1)

(a)We learn the prohibition of Melachah on Chol ha'Mo'ed from the Pasuk "Sheshes Yamim Tochal Matzos uva'Yom ha'Shevi'i Atzeres la'Hashem Elokecha" - where the Torah is comparing the six days of Yom Tov to the seventh, to teach us that just as work is forbidden on the seventh day of Yom Tov, so too, is it forbidden on the other six.

(b)We ...

1. ... know that not all Melachos are forbidden - because the Torah writes "ha'Shevi'i" (to exclude the other six).

2. ... determine which Melachos are prohibited and which are permitted - because - from the fact that the Torah did not specify what is prohibited and what is permitted, indicating that it is up to the Chachamim to decide what is included in the Torah's prohibition, and what is not.

2)

(a)On Chol ha'Mo'ed, our Mishnah permits watering from a fountain, a Beis ha'Shelachin - a field that, due to its position on a mountain-slope, needs to be watered manually ...

(b)... irrespective of whether the fountain began flowing only now or whether it has been flowing for a long time.

(c)But it forbids doing so using rainwater or 'Mei Kilon' - water that is gathered in a pit and that does not flow ...

(d)... because that would involve excessive trouble, and whatever involves excessive trouble is forbidden on Chol ha'Mo'ed mid'Rabanan.

3)

(a)The Tana Kama states 'Ein Osin Ugiyos li'Gefanim' - meaning that it is forbidden to dig trenches round the vines for watering purposes ...

(b)... because of Tircha Yesera (excessive bother, as we shall see later).

(c)Rebbi Elazar ben Azaryah forbids an Amah both on Chol ha'Mo'ed and in the Shemitah. An Amah - is an irrigation ditch (one Amah wide) surrounding the field.

(d)The Chachamim disagree with Rebbi Elazar ben Azaryah - regarding making an Amah in the Shemitah, though they agree with him on Chol ha'Mo'ed.

4)

(a)The Mishnah continues 'u'Mesaknin es Kilkulei Mayim she'bi'Reshus ha'Rabim, v'Chotetin Osan'. 'Kilkulei Mayim' are - pits of water into which stones fell (from the walls of the pit); 'Chotetin Osan' means - that one may clear them out.

(b)The principle that governs our Mishnah, which concedes that repairing the roads and Mikva'os is permitted - is that 'Tzorchei Rabim' (communal needs) are permitted.

(c)The Tana permits ...

1. ... marking the graves (see Tosfos DH 'u'Metzainin') - on the grounds that Tzorchei Rabim that do not entail too much Tircha (trouble) are permitted.

2. ... the Beis-Din to send out their Sheluchim to tend to the removal of Kil'ayim (see Tosfos DH 'v'Yotz'in') - because it is a Mitzvah incumbent upon the Beis-Din (rendering this, unlike all the other cases in our Mishnah, which are concessions - obligatory).

5)

(a)We might have thought that watering even a Beis ha'Shelachin would be forbidden using water from a new fountain - because the walls might cave in, causing one to go to great lengths to re-dig it.

(b)Nevertheless, the Tana finds it necessary to add that it is also permitted to water a Beis ha'Shelachin using water from an old, established fountain - to preclude watering a field that does not require watering manually (a Sadeh Beis ha'Ba'al), under the same circumstances.

(c)We learn from the Targum of the Pasuk ...

1. ... "v'Atah Ayef v'Yage'a " ("v'At Meshalhi v'La'i") - that a 'Sadeh Beis ha'Shelachin' means a 'thirsty' field (which is what "Ayeif" means in that context).

2. ... "Ki Yiv'al Bachur Besulah" ("Arei Kamah d'Misosiv Olam im Besulta ... ") - that 'Sadeh Beis ha'Ba'al' means 'a settled field' (one does that does need to be watered manually).

6)

(a)The Tana of our Mishnah draws this distinction between a Beis ha'Shelachin and a Sadeh Beis ha'Ba'al - because not watering the former will entail a huge loss, whereas the latter will not.

(b)Rav Huna establishes our Mishnah like Rebbi Eliezer ben Yakov, who permits (in a Mishnah later) digging a water-trench in a Sadeh Beis ha'Ba'al, but not to water the entire field - because we see from there that he permits Tircha on Chol ha'Mo'ed where there is a loss, but not in order to gain (like our Mishnah).

(c)We reject Rav Huna's contention however - because he only forbids excessive Tircha for gain there where is no loss at all, but not necessarily in our Mishnah, where not only is there a gain, but a loss too.

7)

(a)Rav Papa therefore establishes our Mishnah like Rebbi Yehudah in the Beraisa, where Rebbi Meir permits watering even a Sadeh Beis ha'Ba'al using a new fountain on Chol ha'Mo'ed - Rebbi Yehudah restricts the use of a new fountain to a Beis ha'Shelachin which became destroyed ...

