פירוש על מקואות 8:6

ארץ ישראל טהורה – and even the villages of the Cutheans (i.e., Samaritans) upon whom they (i.e., the Rabbis) did not decree [ritual] impurity, other than the lands of the nations outside of the Land [of Israel].

Introduction Today's mishnah deals with mikvaot that are found and with whether one can assume that they have been filled with rainwater and are valid or that they have been filled with drawn water and are invalid.

ומקואותיה טהוהים – and we don’t presume them to be of drawn [water], for undefined they were made kosher/fit.

The land of Israel is clean and its mikvaot are clean. The rabbis declared that merely being in the land of the other nations defiles. The land of Israel, on the other hand, is clean. Similarly, if one sees a mikveh in Israel and is not sure if it is valid or not, the presumption is that it too is valid.

לבעלי קריין – to permit them by the words of the Torah, for a person who experienced a seminal emission is prohibited by the words of the Torah until he [ritually] immerses, and if he [ritually] immerses in a place where all of its waters are drawn, it is permitted.

The mikvaot of the nations outside the land are valid for those who had a seminal emission even though they have been filled by a pump-beam; According to rabbinic legend/law, Ezra decreed that men who have had a seminal emission must immerse in a mikveh before they study Torah or pray (this is no longer observed). A mikveh found outside of the land of Israel can be assumed to be valid for such a purpose for this immersion is mandated only by rabbinic law. This is true even if it had been filled with a pump-beam, which would mean that it is certainly drawn water. However, the mikveh is not valid for other types of immersions that are toraitic in origin.

אפילו נתמלאו בקילון (even if they were filled up with a swipe and bucket for drawing water – see also Tractate Moed Katan, Chapter 1, Mishnah 1) – that they filled water with a shoulder and poured it into a hole and from that hole/indentation there is a path that the water travels to the Mikveh.

Those in the land of Israel: when outside the entrance [to the city] are valid even for menstruants, and those within the entrance [to the city] are valid for those who had a seminal emission but invalid for all [others] who are unclean. Mikvaot found outside of the city can be assumed to have been filled with rain water or some other natural water. Mikvaot in the city are assumed to have been filled with drawn water and are invalid. With that in mind, if one finds a mikveh outside of the city gates, anyone can immerse there, even a menstruant, whose obligation to immerse is from the Torah. But if one finds a mikveh inside the city, it is only valid for men who have had a seminal emission, whose obligation is derabanan, from the rabbis.

שחוץ למפתח – outside of the opening of the town gate.

Rabbi Eliezer says: those which are near to a city or to a road are unclean because of laundering; but those at a distance are clean. Rabbi Eliezer adds that mikvaot found near the city or near a road may have been used for laundering. During the laundering water would have been put into the mikveh and this creates the presumption that the mikveh is invalid.

כשרים אף לנדות – to permit them to their husbands, and even though there is the prohibition of extirpation [for not following the laws of the menstruant woman properly]. But we are not concerned lest they (i.e., the Mikvaot/ritual baths) were lacking [enough water] and that drawn water fell upon them and they were filled up, for outside of the town gate, the foot of people are not found there.

לפנים מן הפחת – inside from the entrance to the town gate.

ופסולים לכל הטמאים – for many people are found there and fill up water with their shoulders and give them there [clothing] to launder and to wash.

מפני הכביסה – that one can say that they (i.e., the Mikvaot/ritual baths) were lacking [in water] and were made invalid from the utensils that they would launder there.

הרחוקים טהורים – for they don’t launder in them but one shouldn’t be concerned for this. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Eliezer.

חלוקים – that he drips [urine] in smooth drops like a chain.

Introduction Today's mishnah and tomorrow's deal with what constitutes a seminal emission such that a man must go to the mikveh. I know, you're thinking, doesn't a man know when one has had a emission? I would imagine that this is generally the case. But the rabbis talk about everything like this. They also talk about how a woman can distinguish between menstrual blood and blood from another source, even though most women probably can tell the difference. This is simply part of the way the rabbis talk.

בתחילה – at the beginning of his urinating.

These are the men who had a seminal emission who require immersion: The men listed below require immersion even though we are not one hundred per cent sure that they have had a seminal emission.

טהור – for it is not a kind of emission, but rather, from the stopping of urination it comes.

If he noticed that his urine issued in drops or was murky: At the beginning he is clean; In the middle and at the end, he is unclean; From the beginning to the end, he is clean. The liquid being emitted is not like urine, which generally doesn't come out in drops, as does semen. But then again, it is not like semen, which is usually white not murky. What is it? If the stream begins this way, he is clean, for this is not considered semen. It is probably just problematic urination (yes, we've heard of this problem on radio ads). If it occurs at the middle or end of his urination, then it is considered semen for it is unusual for urine to begin normally and then turn into murky drops. If it occurs from the beginning to the end, then that's just the way he urinates. Hopefully, things will get better.

