Study Moed Katan folio 5A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
damaged water cisterns in the public domain and clean them out by removing the dirt and sediment that has accumulated in them. The Talmud infers: Cleaning out the cisterns of dirt and sediment during the intermediate days of a Festival is indeed permitted, but digging a new cistern is not permitted.
R' Ya’akov said that R' Yoḥanan said: They taught that it is prohibited to dig new cisterns only when the public does not need them; but if the public needs them, even digging new cisterns is permitted.
The Talmud asks: And when the public needs them, is digging really permitted? But isn’t it taught in a baraita: One may clean out cisterns, ditches, and caves of an individual during the intermediate days of a Festival, and, needless to say, one may clean out those of the public. But one may not di
The Talmud rejects this opinion: No, this baraita is referring to a case where the public does not need them.
The Talmud raises a difficulty: It would follow that in the corresponding situation with regard to the cisterns of an individual, the baraita is referring to a case where the individual does not need them. But in that case, is cleaning them out really permitted? Isn’t it taught in a baraita: One m