(b)... which cannot mean just what it says - because then why would it need to be watered?!

(c)What it therefore means is - that it dried up (but a new fountain was found to re-place it (creating a situation of a large loss should one now fail to water the field).

(d)Rebbi Elazar ben Azaryah - forbids the use of a new fountain even if the original fountain dried up.

8)

(a)Rebbi Yehudah forbids - diverting a stream to water his garden or yard, even in a Sadeh Beis ha'Shelachin, because of the excessive Tircha involved.

(b)Rav Papa concludes that the author of our Mishnah has to be Rebbi Yehudah - because who else could it possibly be?!

(c)Initially, we objected to this contention - on the grounds that Rebbi Yehudah only seemed to differentiate between a Sadeh Beis ha'Shelachin and a Sadeh Ba'al with regard to a new fountain, but not necessarily with regard to an old, established one (which he apparently permits even by a Sadeh Beis ha'Ba'al, unlike our Mishnah (which forbids a Sadeh Beis ha'Ba'al to be watered even using an old fountain).

(d)According to the conclusion (that Rebbi Yehudah forbids even using an old established fountain to water a Beis ha'Ba'al) the Beraisa confines itself to a new one - to teach us that Rebbi Meir permits even that (even by a Sadeh Beis ha'Ba'al).

9)

(a)According to Rabah, if someone wants to weed or to water plants on Shabbos, one warns him that he is transgressing a Toldah of plowing. According to Rav Yosef - it is a Toldah of sowing.

(b)The logic behind saying that it is a Toldah of ...

1. ... plowing - is because, like plowing, weeding and watering the plants soften the earth.

2. ... sowing - because like sowing, weeding and watering the plants causes them to grow.

(c)Abaye queries both his Rebbes - in that how can either of them deny the fact that weeding and watering both softens the earth and causes the plants to grow?

(d)The Kashya remains unanswered. The proof that someone who contravenes two Melachos with one action can be Chayav two Chata'os is from a ruling of Rav Kahana - who says that someone who prunes his tree, and who needs the branches that he is cutting off, is Chayav two Chata'os: for planting and for reaping.

10)

(a)The Tana Kama of the Beraisa, which sentences someone who weeds or covers over Kil'ayim with earth to Malkus, appears to concur with Rav Yosef, according to whom weeding is a Toldah of sowing - because sowing Kil'ayim is forbidden (whereas according to Rabah, there is no Isur of plowing Kil'ayim).

(b)Rabah answers - that he is Chayav neither for plowing nor for sowing - but for 'Mekayem (retaining) Kil'ayim', which is also forbidden.

(c)And he reconciles this with the Seifa, in which Rebbi Akiva introduces the Isur of Mekayem Kil'ayim, implying that the Tana Kama holds that it is permitted - by establishing Rebbi Akiva as the author of the entire Beraisa, and that the Seifa does not come to argue with the Reisha, but to give the reason as to why he is Chayav.

11)

(a)Rebbi Akiva learns from the Pasuk in Kedoshim "Sadecha Lo Sizra Kil'ayim" that someone who maintains Kil'ayim contravenes a Lav - by rearranging the Pasuk as if it had written "Kil'ayim Sadecha Lo" (presumably due to the order of the words - the Torah should otherwise have inverted the words and written "Lo Sizra Sadecha Kil'ayim".

(b)The Tana of our Mishnah incorporates Shemitah in the concession of watering a Beis ha'Shelachin, a Kashya both on Rabah and on Rav Yosef - because whereas on Chol ha'Mo'ed, there is reason to permit whichever Melachah it happens to be, because the whole prohibition of Melachah on Chol ha'Mo'ed is based on Tircha (which the Chachamim permitted when there is a loss), there is no reason to permit either plowing or sowing in the Shemitah (since both are Isurim d'Oraisa).

12)

(a)Abaye answers the Kashya by establishing our Mishnah by Shevi'is nowadays, according to Rebbi - who learns from the Pasuk "v'Zeh Devar ha'Shemitah Shamot" that the Torah compares the Shemitah of money (releasing debts) to that of (not working the) land. In other words, whenever the one does not apply, the other does not apply either.

(b)Consequently, nowadays, when the latter does not apply, the former does not apply either. This means that nowadays, all Melachos in the Shemitah are only Asur mid'Rabanan (in which case, it is the Rabanan who permitted watering a Beis ha'Shelachin, irrespective of whether the Isur is plowing or sowing.

(c)Rava has a more radical approach. According to him - no Toldos (other than pruning and harvesting grapes) are forbidden during the Shemitah (even when it is Asur mid'Oraisa). Consequently, the Tana of the Beraisa is justified in permitting watering a Beis ha'Shelachin in the Shemitah because of the loss involved.