Marking Graves: Scriptural Foundations for the Obligation (Moed Katan 5a-b)

The Mishnah permits marking graves (ציון קברות) on Chol HaMoed, so that travelers avoid ritual impurity. The sugya investigates the source for this practice and presents a broad survey of Scriptural allusions supporting the established halakha.¹

R’ Shimon ben Pazi asks for a Torah allusion to grave-marking. He cites Ezekiel 39:15: “One who sees a human bone shall build a sign (ציון) beside it,” indicating an obligation to signal tum’ah to passersby.

Ravina challenges to Rav Ashi: Before Ezekiel, who ordained grave-marking? Rav Ashi answers by analogy to another halakha: Rav Ḥisda taught that the exclusion of an uncircumcised or “foreign-hearted” person from Temple service is learned from Ezekiel 44:9, not from the Torah of Moshe. Since this halakha clearly predated Ezekiel, it follows that both cases were received traditions (גמרא גמירי לה), and Ezekiel merely provided an asmakhta (Scriptural support). Thus, grave-marking existed by tradition; Ezekiel attached a verse to it.

Several Amoraim offer alternative verses indicating the requirement to warn others of impurity or clear obstacles:

• R’ Abbahu: “Impure, impure he shall call” (Lev. 13:45) — impurity must announce itself; the metzora warns others to avoid tum’ah. R’ Uzziel (grandson of R’ Uzziel the Great): same derivation — impurity calls out: “Separate.” (Baraita on the same verse: the metzora publicizes his distress so that the public may pray for him.)

• Abaye: “Do not put a stumbling block before the blind” (Lev. 19:14) — unmarked tum’ah is a stumbling block.

• Rav Pappa: “Pave, pave, clear the way” (Isa. 57:14) — remove obstacles from pathways, including hazards of tum’ah.

• Rav Ḥinnana: from the verse’s continuation — “Remove the stumbling block from the way of My people.”

• Rav Yehoshua b. Idi: “Show them the way in which they must walk” (Ex. 18:20) — ensuring navigable, safe, and pure pathways.

• Mar Zutra: “You shall separate the children of Israel from their impurity” (Lev. 15:31) — warn the public away from impurity.

• Rav Ashi: “You shall keep My charge” (Lev. 18:30) — make protective measures (משמרת למשמרתי), which includes marking sources of tum’ah.

• Ravina: “And to him who orders his way…” (Ps. 50:23) — designate ritually pure pathways.

R’ Yehoshua ben Levi is cited regarding a homily: One who “orders/appraises his ways” merits divine salvation, reading “וְשָׂם דרך” as “וְשָׁם דרך” — one who evaluates his conduct.

R’ Yannai applies the verse to a student who withholds challenges on festival Shabbat to avoid embarrassing his teacher.

Outline

Intro

The Passage

1. R’ Shimon ben Pazi - Marking (ציון) graves has a Torah allusion from Ezekiel’s description of setting up a sign (ציון) by a human bone - Ezekiel 39:15

2. Ravina (question to Rav Ashi) - Challenges using Ezekiel as the source: before Ezekiel, who required marking graves?

   1. Responds from Rav Ḥisda - The disqualification of an apostate or uncircumcised person from Temple service is derived from Ezekiel, not from Moses’ Torah - Ezekiel 44:9

   2. Both the Temple-service rule and grave-marking were known as received halakha, and Ezekiel merely supported them with verses

3. R’ Abbahu - Derives grave-marking from the metzora who must cry “Impure, impure,” ie, impurity must “announce itself” so others avoid it - Leviticus 13:45

4. R’ Uzziel, grandson of R’ Uzziel the Great - Same derash as R’ Abbahu: impurity “calls out” to warn others to separate - Leviticus 13:45

5. Baraita - “Impure, impure” requires the metzora to publicize his distress so the public will pray for him - Leviticus 13:45

6. Abaye - grave-marking derived from “Do not put a stumbling block before the blind” – unmarked impurity is a stumbling block - Leviticus 19:14

7. Rav Pappa - Derives from “Pave, pave, clear the way; remove the stumbling block from My people” (i.e. roads must be cleared of hazards like unmarked graves) - Isaiah 57:14

8. Rav Ḥinnana - Derives specifically from the continuation “Remove the stumbling block from the way of My people” - Isaiah 57:14

9. Rav Yehoshua b. Idi - Derives from “You shall show them the way in which they must walk” (part of “showing the way” is making roads navigable and pure) - Exodus 18:20

10. Mar Zutra - Derives from “You shall separate the children of Israel from their impurity” (people must be kept away from sources of impurity) - Leviticus 15:31

11. Rav Ashi - Derives from “You shall keep My charge” – make safeguards (“fences”) around My charge (including marking impurity) - Leviticus 18:30

12. Ravina - Derived from “And to him who orders his way…” (mark pure pathways appropriately) - Psalms 50:23

13. R’ Yehoshua ben Levi - whoever evaluates/orders his ways merits seeing God’s salvation

14. Prooftext -“ve-sam derekh” interpreted as “ve-sham derekh” - Psalms 50:23

15. R’ Yannai - Applies “And to him who orders his way…” to his student who refrains from challenging him on the festival Shabbat (to avoid embarrassing him) - Psalms 50:23

