Todos los mares son como una mikva [una colección de agua en la que uno puede sumergirse para eliminar ciertas impurezas rituales], como se dice (Génesis 1:10), "Y las reuniones [literalmente: mikvahs] de agua, él llamados mares, "estas son las palabras del rabino Meir. El rabino Yehuda dice: [Solo] el gran mar [es decir, el Mediterráneo] es como una mikvah . Solo dice "mares" [en plural] con respecto a algo que contiene muchos tipos de mares [es decir, el océano, en el que fluyen muchos cuerpos de agua]. El rabino Yose dice: Todos los mares se purifican [como una mikvah] con [incluso solo] un flujo gradual [de agua], sin embargo, no son válidos para un zav [un individuo que es ritualmente impuro debido a haber tenido un tipo de emisión seminal, y ¿quién debe sumergirse en aguas que fluyen naturalmente como parte del proceso de purificación], una metzorah [una persona que es ritualmente impura debido a un tipo de enfermedad de la piel y que debe sacrificar un pájaro sobre las aguas que fluyen como parte de su proceso de purificación], y para santificar las aguas de un chatat [el ritual de la vaquilla roja, que también debe provenir de las aguas que fluyen; El rabino Yossi dice que los mares no son una fuente válida para estos tres rituales, que requieren el uso de aguas que fluyen naturalmente].
Bartenura on Mishnah Parah
כל הימים כמקוה – for all of these words as it is taught at the conclusion [of this Mishnah]. (And also) they do not render clean when running like springs, for a Mikveh does not purify in running/moving waters, but rather in collected waters, as is written (Leviticus 11:36): “However, a spring/אך מעין [or cistern in which water is collected shall be pure,]” a spring purifies in moving/running waters but a Mikveh does not purify in moving/running waters.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Parah
Introduction
Today's mishnah returns to the topic of the preparation of the red cow. It discusses whether the seas can be used as the "living water" required for this and other purification rituals.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Parah
ופסולין לזבין – for a man with gonorrhea/flux requires living waters, as it is written (Leviticus 14:9): “and bath his body in water; [then he shall be pure].” (see also Leviticus 16:26 and 16:28), and for the leper [as it is written (Leviticus 14:5): “[The priest shall order one of the birds slaughtered over] fresh water in an earthen vessel/אל-כלי-חרש על-מים חיים” [and for the waters of the sin offering], as it is written (Numbers 19:1): “and fresh water shall be added to them in a vessel.”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Parah
All seas are equivalent to a ritual bath (, for it is said, "And the gathering ( of the waters He called the seas" (Genesis 1:10), the words of Rabbi Meir. According to Rabbi Meir the seas are considered to be like a mikveh and not like a flowing spring, which can be used for the red cow, for zavim (those with unusual genital discharge) and for metzoraim (those with scale disease), all of whom require "living waters." In contrast to the rules governing a spring, for a mikveh to purify the water must be gathered into one place and it cannot be running. The seas are treated like a mikveh and therefore its waters purify only when they are gathered in one place. Rabbi Meir learns this from a midrash on the word "gathering" which is in Hebrew, mikveh. Genesis calls the seas a mikveh and therefore they are subject to the same rules as a mikveh and not to the rules of a live spring.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Parah
הים הגדול כמקוה – Scripture did not call a Mikveh other than the Great Ocean, for in it Scripture refers in the Creation Story for there all the waters of Creation were gathered, and it doesn’t state “seas”/ימים – in the plural, other than because many seas are mixed in together in it, for all the streams travel to it.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Parah
Rabbi Judah says: only the Great Sea is equivalent to a ritual bath, for it says "seas" only because there are in it many kinds of seas. In contrast, Rabbi Judah limits this to the ocean, which in his case is the Mediterranean. Other seas are treated like springs and purify even when they are running. He explains that Genesis states "seas" not because it refers to all seas as a mikveh. Rather the Mediterranean is "seas" because it contains many different seas. One interpretation of this is that a fish that is caught in Akko does not have the same taste as a fish that is caught in Sidon!
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Bartenura on Mishnah Parah
ר' יוסי אומר – all the seas and the Great Ocean have the status of a spring upon them regarding the fact that they purify in moving/running waters, because the streams go and flow upon them. But they are invalid regarding the status of living waters, for Scripture calls them Mikveh. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yossi.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Parah
Rabbi Yose says: all seas afford cleanness when running, and yet they are unfit for zavim and metzoraim and for the preparation of the hatat waters. Rabbi Yose says that all seas can purify when they are running none have the same restrictions as do a mikveh. However, the seas are not considered to be "living waters" as would be a spring. Therefore, none of the seas can be used for any of the rituals that requires "living waters" the red cow, zavim and metzoraim.
