Moed Katan 2a — the Talmud in English

Mishna:

1. On the intermediate days of the Festival,

one may irrigate the irrigated field,

which is a field situated in an elevated place, such as fields in the mountains, and the irrigation from the rainwater is not sufficient for it, since part of the rainwater flows from it downward and is not absorbed in it, and therefore it requires constant irrigation by a person.

And it is permitted to trouble oneself and irrigate it even

on

the intermediate days of the

Festival [since labor is forbidden on them] .

on which labor is prohibited].

And the Sages permitted irrigating it, since if they do not irrigate it on the intermediate days of the Festival, a great loss will result.

And

likewise

in

the year

of Shemittah,

when working the land is forbidden, the Sages permitted irrigating the irrigated field so that it would not be ruined.

And what we said, that one irrigates an irrigated field on the intermediate days of the Festival, means:

Whether

one irrigates it

from

water of a

spring that emerged initially,

which has only now begun to flow and has not yet carved out a path for itself in the ground.

Whether from

the water of a

spring that did not emerge initially,

but has already held a path for itself for a long time.

That is, a person may open the water channel at the place where the spring water reaches it, whether it is a new spring or an old spring, so that from there the water will flow to the field.

But one does not irrigate

the irrigated field on the intermediate days of the Festival

from rainwater,

because there is excessive exertion in irrigating from it. [And even if it flows by means of the water channel, so that there is no exertion in such irrigation, which resembles irrigation from spring water, in which there is no excessive exertion, nevertheless the Sages decreed not to irrigate from it, because there is concern that through the irrigation the water will diminish and they will come to irrigate it from rainwater gathered in cisterns, and there is exertion in such irrigation, as will be explained below in the Gemara].

[Even if the water flows through an irrigation channel, so that watering in this manner involves no exertion and resembles watering from spring water, which does not involve excessive exertion, the Sages nevertheless decreed that one may not water from it. There is concern that the water will diminish through the watering, and the person will come to water from rainwater collected in pits, which involves exertion. This will be explained later in the

And

likewise

one does not

irrigate on the Festival

from a pool,

which is water drawn from a deep well in which water has collected; it is a great exertion to draw from it, and therefore the matter is forbidden on the intermediate days of the Festival .

2.

And one does not make

on the intermediate days of the Festival

round basins for vines,

round excavations around the roots of the vines, made to receive water, since making them for the first time involves excessive exertion.

3.

Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah says: One does not make the water channel initially on the intermediate days of the Festival,

because making a new water channel involves excessive exertion.

And

likewise one does not make a water channel initially

in the year of Shemittah.

And the Gemara disagreed concerning the reason for the prohibition in the year of Shemittah [folio 4b].

And the Sages say:

even

one may make the water channel initially, in the year of Shemittah.

And

likewise

one repairs the

water channels

that are damaged,

which have become blocked and are not deep [as appropriate for irrigation],

on the intermediate days of the Festival.

4.

And one repairs water defects,

for example, when stones have fallen into drinking wells

that are in the public domain, and one clears them out,

removing the stones, pebbles, and loose soil from the water wells, but he should not trouble himself to dig.

5.

And one repairs the roads,

clearing thorns from them,

and the streets,

the place where the townspeople sit,

and the ritual baths.

That is, if stones and earth fell into them, one removes them in order to repair them and make them fit for use.

6.

And one performs all the needs of the public

as explained in the Gemara [folio 5a].

7.

And one marks the graves,

marking them with lime so that those who eat teruma will not approach them. And marking with lime does not involve excessive exertion.

8.

And the agents

of the court

also go out concerning diverse kinds,

to inspect the fields whether diverse kinds are not growing in them, and to uproot them.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: One irrigates the irrigated field on the intermediate days of the Festival and in the year of Shemittah, whether from a spring that emerged initially or from an old spring.

And we raised a difficulty concerning it:

Now, it may be said

[that is, the tanna says in the Mishna], that one irrigates even

from a spring that emerged initially,

despite the concern

that it may come

that the ground surrounding the spring

to collapse,

that the ground adjacent to the spring will collapse, since it has not yet been carved out and the path of the spring has not yet been established; and even so, we learned

one irrigates

from it, and we are not concerned that one will come to excessive exertion if the ground collapses and they need to repair it.

If so,

from a spring that did not emerge initially,

whose path is already established and whose surrounding ground is stable—

that it will not come to collapse, is it necessary to say so!?

Does the tanna need to inform us that it is permitted to irrigate from it as well on the intermediate days of the Festival? It is included in “one irrigates from a spring that emerged initially”!

And we answer:

They say

in the beit-midrash to resolve it:

It was necessary,

the tanna needed to inform us of the law of both springs.

For

if he taught

only the law of a

spring that emerged initially,

whose surrounding ground may collapse,

I would have said

that only

here,

in the case of a spring emerging initially,

is it that

we say that specifically the field of

the irrigated field, no,

one irrigates it, since there is loss in the matter. But a field of

the rain-irrigated field,

which is in a valley and is not ruined without constant irrigation,

not

did they permit irrigating it on the intermediate days of the Festival from a spring that emerged initially,

because it may come to collapse,

since they were concerned lest the surrounding ground collapse and they come to excessive exertion.

But with a spring that did not emerge initially, which does not

have the concern that it

may come to collapse, I would say even

the field of

the rain-irrigated field also

they permitted irrigating on the intermediate days of the Festival.

Therefore

it informs us

the tanna that

it makes no difference whether it is a spring that emerged initially or whether it is a spring that did not emerge initially—

only the field of

the irrigated field, no,

indeed one irrigates. But the field of

the rain-irrigated field, no,

one does not irrigate at all.