Appendix 1 - Practical Rules for Marking Public Ritual impurity

1. Baraita - Courts do not mark minimal impurity (olive-bulk, barley-bone, etc)

2. What They Do NOT Mark

3. ... but do mark spine, skull, majority of bones by structure/number

4. What They DO Mark:

5. Certain vs. Doubtful Impurity

6. Placement of Markers

Appendix 2 - Rules outlining what forms of water-infrastructure maintenance are permitted on Chol HaMoed (Moed Katan 5a)

1. Cleaning vs. Digging Cisterns (routine maintenance is acceptable but new construction is not)

2. Additional Limitations for Private Systems

3. A Third Baraita with Further Nuance

4. Broader Public-Works Activities (Deuteronomy 19:10)

The Passage

Moed_Katan/5a#13 and on

R’ Shimon ben Pazi - Marking (ציון) graves has a Torah allusion from Ezekiel’s description of setting up a sign (ציון) by a human bone - Ezekiel 39:15

מצינין את הקברות.

אמר רבי שמעון בן פזי:

רמז לציון קברות מן התורה מנין?

תלמוד לומר:

״וראה עצם אדם

ובנה אצלו ציון״.

§ It was taught in the Mishnah: One may mark graves on the intermediate days of a Festival so that passersby will know to avoid them and not become ritually impure.

R’ Shimon ben Pazi said:

Where is there an allusion in the Torah to the marking of graves?

The verse states:

“And when they that pass through shall pass through the land, and any see a man’s bone,

then shall he set up a sign by it” (Ezekiel 39:15).

Ezekiel prophesies that at some future time, the Jewish people will erect signs over the strewn remains of the dead so that others will know to avoid ritual impurity.

Ravina (question to Rav Ashi) - Challenges using Ezekiel as the source: before Ezekiel, who required marking graves?

אמר ליה רבינא לרב אשי:

הא מקמי דליתי יחזקאל,

מאן אמר?

Ravina said to Rav Ashi:

Before the prophet Ezekiel came and alluded to this obligation,

who said that graves must be marked?

Even before the time of Ezekiel, people were careful with regard to ritual impurity.

Responds from Rav Ḥisda - The disqualification of an apostate or uncircumcised person from Temple service is derived from Ezekiel, not from Moses’ Torah - Ezekiel 44:9

וליטעמיך,

הא דאמר רב חסדא:

דבר זה,

• מתורת משה רבינו לא למדנו,

• מדברי יחזקאל בן בוזי למדנו:

״כל בן נכר

ערל לב

וערל בשר

לא יבא אל מקדשי לשרתני״

Rav Ashi responded:

And according to your reasoning, that Ezekiel was introducing a new halakha,

the same question can be raised with regard to this statement that Rav Ḥisda said.

As Rav Ḥisda said with regard to the halakha that one who is uncircumcised or an apostate may not serve in the Temple:

• This matter we did not learn from the Torah of Moses our teacher,

• but rather, we learned it from the words of the prophet Ezekiel ben Buzi,

who said of such individuals:

“No stranger,

uncircumcised in heart,

or uncircumcised in flesh,

shall enter into My Sanctuary to serve Me” (Ezekiel 44:9).

Both the Temple-service rule and grave-marking were known as received halakha, and Ezekiel merely supported them with verses

מקמי דליתי יחזקאל,

מאן אמר?

• אלא

  • גמרא גמירי לה

  • ואתא יחזקאל ואסמכה אקרא,

• הכא נמי:

  • גמרא גמירי לה,

  • ואתא יחזקאל ואסמכה אקרא.

Here too, one can ask:

Before Ezekiel came,

who said that such individuals cannot serve in the Temple?

• Rather,

  • you must say that originally they learned it as a tradition (גמרא) and it was an accepted halakha for generations,

  • and then Ezekiel came and based it (אסמכה) on a verse.

• Here too, with regard to the obligation to mark graves,

  • they originally learned it as a tradition,

  • and then Ezekiel came and based it on a verse.

R’ Abbahu - Derives grave-marking from the metzora who must cry “Impure, impure,” ie, impurity must “announce itself” so others avoid it - Leviticus 13:45

רבי אבהו אמר,

מהכא:

״וטמא טמא יקרא״ —

טומאה קוראה לו

ואומרת לו ״פרוש״.

R’ Abbahu said:

An allusion to the marking of graves may be derived from here:

“And the metzora in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and the hair of his head shall go loose, and he shall cover his upper lip, and shall cry: Impure, impure” (Leviticus 13:45).

This verse teaches that impurity cries out to the passerby

and tells him: Remove yourself.²

R’ Uzziel, grandson of R’ Uzziel the Great - Same derash as R’ Abbahu: impurity “calls out” to warn others to separate - Leviticus 13:45

וכן אמר רבי עוזיאל בר בריה דרבי עוזיאל רבה:

טומאה קוראה לו

ואומרת לו ״פרוש״.

[...]

