Jerusalem Water Ez. 47 midrashim

(3) Why is the name "Water Gate"? It is so called because through it they take the flask of water used for the libation at the Feast. R. Eliezer b. Jacob says of it, "The waters are dripping, intimating that water oozing out and rising, as if from this flask, will in future days come forth from under the threshold of the Temple, and so it says, ‘When the man went forth eastward with the line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles, intimating that a man can pass through waters up to his ankles ; and again he measured a thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the knees, intimating that a man can pass through waters up to his knees.’”Another interpretation of waters that were to the knees, "intimating that after they have been blessed, they flow out. Again, he measured a thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the loins, intimating that a man can pass through waters up to his loins. Afterwards he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through. Though one cannot cross it on foot, yet one may be able to do so by swimming; though one cannot cross it in a small boat, as we learn from the Scripture, For the waters were risen, waters to swim in they were risen too high for swimming. Though one cannot cross it in a small boat, yet one may be able to do so in a large boat, as we learn from the Scripture, There shall not go thereon any rowing ship. Though one cannot cross it in a large boat, yet one may be able to do so in a fast sailing vessel, as we learn from the Scripture, And gallant ship shall not pass over it. 2 And so it is said, And it shall come to pass in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea ; in summer and in winter shall it be. It may be other fountains will be mixed with them, as we learn from the Scripture, In that day shall there be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. Whither do the waters go ? To the Mediterranean, and to the sea of Tiberias, and to the Dead Sea, that their waters may be healed, as it is said : And he said to me, These waters issue forth towards the eastern region that is the Dead Sea ; and shall go down into the Arabah that is the Sea of Tiberias ; and they shall go towards the other sea that is the Mediterranean Sea ; and the waters shall be healed ; and it shall come to pass that every living creature that swarms, in every place whither the river comes, shall live ; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish; for these waters are come hither, that all things may be healed and live, whithersoever the river cometh. And it also says : And it shall come to pass that fishers shall stand by it ; from Engedi even unto Englaim shall be a place for the spreading of nets ; their fish shall be after their kinds, as the fish of the Great Sea, exceeding many. And it also says : But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof, shall not be healed ; they shall be given for salt. And also : By the river, upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow every tree for meat, whose leaf shall not wither, neither shall the fruit thereof fail ; it shall bring forth first-fruits every month, because the waters thereof issue out of the sanctuary ; and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for healing intimating that all "the waters of creation" will come forth as from the mouth of this flask. So the well, which was with Israel in the wilderness, was like a rock of the size of a k'bara, 6 and was oozing out and rising as from the mouth of this flask, travelling with them up the mountains and going down with them to the valleys. Wherever Israel encamped it encamped opposite them before the door of the Tabernacle. The princes of Israel with their slaves surrounded it, and said over it this song, Spring up, O well, sing ye unto it. Then the waters bubbled forth, and rose on high like a pillar; and every one drew out the staff of his tribe and family, as it is said, The well which the princes digged, Which the nobles of the people delved, With the sceptre and with their staves. And from Mattanah to Nahaliel ; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth ; and from Bamoth to the valley, etc. going round every camp of the Lord, and watering all Jeshimon ; and it made mighty streams, as it is said, And streams overflowed. 3 And they were sitting in skiffs, going from place to place, as it is written, They ran in the dry places like a river. If Israel went up on the right, it would come down on the right ; if on the left, it would come down on the left. The waters which emptied themselves from it became a great river, pouring themselves into the Mediterranean, and bringing thence all the precious things of the world, as it is said, These forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee ; thou hast lacked nothing.

R' Yehudah and R' Shmuel bar Yehudah were stranding on the bank of the river Papa at the ford of Hatzdad, and Rami bar Papa was standing on the other side. He shouted to them: what is the law about crossing over to you in order to ask a question in the law? R' Yehudah said to him: This is Rav and Shmuel who both said: Go across, so long as one does not take his hand out of the bosom of his shirt. There are those who say: R' Shmuel bar R' Yehudah said to him 'it is a baraita - go across, so long as one does not take his hand out of the bosom of his shirt R' Yosef disagreed. And is this permitted even on a weekday?! It is written "...he measured one thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles." (Ezekiel 47:3) From here that it is permitted to cross water up to one's ankles. "And he measured one thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the knees..." (Ezekiel 47:4) From here that it is permitted to cross water up to one's knees. "...and he measured one thousand and he led me though water that reached the loins." (ibid.) From here that it is permitted to cross water up to one's loins. From here on "And he measured one thousand, a stream that I could not cross..." (Ezekiel 47:5) Abaye said: A river with rapidly flowing water is different. Perhaps one could swim across? The Scripture says "... for the water was so high that it was water for swimming (mei sachu)..." (ibid.) What is mei sachu? Swimming, because this is what they call swimmers 'sayacha.' Perhaps one can take a little boat across? The Scripture says "...where a galley with oars shall not go..." (Isaiah 33:21) Perhaps one can take a large boat across? The Scripture says "...and a great ship shall not pass." (ibid.) This implies just as R' Yosef interprets it 'No fisher's boat goes there, no big boat traverses it.' R' Yehudah ben Pazi said: Even the angel of death does not have permission to cross it. It says here "where a galley with oars (shayit) shall not go" and it is written there "From going to and fro (mishut) on the earth." (Job 1:7) R' Pinchas said in the name of R' Huna of Tzippori: The spring which comes out of the Holy of Holies at first is like the antennae of locusts. Once it reaches the entrance of the Sanctuary it becomes as the thread of the warp. Once it reaches the Hall it becomes as the thread of the woof. Once it reaches the entrance of the Courtyard, it becomes as the mouth of a small bottle and this is what is taught: R' Eliezer ben Yaakov says - water will bubble out from under the threshold of the House in the future. From there onward it will increase and rise until it reaches the entrance of the House of David. Once it reaches the entrance of the House of David it will become a fast flowing river in which men and women who are impure from emissions, menstrual women and post-partum women will wash, as it says "On that day, a spring shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for purification and for sprinkling." (Zechariah 13:1)