And the Gemara explains the meaning of “irrigated field”:

And what

and from where

is it indicated that this “

irrigated field” is

an expression of thirst

thirst

it is?

For it is written

in the section of Amalek [at the end of the section Ki Tavo]: “

And you were faint and weary.”

And “faint” means thirsty.

And

there

we translate

“faint and weary” as

“and you were thirsty and weary.”

That is, “irrigated” in the language of the translation is “thirsty,” [the letter heh is exchanged for the letter het], whose meaning is an expression of thirst.

And the Gemara continues to explain the meaning of “rain-irrigated field”:

And what

and from where

is it indicated that this “

rain-irrigated field” is

an expression of being settled?

A settled and satisfied place that is not concerned about water, and the rain that falls in its place suffices for it, and it has no need for irrigation.

For it is written

in Isaiah’s prophecy of redemption: “

As a young man marries a maiden”—

your sons will possess you.

And we translate “

For as the world is settled with a maiden—

so will your sons be settled within you.”

That is, just as the desire of every man of the world is fulfilled and his mind is settled through his marriage to a maiden and through relations with her, so will your sons be settled within you.

And this is the comparison of a “rain-irrigated field,” which is settled through rainwater, without need for irrigation.

And we raised this question:

Who is the tanna—

who is the tanna who taught our Mishna, who holds that:

1.

Only where there is a loss, not

only in a case of loss

is it permitted

to exert oneself during the intermediate days of a Festival, as in the irrigation of an irrigated field mentioned in our Mishna. But exertion in irrigation for the sake of

improvement is not

permitted. As we learned in our Mishna: It is prohibited to irrigate an orchard field, which does not suffer a loss, during the intermediate days of the Festival, even though it would be improved more if it were irrigated.

2.

And

this tanna likewise holds that

even where there is a loss

where labor has been permitted—

one may nevertheless not exert himself.

For example, irrigation from rainwater is prohibited because irrigating with it involves excessive exertion.

Rav Huna said:

—

is Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov,

who taught the Mishna below.

As we learned

in the Mishna below (6b):

Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: One may draw water

during the intermediate days of a Festival in an orchard field only

from a tree

that has water beneath it

to another tree

by making a small channel between them.

provided that he does not irrigate the field

the orchard field surrounding the trees]

in its entirety,

since irrigating this field is merely improvement, and Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov held that it is prohibited to do this during the intermediate days of a Festival. If so, he is the tanna of our Mishna, who holds that one may not irrigate merely for improvement.

The Gemara challenges Rav Huna: From where do you know that Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov, who taught the Mishna below, is also the tanna who taught our Mishna?

You may say that you heard

in the Mishna below

from Rabbi Eliezer

ben Yaakov only with regard to

improvement, which is not

permitted as labor for the sake of improvement.

But regarding what we learned in our Mishna, that

exertion

even

where there is a loss is prohibited—

did you hear him

say that Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov holds this as well?

Rather, Rav Pappa said: This

—

follows—

—

As it is taught

in a beraita in the Tosefta:

If a spring emerges for the first time, one may irrigate even an orchard field from it; this is the statement of Rabbi Meir.

Rabbi Yehuda says: One may irrigate only an irrigated field whose spring has dried up,

as will be explained below.

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya says: Neither this nor that!

His words, too, will be explained below.

Furthermore,

he was stringent and

Rabbi Yehuda said:

Even in an irrigated field,

a person may not divert

he may not direct toward it

the channel of water and irrigate his garden or his ruin during the intermediate days of a Festival,

since this involves excessive exertion.

Rav Pappa continues:

And we raised this question in explaining the beraita:

What

is meant by “an irrigated field whose spring has

dried up,”

which is mentioned in the beraita?

If you say that it means that the field has dried up

the field

literally,

so that no crops grew in it and it is uncultivated land, this is difficult: irrigation cannot remedy it, and

why would one irrigate it!?

And

concerning this

Abaye said:

It is referring to a field

whose spring dried up,

from which it had always been irrigated,

and another spring emerged for it,

and if he does not irrigate it from that spring, he will suffer a great loss.

Even so, Rabbi Yehuda permitted irrigating it during the intermediate days of a Festival only from the water of the new spring that emerged for it, since this does not involve excessive exertion. But it is not permitted to divert the course of the spring toward his field.

It follows that Rabbi Yehuda did not permit exertion even where there is a loss, as in the case of an irrigated field that had been irrigated until then and has now suffered damage.

We also learn from here the prohibition against improvement, from the fact that he stated that it is permitted to irrigate from the spring only an irrigated field, and not an orchard field.

Therefore, it is possible to establish that our Mishna follows Rabbi Yehuda.

On this basis, Rav Pappa says that our Mishna—which prohibits exertion even where there is a loss, and also prohibits improvement when it does not involve excessive exertion—is the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda.

The Gemara now explains what was stated in that beraita:

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya says: Neither this nor that!

That is,

it makes no difference

whether

the spring of the irrigated field has dried up

or

it makes no difference

whether

its spring has not dried up—

a spring that emerged for the first time may not

be used for irrigation; one may irrigate only from an old spring.

Since Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya prohibited irrigating an irrigated field from a new spring even when its original spring had dried up, we cannot establish that our Mishna follows his opinion.

The Gemara now challenges Rav Pappa:

And from where

do you know that Rabbi Yehuda prohibited even irrigation for the sake of improvement?

Perhaps

it may be said that

Rabbi Yehuda stated his opinion only to this extent

in his dispute with Rabbi Meir: only

an irrigated field, yes,

is permitted to be irrigated, whereas

an orchard field, no,

may not be irrigated—

but only from a

specifically when it is from

spring that emerged for the first time.

For that is what the beraita is discussing: an irrigated field whose spring dried up, and which now comes to be irrigated from a new spring.