Shiur 14

1- In the past two weeks we learned about מים שאובים that disqualifies a mikvah when the Mikvah does not have a full 40 סאה.

2- This Halacha has two conditions:

A- It must be water. Not wine or other liquids.

B- The water must be clear. Not tainted or dyed.

3- We learned that a kosher Mikvah that changes color due to an external object that was poured into the Mikvah renders the Mikvah not kosher.

One important aspect of discoloration as opposed to מים שאובים is as follows:

מים שאובים cannot be corrected unless all the מים שאובים is somehow removed from the mikvah.

Discoloration, on the other hand, can be corrected by simply waiting it out until the water becomes clear or by adding more water.  

4- We encountered an interesting historical dispute related to Chabad history.

The background:

A kosher Mikvah with over 40 מים גשמים,  all the waters in the world can be added and the mikvah is still kosher.

However, if it does not have 40 see’ah of מים גשמים, and a full 3 lugin of מים שאובים falls into it, the Mikvah will be  פסול forever until all the מים שאובים is removed.

Our case it about a Mikvah with less than 40 see’ah of מים גשמים that just prior to the 3 Lugin of מים שאובים were poured into it, the Mikvah changed color due to wine.

Does the Mikvah become פסול because of the 3 Lugin or not – since the mikvah into which the 3 lugin were poured, is technically ‘wine’?

The Ramo says no:

הגה: מקוה חסר שנפל שם יין ונשתנו מראיה ונפל שם ג’ לוגין מים שאובין, אינן פוסלין וכשחוזר והשלים המקוה במים כשרים וחזרה למראה מים, כשרה (ב”י בשם התוספתא בשם הראב”ד) –

Translation: A mikvah that has less than 40 seah into which wine fell in and changed its color and then 3 lugin of drawn water fell in, it does not invalidate it, and when then adds new water and completes the mikvah with kosher water and it returns to the color of water, it is valid.

Meaning, a mikvah that was discolored by wine, is not kosher. We view the liquid to have been transformed from water to wine.

So now we have a Mikvah that did not have a full 40 seeah of מים גשמים and the wine discoloration turned it into a  ‘wine Mikvah’.

 

Now 3 lugin of מים שאובים was pured into this “Wine Mikvah’.  If the Mikvah would have been a ‘water Mikvah’ then this Mikvah would be פסול as we learned previously. However in our case, nothing happened because the 3 Lugin of  מים שאובים fell into wine! Not water.

So now we have a wine Mikvah that can be Kashered by simply adding more water until we reach a full 40 סאה of water (The new water plus the original water before the wine was poured into it) and the Mikvah turns back into clear water.

In essence what the Ramo is saying is that מים שאובים that is poured into this ‘wine’ is not considered as anything wrong. מים שאובים is only a problem when it is poured into water – not into ‘wine’.

So far so good.

5- So if water מים שאובים that falls into wine is viewed as if nothing happened, what happens if the Mikva starts with מים שאובים and then we pour wine into it. Does the wine change the מים שאובים into ‘wine’ and then all need need to do is add enough water to bring the color back to normal.

Perhaps not, because it only works if the wine came before the water and not the other way around.

6- We discussed the lineage of Reb Mordechai Dov Twerski who was a nephew of the Tzemach Tzedek. His book on Mikvous. חיבר לטהרה

Good book by one of his grandchildren.

 

Aaron Twerski, scion of the Twerski  dynasty

7- We spoke about the issue at hand- the fear that when cleaning a Mikvah, 3 lugin of water from a pail or mop was left at the bottom of the Mikvah . Adding rainwater would not be of any help, as above, unless we are certain that the little amount of שאובין water has been removed.   [Ze’ria will not help. This is one of the reasons why they usually added a בור השקה].

So the suggestion was to pour wine into this clean Mikvah! If there were any remnants of שאובין water leftover from the cleaning, it would turn into wine!

Reb Mordechai Dov Twerski writes (page 13) that he heard that Reb Levi Yitzchok the Rov of Barditchov allowed it.

But, adds Reb Mordechai, my uncle…..

8- The Tzemach Tzedek Y”D 173 writes that this will not work.

Addendum: Special Thanks to Yisroel Mockin

Reb Moshele

Attached is a copy of Rabbi Chaim Dalfin’s book pertaining to Reb Nochum Schneersohn, his son Reb Mordechai Dov, and Reb Mosheleh Twerski.

 

Reb Nochum, the only son of the Mitteler Rebbe, married his niece, the Tcherkaser’s daughter (B’zivug Sheni). They had a son Reb Mordechai Dov, who wrote the Tshuva in his Sefer “Chibur L’tahara”, discussed in this Shiur.

 

So, Reb Mordechai Dov was:

1. A direct grandson of the Mitteler Rebbe from his Father’s side (The Mitteler Rebbe – Reb Nochum – Reb Mordechai Dov). The reason his last name was Twersky was because he took his mother’s maiden name since his grandfather, The Tcherkaser, didn’t have any boys.
2. A grandson of the Tcherkaser from his mother’s side, making him a nephew of the Tzemach Tzedek.

 

Reb Mordechai Dov’s son was Reb Mosheleh Schneerson from Eastern Parkway. (Reb Mosheleh added back the name Schneerson when he came to America. He was called Schneerson-Twerski)

So Reb Mosheleh Schneerson was parallel in generations to the Rebbe Rashab, 4^th generation Ben Achar Ben from the Mitteler Rebbe.