The Lived Mishnah·A Zeman Nakat Project
Tisha B'Av Series
Mishnah 30 of 41
אִם אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְרוּשָׁלָיִם
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MoedSederסדרמוֹעֵד
EiruvinMasechtaמסכתעירובין
10Perekפרקי׳
14Mishnahמשנהי״ד
נושא · Topicאֵין שְׁבוּת בַּמִּקְדָּשׁRabbinic leniencies in the Mikdash
Mishnah עירובין י׳:י״ד · Eiruvin 10:14
כֹּהֵן שֶׁלָּקָה בְאֶצְבָּעוֹ,
כּוֹרֵךְ עָלֶיהָ גֶמִי בַמִּקְדָּשׁ,
אֲבָל לֹא בַמְּדִינָה.
אִם לְהוֹצִיא דָם, כָּאן וְכָאן אָסוּר.
בּוֹזְקִין מֶלַח עַל גַּבֵּי כֶבֶשׁ בִּשְׁבִיל שֶׁלֹּא יַחֲלִיקוּ,
וּמְמַלְּאִים מִבּוֹר הַגּוֹלָה וּמִבּוֹר הַגָּדוֹל בַּגַּלְגַּל בְּשַׁבָּת,
וּמִבְּאֵר הַקַּר בְּיוֹם טוֹב.
A kohein who hurt his finger —
he wraps gemi on it in the Mikdash,
but not in the medinah.
If [done] to draw blood, in both the Mikdash and the medinah forbidden.
They scatter salt on the ramp to prevent slipping;
and they draw from the Bor HaGolah and the Bor HaGadol with a wheel on Shabbos,
and from Be'er HaKar on Yom Tov.
case/objectrestrictive rulingpermissive rulingreasoncondition
Transcript
Summary Chart
Rabbinic leniencies in the Mikdash
CaseRulingReason
May one wrap a kohein's wounded finger? (כֹּהֵן שֶׁלָּקָה)Mikdash: permitted · medinah: forbidden — but if to draw blood, forbidden in both
May one scatter salt on the ramp?PermittedTo prevent slipping
May one draw water on Shabbos & Yom Tov?From Bor HaGolah & Bor HaGadol with the wheel on Shabbos; from Be'er HaKar on Yom Tov
All Meforshim
Mishnah Insights
Binding a wound where the avodah can't wait

Bandage the wound — but mind the chatzitza

A kohein who wounds a finger mid-avodah may bind it with a gemi reed in the Mikdash (a raw wound is unfit for the service) — though not elsewhere, where this is refuah on Shabbos. The catch the Tosafos Yom Tov presses: the wrapping must not become a chatzitzah between the kohein's hand and the avodah — so it is bound on the hand not performing the service. Wrap it to draw blood, though, and it is chovel with no service benefit — forbidden everywhere.

עוֹלָמוֹ שֶׁל הַמִּשְׁנָה
The water system of the Mikdash

Beneath the leniencies sits real infrastructure. Water was drawn by a galgal — a wheel-and-pail — from the Bor haGolah in the north of the azara. Cisterns like it were the work of Nechunya chofer shichin, the digger charged with keeping water flowing for the olei regel (Shekalim). A braisa in Yevamos preserves a poignant footnote: Nechunya's own daughter once fell into a great cistern — and was saved.

Series Insights
Series context

Where this sits: the reach of ein shvus b'Mikdash

Read with the others in this group on ein shvus b’Mikdash, this mishnah tests the principle’s range: three different rabbinic shvus — wrapping a wound, spreading salt on the ramp, drawing water — each yields in the Mikdash, on the same trust in kohanic care. Together they show how broadly the leniency runs — and the series lets you feel where it stops.

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