required quantity] and sometimes do not raise it up. How so? If a mikveh contained forty seahs less one, and a seah of any of these fell in it, it does not raise it up to [the required quantity]. But if the mikveh contained forty seahs and a se'ah of any of these was put in and one seah was removed, the mikveh is still valid. Other liquids like milk, wine and the liquids listed here are neutral they neither raise the level nor invalidate the mikveh. If the mikveh has less than forty seahs and a seah of one of these substances spills in, it does not raise it up to the requisite level. But if the mikveh has the requisite level and one of these falls in and then one seah is removed, the mikveh remains valid because when the seah of the liquid fell in, there were already forty seahs. In this way, the liquid can, in a sense, aid in raising the mikveh to the requisite level.

מי שלקות (water in which food has been seethed) – water in which they seethed/boiled thoroughly to a pulp vegetables.

והתמד (husks and stalks of pressed grapes, steeped in water -used as inferior wine or as vinegar) – shells of grapes/pomace of kernels and pomace of grapes (i.e., the interior) or lees/sediment that one placed water upon them.

עד שלא החמיץ – that if it fermented, it is judged like fruit juice.

קורטוב – one sixty-fourth of a LOG.

פעמים מעלין – as we explain, when there in a Mikveh/ritual bath of forty Seah of kosher/fit water and he placed in a Seah of fruit juice and afterwards took a Seah of water from it and fruit juice mixed/combined together, behold the Seah of fruit juice that remained in the Mikveh completes/fills the Mikveh.

פעמים אין מעלין – as it is taught – regarding a Mikveh that has forty Seah minus/less one [Seah].

ושינו את מראיו כשר – that the rinsing of utensils is not considered a change in appearance (i.e., color).

Introduction Our mishnah deals with various ways in which a change in the color of the water of the mikveh can render it invalid.

ואין פוסלים אותו בשינוי מראה – because color does not have substance in it.

If he rinsed in the mikveh baskets of olives or baskets of grapes and they changed its color, it remains valid. Changing the color of the water renders it invalid only if something of substance falls into the mikveh, such as grapes or olives. However, the color from the baskets that are rinsed in the mikveh does not count as a substance and therefore it does not render the mikveh invalid.

ומוחל (thin secretion)– water that comes forth from olives.

Rabbi Yose says: dye-water renders it invalid by a quantity of three logs, but not merely by changing its color. Dye water is treated like drawn water. It renders the mikveh invalid but only if there are three logs of it. A smaller amount does not render the mikveh invalid, even if it changes the color of the water

ימתין עד שירדו גשמים – that to fill it [by drawing water in buckets] with one’s shoulder is impossible, for we are dealing with that which is lacking, and it would be invalidated with three LOGS [of drawn water].

If wine or the sap of olives fell into it and changed its color, it becomes invalid. Since these do count as substances, they do render the mikveh invalid if there is enough to change the color of the water.

ממלא בכתף – for a complete/filled Mikveh, the drawn [waters] do not invalidate it (i.e., the Mikveh) ever.

What should one do [to make it valid again]? One should wait until the rain falls and the color reverts to the color of water. This section teaches how one can "fix" a mikveh that became invalid because it was colored. This mikveh does not have forty seahs of water. One can wait until the rain falls and enough water goes in so that the color returns to the normal color of water. Note that this might take a while in Israel, where rain does not fall for about half of the year (May-October).

If it contained forty seahs, water may be drawn and carried on the shoulder and put into it until the color reverts to that of water. If the mikveh already has forty seahs it is even easier to fix it if the color has changed. One can simply fill up a bucket with drawn water and add it to the mikveh, because drawn water does not invalidate a mikveh that already has forty seahs of valid water.

אין בו מראה מים ארבעים סאה – if there aren’t in the Mikveh forty Seah that have the appearance/color of water, he should not ritually immerse in that Mikveh even on that side that has in it the appearance/color of water, but if he ritually immersed, his immersion has no effect.

