מקואות ה׳:ו׳ - ו׳:א׳

גל שנתלש – from the sea that is moving and in commotion.

ונפל על האדם ועל הכלים טהורים – for non-sacred purposes only, for non-sacred purposes do not require intentionality. But for Second Tithe and/or for Heave Offering, the one who immerses is not ritually pure until he intends it [for this purpose].

טובלין – a man or a woman.

מטבילין – utensils or hands in a place that requires the ritual immersion of hands, such as for something Holy, where it is not sufficient with ritual washing [of the hands].

חריצין (trench) – wide and square like a cave, rather that they are not fountains.

ונעיצים (a wedge-like ditch) – short from the below and wide from above.

פרסת חמור – and the same law applies regarding the tracks of any animal.

המעורבת בבקעה – a hole/indentation that was made in the ground through the tracks of the animal and water was gathered in it and it is combined to the Mikveh of forty Seah through an incision like that of a tube/mouthpiece of the leather bottle, we immerse through it.

חרדלית (rainwater rushing down a slope, torrent) – like a mountain varix. A stream/current/downpour of water that comes from the drawing of water of a mountain, an explanation from the collector of the mountain. And according to the School of Shammai one immerses things in them even if there is only forty Seah in it from their beginning to their end (see also Tractate Eduyot, Chapter 5, Mishnah 2).

ובית הלל אומרים אין מטבילין – until there will be forty Seah in one place. For the rainwater rushing down a slope/a torrent does not ritually purify other than in a collection of water/אשבורן.

שנודר כלים וטובל בהם (dams it with utensils and dips in it) – he makes a division with the utensils in order that they will hinder/impede the path of he water and they won’t be flowing . And he immerses them in water that is within the division of the utensils which are like the waters of a Mikveh.

וכלים שגדר בהן לא הוטבלו (and utensils with which one dammed – they are not deemed to have been immersed) – because all of the utensil was not immersed in the water during the division [of space], other than the side that is towards the torrent/rainwater rushing down the slope) and not at the side towards the outside. But if there is a difficulty, for Rabbi Yossi stated above (Tractate Mikvaot, Chapter 5, Mishnah 5) “anything that is susceptible to receiving ritual impurity – they do not stop the flowing of water therewith,” but how can he disagree with the School of Hillel which agrees that one dams it with utensils/vessels and immerses in it? One can say, that this where they agree is with the concluding clause [of the Mishnah], that stated, “and utensils with which one dammed, they are not deemed to have been immersed.” And this is how it should be read: The School of Shammai agrees with the School of Hillel when one dams with utensils and one immerses in them, utensils/vessels with which one dammed, they are deemed to have not been immersed. But the School of Hillel always holds that one does not dams with utensils/vessels and immerses in them, according to Rabbi Yossi who stated (see above, Mishnah 5), that anything that is susceptible to receiving ritual impurity, they do not stop the flowing of water therewith. And this is implied in the Tosefta [Mikvaot, Chapter 4, Halakha 10].

כל המעורב. חורי המערה – holes that are within the Mikveh/ritual bath. But because most of their immersions are in caves, they call the Mikveh a cave.

כמה שהן – even though they are not they are not perforated like the tube (mouth-piece) of a leather bottle.

עוקת המערה – a hole/indentation that is in the rim/bottom of the cave, its waters are not considered with the waters of the Mikveh that are above them to be kosher/fit to immerse in them, unless there is between them like the tube (mouth-piece) of a leather bottle.

אמר ר' יהודה – Rabi Yehuda does not come to argue but rather to explain.

בזמן שהיא מעמדת את עצמה – when he comes to immerse in the hole/indentation, the hole stands on its own, and the roof that forms a partition/makes a dam between it and the cave does not fall on its own.

אבל אם אינה מעמדת את עצמה – and at the time that the comes to immerse, the roof of the hole/indentation which is at the bottom of the Mikveh falls and the waters of the Mikveh combine with the waters of the hole/indentation.

מטבילין בה כמו שהיא – and even if the incision is not like the tube (mouth-piece) of a leather bottle.