פירוש על סוטה 9:5

נפטרו זקני ירושלם – who do not come other than to measure, as it is written (Deuteronomy 21:2): “Your elders and magistrates shall go out and measure [the distances from the corpse to the nearby towns].”

Introduction This mishnah continues to describe the neck-breaking ceremony. It clarifies some points in Deuteronomy 21:3-4.

אע"פ שאינו איתן כשר – it did not state "איתן"–everflowing–strong wadi (Deuteronomy 21:4) as an indispensable condition but rather for the Mitzvah.

The elders of Jerusalem departed and went away. Verse 2 refers to “your elders” and was interpreted in mishnah one as referring to the elders of Jerusalem, who are the elders of all of Israel. They are the ones that measure where the nearest city is. After having done so they leave.

בקופיץ – a large knife.

The elders of that city bring “a heifer which has never been worked” (Deuteronomy 21:3). And a blemish does not disqualify it. Verse three states “The elders of that city”, which means that the elders of the nearest city are those who bring the heifer. The heifer must be one that has never been worked. However, the Torah does not require that it be free of blemishes, a requirement typical of sacrificial animals.

מאחריה – opposite its neck.

They bring it down to a hard ( wadi “etan” is understood in its literal sense of “hard”. Even if it is not “hard”, it is valid [for the ceremony]. Verse four says that the heifer is taken down to a “nahal etan”. The word “nahal” means wadi, or a riverbed. “Etan” is understood by our mishnah to mean “hard” or perhaps “strong”, the typical meaning of “etan”. Some interpret this to mean that it must have a strong flow of water. Others interpret it as hard in the sense of “rocky”. JPS translates “everflowing”. In any case, the requirement for the wadi to be “etan” is only a priori. Ex post facto, if the ritual was carried out in a non-etan wadi, it is valid.

מקומה אסור – forever.

They break its neck with a hatchet from behind. Once they are down at the wadi, the elders break the heifer’s neck with a type of hatchet, a large knife used for cutting meat and bones.

ומותר לסרוק שם פשתן – work that is not on the body of the land, as it is written (Deuteronomy 21:4): “[a heifer] which has never been worked, which has never pulled a yoke.” Just as sowing is special which is on the main body of the land, so also, all work which is on the main body of the land.

The site may never be sown or tilled, but it is permitted to comb flax and chisel rocks. Verse 4 states, “to an ever-flowing wadi, which is not tilled or sown.” The mishnah limits this prohibition to tilling or sewing. However, activities with things that are not attached to the ground such as flax or rocks that are detached from the ground are permitted. Only work involving the ground itself is forbidden.

לנקר את האבנים – to chisel the stones.