If wine or the sap of olives fell into the mikveh and changed the color of a portion of the water, if there is not a portion [of the mikveh] that has forty seahs with the color of water, one may not immerse in there. If the wine or sap from olives changed one part of the mikveh, meaning somehow the color stayed on one side, then one cannot immerse in the mikveh unless the remaining side that still has the color of water has at least forty seahs. I'm not really sure how practical this is (the color would assumedly dissipate pretty quickly throughout the mikveh), but it does teach a principle. The colored water is not usable as a mikveh but it doesn't disqualify the mikveh. Therefore, we can effectively ignore the fact that there is colored water on one side of the mikveh such water doesn't count, but doesn't disqualify.

ונפלו למקוה לא פסלוהו – for since they appear like wine, and fruit juice does not invalidate [the Mikveh] with three LOG.

If a kortov of wine fell into three logs of water and its color became like that of wine, and the water then fell into a mikveh, it does not render it invalid. Wine doesn't disqualify a mikveh. Drawn water does. So what do we do with a mixture of the two? According to the mishnah, if the color is like wine, then the water is treated like wine. It is interesting to note that since in the time of the Mishnah people usually drank their wine mixed with water, a cup of wine/water would probably be in their eyes, wine, not water mixed with wine. In other words, if it has the color of wine, its wine.

כל הולך אחר המראה – even though the milk does not invalidate the Mikveh and there isn’t in the water a measure of three LOG to invalidate, nevertheless since there are here three LOG that appear like water, we consider them as if they are all water and they invalidate. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri.

If there were three logs of water less a kortov into which a kortov of milk fell, and their color remained like the color of water, and then they fell into a mikveh, they do not render it invalid. Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri says: everything goes by the color. In this case, a little bit of milk, which does not disqualify the mikveh, falls into almost three logs of drawn water, which are not quite sufficient to disqualify the mikveh. There are now three logs of what looks like drawn water, but since there are not actually three logs of drawn water, the mikveh is not disqualified. Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri disagrees with this case. Since the color is that of water, the substance must be treated as water which does disqualify the mikveh. This would make the rule in section two consistent with that in section one.

והשני טמא – for certainly there is a lack in the measurement of the Mikveh through the ritual immersion of the first [person].

If a mikveh contained forty seahs exactly and two persons went down and immersed themselves one after the other, the first becomes clean but the second remains unclean. Rabbi Judah says: if the feet of the first were still touching the water, the second also becomes clean. When the first person exits the mikveh, he will inevitably remove some water with him. The mikveh will now have less than forty seahs of water, so the second person to immerse will not become pure. Rabbi Judah says that if the feet of the first person are still in the mikveh, we consider all of the water on his body to still be in the mikveh. In such a case, the second person to immerse is pure.

אף השני טהור – for we say that we lower [the partition], for it is as if the water that the first person brought up on his body is attached to the waters of the Mikveh, and it (i.e., the Mikveh) is not lacking anything from its measurement. And they explained in the Gemara (i.e., Talmud) of [Tractate] Hagigah [19a] that Rabbi Yehuda did not purify other than according to the gradations of the Rabbis, as for example that he was ritually pure for non-sacred things and he immersed in order to become ritually pure for tithes, or that he was ritually pure for tithes and he immersed in order to become pure for priest’s due/heave offerings. But to ascend from complete ritual impurity to purity, he is ritually impure to everyone. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.

If one immersed a thick cloak and when he drew it out a part was still in contact with the water [and then another person immersed himself in the mikveh], he becomes clean. This matches Rabbi Judah's opinion from above. As long as part of the thick cloak is still in the water, the water that is on or soaked up by the cloak counts as if it was still part of the mikveh.

סגוס (coarse woolen blanket – usually as a mattress to sleep on) – a thick woolen clothing, and we call it in Arabic ALBORNOS, and it absorbs a lot of water.