באמצע ובסוף – [in the middle or at the end] of his urination, he is impure, that he is someone with a kind of emission.

If it was white and viscous, he is unclean. Rabbi Yose says: what is white counts like what is murky. If the issue was white and viscous, meaning in clumps, not little drops, then it is semen and he is unclean. Rabbi Yose says that even if it is white, if he sees such a type of emission at the beginning, he is pure, the same as is true with murky liquid.

נמשכים (prolonged/continued or conducted in a channel) – urination that is attached.

טמא – for it is a kind of emission.

לבנים כעכורים – and at the beginning heis pure, but in the middle and at the end he is [ritually] impure. But the Halakah is not according to Rabbi Yossi.

המהרהר בלילה – and he sees [in his dream] that he is coming upon (i.e., having sex with) a woman (see Talmud Niddah 43a) and when he wakes up from his sleep, he found that his flesh (i.e., his member) is hot and he didn’t find a drop of an emission.

If he emitted thick drops from his member, he is unclean, the words of Rabbi Elazar Hisma. Thick drops are characteristic of semen (I refuse to disclose my sources on this one). Therefore, if he emits thick drops, even at the beginning of the stream (see yesterday's mishnah), he is unclean.

טמא – certainly he saw an emission but it was lost in its minuteness in the clothing.

If one had sexual dreams in the night and arose and found his flesh heated, he is unclean. His flesh is a euphemism for his penis (see Leviticus 15:2, every language seems to have an abundance of these words). If he has sexual dreams at night and he wakes up and finds his flesh warm, he can assume that he had an emission, even if he doesn't find any other signs.

הפולטת שכבת זרע ביום השלישי טהורה – as for example, that he had sex with her on Wednesday [night] and Friday [night] and she discharged [semen] on Shabbat, it doesn’t make a difference that he had engaged in sex with her at the beginning of Thursday night, that the semen remained in her womb four complete periods: Wednesday night, Thursday, Thursday night and Friday, nor whether he had intercourse with her on Thursday at darkness, and it did not remain in her other than part of Thursday and Thursday night and Friday, for there are only two complete periods, for the period is either the day or the night.

If a woman discharged semen on the third day, she is clean, the words of Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah. Rabbi Ishmael says: sometimes there are four time periods, and sometimes five, and sometimes six. Rabbi Akiva says: there are always five. Semen defiles not only the man, but also a woman with whom he has had sexual intercourse (see Leviticus 15:18). The question asked here is how long the semen that is inside her counts as semen such that it defiles her. According to Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, by the third day the semen inside her has deteriorated enough such that it doesn't count as semen. If she has some discharge, she is not impure. A time period is either a day or a night. Rabbi Ishmael holds that a woman who has discharge on the third day is impure, but one who has discharge on the fourth day is pure. Therefore, sometimes there can be four time periods in which she is impure. For instance if she has relations on late Sunday afternoon, the discharge is impure through Wednesday morning, which is four full time periods (Sunday night, Monday day, Monday night, Tuesday day). But if she has relations at the beginning of Sunday morning, then Sunday day counts as another time period, and there are five. And if she has relations on Saturday night at the beginning of the night, then Saturday night counts as one of the time periods, and there will be six time periods. Rabbi Akiva says that the time is set by the number of periods between the time she had relations and the time that she discharges the semen. If she discharges within five time periods, she is impure.

ר' ישמעאל – comes to dispute and to say that she discharges [semen] on the third day [following] her intercourse, she is [ritually] impure, but if she discharges on the fourth, she is [ritually] pure. However, he admits that part of a day is considered as a complete day, for the Torah was not stringent other than in the number of days but not in the number of periods.

ופעמים שהן ארבע עונות שלימות – as for example if he had sex with her on the night of [Thursday] at dark, her emission makes her [ritually] impure until the beginning of Friday night.

ופעמים שהם חמש עונות – as for example, if he engaged in sex with her at the beginning of Wednesday at dawn, and her discharge [ of semen] is [ritually] impure until Friday night.

ופעמים שהם שש – as for example, he engaged in sex with her at the beginning of Tuesday evening, and she is [ritually] impure until the beginning of Friday night, it was found to be six complete periods.

ר' עקיבא אומר לעולם חמש – [five] periods, and if it part of it came out in the first period, we give her part of the sixth period to complete the five periods, for every [woman] discharges [semen] within five complete periods is [ritually] impure. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah.

טמאה – the drop of effusion of semen that she discharged.

If a non-Jewish woman discharged semen from an Israelite, it is unclean. If an Israelite woman discharged semen from a non-Jewish man, it is clean. In general, non-Jews were considered to be outside the scope of the Israelite purity laws. Only semen from an Israelite is considered halakhically unclean. Therefore, the religion of the woman who discharged the semen is irrelevant; only the religion of the man has any relevance.

טהורה – and there isn’t even the [ritual] impurity of the Rabbis.

