Hillel dice che un intero strato [dodici tronchi] di acqua estratta invalida un mikveh [se cadono dentro prima che il suo shiur (la sua quantità minima di acqua non aspirata) sia stata completata. Ma dopo che è stato completato, anche se ha gettato in essa tutta l'acqua assorbita nel mondo, non viene invalidato.] Bisogna usare la terminologia del suo insegnante [cioè, "hin" non è la terminologia di Mishnah ma la terminologia della Torah. Ma questo è ciò che ha sentito dai suoi insegnanti, Shemayah e Avtalyon. E il Rambam ricevette da suo padre, di beata memoria, che Shemayah e Avtalyon, essendo dei giusti convertiti (gerei tzedek) non potevano pronunciare "hin" e dicevano "in" invece, (come [molte] persone oggi, che non possono enunciare ad alta voce. , cheth, heh e ayin), così che Hillel ha anche detto "dentro", come hanno fatto i suoi insegnanti, il gerei tzedek, Shemayah e Avtalyon.] Shammai dice nove kavin. E i saggi dicono: né come l'uno né come l'altro; ma fino a quando arrivarono due tessitori dalla Porta dello Sterco a Gerusalemme e testimoniarono in nome di Shemayah e Avtalyon che tre tronchi di acqua tirata invalidavano il mikveh e i saggi confermarono le loro parole. ["the Dung Gate": I Tanna hanno menzionato la loro occupazione e la loro località per insegnare che non si dovrebbe trattenersi dalla casa di studio. Non esiste commercio più umile di quello di un tessitore, che non è nominato re o sommo sacerdote. E a Gerusalemme non esiste una porta inferiore alla Porta di letame, eppure, nella loro testimonianza hanno superato tutti i saggi di Israele.]
Rambam on Mishnah Eduyot
Shemaya and Avtalion were the masters of Shamai and Hillel, as described in Mishna Avot. They were converts, and the accents of idol-worshippers stayed in their speech, so that they would say 'in' rather than 'hin'. Hillel would repeat exactly what he heard from them, so that he would also say "a complete 'in'", as he was taught. This is what our rabbis taught, that one is obligated to transmit traditions in the language of the master. There are those who have a different explanation, and say that it says 'hen' rather than 'hin'. But the first explanation is the one I learned from my father, may his memory be a blessing, and he learned it from his teacher, and his teacher from his teacher. And the hin is equivalent to three kab, which is half a se'ah, and a log is quarter of a kab. And we have explained these measurements in the commentary to the tractate of Pe'ah.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Eduyot
הין – twelve Logs
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eduyot
Introduction
Mishnah three contains a dispute between Hillel and Shammai with regards to the laws of the mikveh (ritual bath).
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Bartenura on Mishnah Eduyot
פוסלין את המקוה – if they (i.e., drawn water) fell into it prior to its measure being completed. But after it was completed, even if he cast into it all the drawn water that is in the world, they would not make it (i.e., the Mikveh) invalid.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eduyot
Hillel says: “A hin full of drawn water renders the mikweh unfit.” (However, man must speak in the language of his teacher.) And Shammai says: “Nine kavs.” But the Sages say: “Neither according to the opinion of this one nor according to the opinion of this one;” But when two weavers from the dung-gate which is in Jerusalem came and testified in the name of Shemaiah and Avtalion, “Three logs of drawn water render the mikweh unfit,” the Sages confirmed their statement. A mikveh, a ritual bath used to cleanse ritual impurity, must contain water that has not been drawn by human hands. The water must get into the mikveh by natural means, either through rain or a stream. The question our mishnah asks is how much drawn water can fall into a mikveh before it becomes unfit to cleanse? According to Hillel, if one hin falls in, the mikveh is unfit. A hin is equal to three kavs (about 4 ½ liters). The mishnah notes that Hillel used the word “hin” and not the word “kav”, even though kav is more commonly used and Hillel himself used the word in the previous mishnah. The answer is that Hillel heard this law about the mikveh from his teacher in this language, and although Hillel himself did not regularly use this language he still taught the statement in the form that he heard it. This is to teach that when you quote your teacher you must use the same language s/he used. Shammai gives a larger measure which would make a mikveh unfit: nine kavs. A smaller amount of drawn water that falls into a mikveh does not render it unfit. As we saw in the first two mishnayoth, the Sages accept neither the words of Shammai nor the words of Hillel. Rather they accept the testimony given by two weavers who were at the Dung-Gate in Jerusalem (the gate next to the Western Wall), who said that Shemaiah and Avtalion, two early Sages, stated that three lugs, which is a quarter of a hin, are enough to render the mikveh unfit.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Eduyot
שחייב אדם לומר בשלון רבו – that is to say, the word "הין" /”hin” is not the language of the Mishnah, but rather is the language of the Torah, but that is what he heard from his teachers Shemaiah and Avtalion. And Maimonides received from his father, of blessed memory, that since Shemaiah and Avtalion were righteous converts, they were not able to pronounce from their mouths the word “Hin,” and they would say, “Een” instead of “Hin,” like people until today who are incapable of articulating the letters [Aleph, Khet, Hei and Ayin), and Hillel would also say, “Een”, like this teachers, the righteous converts Shemaiah and Avtalion would say.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Eduyot
גרדיים – weavers
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Bartenura on Mishnah Eduyot
משער האשפות – The Tanna mentioned the name of their craft and the name of their neighborhoods, to inform you that nothing should prevent a person individually from the House of Study, for there is no lesser craft than that of the weaver, for we can cannot appoint from it neither a King nor a High Priest, and there is n o lesser gate in Jerusalem than the Dung Gate, and they cast the deciding vote through their testimony for all the Sages of Israel.