A pillow case or a cushion of leather, as soon as it is taken out of the water by its open ends the water which still remains in it is drawn water. How should one do it? One should immerse them and draw them up by their lower edges. The pillow case and leather cushion both have a receptacle. Therefore, as soon as they are immersed in the mikveh and some of the open ends are removed, the water in them is considered drawn water. This would disqualify the mikveh if it wasn't large enough, meaning if there wasn't forty seahs of valid water. The way to fix this problem is to immerse the pillow case or leather cushion with the open side down, such that when he pulls them out, there is no water inside. Simple problem, simple solution!

מקצתו נוגע במים טהור – and we are speaking of a Mikveh that has in it exactly forty Seah [of water] and another person immersed after he immersed in it the thick woolen cloth, the person who immersed is ritually pure even though that it is lacking the measurement of the Mikveh with the immersion of the thick woolen cloth, for since part of the thick woolen cloth touches the water. And Rabbi Yehuda is the one who holds that we state that גוד אחית/we lower the partition (i.e., it is as if the water on the thick woolen cloth was still in the water).

המים שבתוכו שאובים – and we return and invalidate the Mikveh with the three LOG [of drawn water] for there were only exactly forty Seah [of fit/kosher water] in it and it became lacking when he lifted their lips out of the water.

ומעלה אותם דרך שוליהם – in order that the water that is within them doesn’t fall to the Mikveh and will invalidate all of its waters.

הטביל בו את המטה – whose legs are high, and it is impossible to ritually immerse all of it as one in a small Mikveh like this whose measurements are exact, unless its legs sink down in the [thick] mud.

If he immersed a bed in it, even though its legs sink into the thick mud, it still becomes clean because the water touched them before [the mud]. Since the legs of the bed are immersed in the mikveh's waters before they sink into the mud at the bottom of the mikveh, they are clean. Note that this mikveh has at least forty seahs of water. Furthermore, immersing only in water thick with mud would not suffice to make something clean (see mishnah one of this chapter).

העבה – that is not miry (see Mishnah 1 of this chapter), and we don’t ritually immerse in it.

The water of a mikveh which is shallow, one may press down even bundles of sticks, even bundles of reeds, so that the level of the water may rise, and then go down and immerse oneself. This mikveh is shallow but still has exactly forty seahs of water. The problem is that the water is too shallow to immerse his whole body. He may take bundles of wood or reeds and place them on the sides of the mikveh to create a narrower deeper space. He is allowed to do this even though water will creep into the sides of the mikveh in between the spaces within the bundles of the wood or reeds and thereby reduce the volume of the other water in the mikveh. The mishnah teaches that the water in these spaces counts in constituting the requisite forty seahs for a mikveh.

שהמים מקדמין – to ritually immerse the legs prior to its sinking in the mud, and it was [ritually] immersed in water.

If an [unclean] needle is placed on the step [leading down to a mikveh] in a cavern, and the water is put in motion, once a wave has passed over it, [the needle] becomes clean. The wave of water that reaches up from the mikveh and immerses the unclean needle is sufficient to purify the needle.

שמימיו מרודדים – that the waters are not deep, on account that the Mikveh is wide and the waters spread out throughout all of it, and even though it has forty Seah one’s whole body is not covered with water all at once.

כובש (presses down) – to one side of the Mikveh.

אפילו חבילי עצים וקנים – and even though it appears like a Mikveh that they divided, nevertheless since the water enters between them, it is not a division. And the word וכובש"”/he presses that it (i.e., the Mishnah) uses, because the wood and the reeds float over the face of the water and heneeds to press upon them stones in order that they will enter underneath the water.

היה מוליך ומביא במים – he shakes/stirs the water with his hand.

כיון שעבר הגל – [the wave] of water over the top of the Mikveh that the needle is placed in it and the waters of the wave have floated over the needle, it is [ritually] pure. And because the needle is thin and small, and he fears lest it will fall into the water, this is the manner of [ritually] immersing it.