If a woman had intercourse and then went down and immersed herself but did not sweep out the house, it is as though she had not immersed herself. "Sweeping out the house" is a euphemism for a woman cleaning herself out after sexual relations with a man. If she does not clean herself out, the semen defiles her when she immerses from the mikveh.

ולא כבדה את הבית – did not wipe out/cleanse herself until there would not remain the moistness of the effusion of semen.

If a man who had a seminal emission immersed himself but did not first pass urine, he again becomes unclean when he passes urine. Rabbi Yose says: if he was sick or old he is unclean, but if he was young and healthy he remains clean. Urinating will flush out the semen that remains in the man. Therefore, he should urinate before he immerses in the mikveh. If he does not, he remains unclean. Rabbi Yose says that this is so only with an old or sick person, who evidently does not ejaculate with quite as much vigor. A young healthy male expels all of the semen and therefore does not need to urinate in order to clear himself out.

כאילו לא טבלה – for we are concerned lest she emit a drop of semen that remained in her in that place.

לכשיטיל מים טמא (when he does urinate he is unclean) – lest there remain from the emission within the member and he goes out with the urination.

בילד ובבריא טהור – that it comes out with power and does not remain. And until when is he called a child? All the while that he stands on one foot and removes his shoe and puts on his shoe, and even at age eighty. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yossi.

טהורה מטומאתה – from the defilement of being a menstruant woman, and she is permitted to [have sexual relations with] her husband.

Introduction Today's mishnah is about things that block the water of the mikveh from having full contact with the body such that proper immersion occurs. The Hebrew term for this is "hatzitzah."

אבל טמאה על גב רוקה – as a result of the coins prior to the [ritual] immersion. And she is impure from the law of contact, for her spittle defiles through contact and carrying.

If a menstruant placed coins in her mouth and went down and immersed herself, she becomes clean from her [former] uncleanness, but she becomes unclean on account of her spittle. The coins that are found in a menstruant's mouth do not block her from becoming clean from her impurity, because one does not need to immerse the inside of one's mouth. However, she is made unclean immediately by the spittle that is found on the coins. This spittle is considered to have separated from her and landed on the coins and from there it re-defiles the woman.

נתנה שערה בפיה – and the water did not come on to her hair.

If she put her hair in her mouth or closed her hand or pressed her lips tightly, it is as though she had not immersed herself. While she need not cleanse the inside of her mouth, she does need to cleanse her hair, the palms of her hands and the outside parts of her lips. If she prevents the water from getting to these spots, then she remains impure.

קרצה שפתותיה (if – in taking a ritual immersion – she pressed her lips together) – she pushed her lips greatly this one on that that one.

If a person held on to another man or to vessels and immersed them, they remain unclean; but if he had washed his hand before in the water, they become clean. Rabbi Shimon says: he should hold them loosely that water may enter into them. By holding on tightly to the other person or to vessels, he blocks the water from reaching the spots where he is holding them. Therefore, the person he is holding or the vessels remain unclean. However, if he washed his hands in the mikveh before he immerses, then the water that is on his hands joins the water that is in the mikveh and there is no blockage. Rabbi Shimon says that this is not sufficient. He should let his hands hold them loosely so that water comes between his hands and the vessels or the other person.

כאילו לא טבלה – and is forbidden to her husband as she was.

The hidden or wrinkled parts of the body do not need that water should enter into them. The hidden parts include, for instance, the inside of one's mouth or the inside one's ears. The wrinkled parts might include a wrinkle of fat, or something of that nature. These parts do not need to come into contact with water.

האוחז באדם ובכלים ומטבילן טמאין – for in the place of his holding [them], the water did not come.

ואם הדיח ידיו במים טהורים – since the liquid that is on his hands combines to the waters of the Mikveh and further there is no interposition/an intervening object.

ר' שמעון אומר ירפה (he should loosen his hold on the objects – so that water can come in contact with them) – But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Shimon.

בית הסתרים (the covered parts of the body/posteriors) – as for example, within the ear and within the nose and within the mouth.

בית הקמטין (parts of the body which have folds) – of the arm-pit and of the nakedness [of the person immersing]. Alternatively, the folds of an old man and an old woman whose flesh is folded/wrinkled.

אין צריך שיבואו בהן מים – as it is written (Leviticus 15:11): “If one with a discharge, without having rinsed his hands in water [touches another person, that person shall wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain impure until morning],” for with rinsing of his hands the person with gonorrhea is [ritually] purified, but isn’t immersion of all of the boy in living waters is what he needs, but rather to inform you, just as his hands are as it appears, also all of his body is as it appears, except for the covered parts of the body. But nevertheless, the Sages say that a person should always accustom in his home that woman rinses her folds hat the time of her ritual immersion, assuming that the water doesn’t have to come upon them, [but] the place that is appropriate for water to come upon it, we require it.