Si se tallan [surcos] en una tubería [de drenaje] para recoger piedras, [un surco] de cualquier tamaño en una de madera, y de una revi'it [una medida específica de volumen, un cuarto de tronco ] en una de loza de barro [es suficiente para que la tubería se considere un recipiente y, por lo tanto, sus aguas hagan que una mikve sea inválida como aguas extraídas]. El rabino Yose dice: incluso para una loza de barro, [un surco] de cualquier tamaño [es suficiente para invalidar las aguas que fluyen a través de una tubería]; ellos [los Sabios] solo dijeron [que la medida mínima es] una revisión con respecto a los fragmentos de vasijas de barro [que se consideran vasijas siempre que puedan contener esa cantidad]. Si había piedras rodando dentro de él [el surco], ellos [sus aguas] hacen que una mikve sea inválida. Si el polvo descendió y fue comprimido, es válido. Un conducto que es estrecho en cada extremo y se ensancha en el medio [construido de esa manera para aumentar la presión del agua] no invalida [sus aguas], ya que no fue hecho para ser un receptáculo.
Bartenura on Mishnah Mikvaot
החוטט בצנור (if one makes a cavity in a water pipe – for the deposit of pebbles) – it is the manner of a water pipe to be open from two sides, and this does not invalidate the Mikveh/ritual bath unless he hollowed it out a small cavity in order to receive stones that prevent the passage of the water, and it (i.e., the Mishnah) is speaking of when he hallowed it out and at the end established it/made it permanent, for since, it had upon it the status of a utensil when it was detached, for the water passing through it was drawn [water] and invalidates the Mikveh.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Mikvaot
Introduction
Today's mishnah deals with cases where the water-spout itself is considered a vessel and therefore any water that flows from it would disqualify the mikveh.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Mikvaot
ובשל חרס – it is not considered a utensil until it has a receptacle of one-quarter [of a LOG].
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English Explanation of Mishnah Mikvaot
If one makes a hollow in a water-spout to collect pebbles, its water disqualifies the mikveh; In the case of a wooden [spout] if it holds even a little, But in the case of an earthenware [spout] if it will hold a quarter-log. Rabbi Yose says: also in the case of an earthenware [spout] if it holds even a little: they have spoken of "a quarter-log" only in the case of broken sherds of an earthenware utensil. The hollow was made to collect the pebbles and prevent them from continuing through the spout and clogging it up. However, this makes the water-spout itself into a vessel and the water that flows through it will, or at least might, disqualify the mikveh. The size of the hollow that will turn it into a vessel depends on the material in which it was made. If it was made of wood, the receptacle can be of any size, even the smallest size, and it causes the wood to be considered a receptacle. Since wood is the more expensive material, it seems that it is easier for wood to be considered a vessel. If it is of earthenware, it must hold at least a quarter-log. However, Rabbi Yose disagrees and says that even earthenware need hold only a minimal amount. Rabbi Yose acknowledges that there is an old halakhah concerning earthenware and the measurement of a quarter-log. However, this measurement deals with broken earthenware vessels they are still considered vessels as long as they can hold a quarter-log. But if the earthenware vessel is unbroken, it need hold only a minimal amount to be considered a vessel.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Mikvaot
לא אמרו רביעית אלא בשברי החרס – specifically with an earthenware utensil after it was broken we require that he broken piece holds one-quarter [of a LOG], but from its outset, even a little bit/anything is considered a utensil, but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yossi.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Mikvaot
If the pieces of gravel moved about inside [the hollow], it disqualifies the mikveh. If dirt went down into it and was pressed down, [the mikveh continues to be] valid. The mishnah now deals with the question of when is the hollow considered to be full such that it no longer turns the water-spout into a vessel. If the pieces of gravel are still moving around, then it is not full. However, if dirt has been pressed down into it, then it is considered full and water that flows through the spout will not disqualify the mikveh.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Mikvaot
מתחלחלים (thrown about) – [the stones/pebbles] are rolling about within the receptable, and they are not crushed/ground in it even though that it was filled with them, but rather they move about here and there. It is the language of (Esther 4:4) “And the queen was greatly agitated.”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Mikvaot
If the spout was narrow at each end and wide in the middle, it does not disqualify [the mikveh] invalid, because it had not been made to gather anything in it. Although water might gather in such a spout, whose ends are narrow and middle is wide, the middle was not designed to hold water, just to let it pass through. Its water will not disqualify the mikveh.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Mikvaot
פוסלין את המקוה – for its receiving was not invalidated.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Mikvaot
ירד לתוכו – into the receptacle.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Mikvaot
עפר ונכבש (dirt and it was pressed tight) – the dirt was settled and made nicely fastened and the water passes over it. The [Aramaic] Targum of (Numbers 20:19): “We will keep to the beaten track,” – we will go up on the paved path.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Mikvaot
כשר – for there isn’t a receptacle here.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Mikvaot
סילון (pipe/duct/tube) -and a water spout and tube/spout, are one.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Mikvaot
שהוא צר מכאן ומכאן – from its two mouths, from the place where the water enters into it and from the place that it does down from it into the Mikveh.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Mikvaot
ורחב באמצע – nevertheless, it is not considered for receiving all the while that he didn’t shape the receptacle to receive the stones.