And similarly, R’ Uzziel, grandson of R’ Uzziel the Great, said:

Impurity cries out to the passerby

and tells him: Remove yourself.

[...]

Baraita - “Impure, impure” requires the metzora to publicize his distress so the public will pray for him - Leviticus 13:45

דתניא:

״וטמא טמא יקרא״.

צריך להודיע צערו לרבים,

ורבים מבקשין עליו רחמים

[...]

It was taught in the following baraita:

“And he shall cry: Impure, impure”;

this teaches that the metzora must inform the public of his distress,

and the public will pray for mercy on his behalf.

[...]

Abaye - grave-marking derived from “Do not put a stumbling block before the blind” – unmarked impurity is a stumbling block - Leviticus 19:14

אביי אמר,

מהכא:

״ולפני עור לא תתן מכשול״.

Abaye said:

An allusion to the marking of graves may be learned from here,

as it is written: “You shall not put a stumbling block before the blind” (Leviticus 19:14).

Rav Pappa - Derives from “Pave, pave, clear the way; remove the stumbling block from My people” (i.e. roads must be cleared of hazards like unmarked graves) - Isaiah 57:14

רב פפא אמר:

״ואמר:

סלו סלו

פנו דרך״.

Rav Pappa said the obligation is alluded to in the verse:

“And He will say:

Pave, pave,

clear the way,

take up the stumbling block out of the way of My people” (Isaiah 57:14),

which indicates that roads must be cleared of all obstacles and hazards.

Rav Ḥinnana - Derives specifically from the continuation “Remove the stumbling block from the way of My people” - Isaiah 57:14

רב חיננא אמר:

״הרימו מכשול מדרך עמי״.

Rav Ḥinnana said:

This may be derived from the end of that very same verse:

“Take up the stumbling block from the way of My people” (Isaiah 57:14).

Rav Yehoshua b. Idi - Derives from “You shall show them the way in which they must walk” (part of “showing the way” is making roads navigable and pure) - Exodus 18:20

רבי יהושע בריה דרב אידי אמר:

״והודעת להם את הדרך אשר ילכו בה״.

R’ Yehoshua, son of Rav Idi, said:

This may be derived from the verse:

“And you shall show them the way in which they must walk” (Exodus 18:20),

i.e., you must properly repair the roads, which includes marking graves.

Mar Zutra - Derives from “You shall separate the children of Israel from their impurity” (people must be kept away from sources of impurity) - Leviticus 15:31

מר זוטרא אמר:

״והזרתם את בני ישראל מטומאתם״.

Mar Zutra said that

an allusion to this obligation is found in the verse

“Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their impurity” (Leviticus 15:31),

which indicates that people must be warned to stay away from that which could cause them to become ritually impure.

Rav Ashi - Derives from “You shall keep My charge” – make safeguards (“fences”) around My charge (including marking impurity) - Leviticus 18:30

רב אשי אמר:

״ושמרתם את משמרתי״

עשו משמרת למשמרתי.

Rav Ashi said

it is derived from the verse:

“And you shall keep My charge” (Leviticus 18:30),

which means that you must establish a safeguard (משמרת) for My charge³

Ravina - Derived from “And to him who orders his way…” (mark pure pathways appropriately) - Psalms 50:23

רבינא אמר:

״ושם דרך

אראנו בישע אלהים״.

And finally, Ravina said:

This obligation is alluded to by the verse

“And to him who orders his way,

I will show the salvation of God” (Psalms 50:23),

meaning that one must mark the pathways that are ritually pure and upon which it is appropriate to walk.

R’ Yehoshua ben Levi - whoever evaluates/orders his ways merits seeing God’s salvation (in the messianic future)

אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי:

כל השם אורחותיו —

זוכה ורואה בישועתו של הקדוש ברוך הוא,

With regard to the verse from Psalms cited above,

R’ Yehoshua ben Levi said:

Whoever appraises his ways in this world and contemplates how to act in the most appropriate way possible --

merits seeing the salvation of God (in the messianic future)

Prooftext -“ve-sam derekh” interpreted as “ve-sham derekh” - Psalms 50:23

שנאמר: ״ושם דרך״,

אל תקרי ״ושם״,

אלא: ״ושם דרך״

״אראנו בישע אלהים״.

as it is stated: “And to him who orders his way.”

Do not read it as ve-sam, “orders”;

Rather, read it as ve-sham, “appraises”.

With this reading, the verse indicates that “one who appraises his ways”,

“him will I show the salvation of God.”

R’ Yannai - Applies “And to him who orders his way…” to his student who refrains from challenging him on the festival Shabbat (to avoid embarrassing him) - Psalms 50:23

רבי ינאי הוה ליה ההוא תלמידא ד

• כל יומא

  • הוה מקשי ליה,

• בשבתא דריגלא

  • לא הוה מקשי ליה,

קרי עליה:

״ושם דרך

אראנו בישע אלהים״.

R’ Yannai had a certain student who

• every day as they were learning

  • would raise difficulties with his teachings

• On Shabbat of a Festival, when the broader public would come to hear the lesson,

  • the student would not raise any difficulties, lest R’ Yannai lack an immediate answer and suffer embarrassment.

R’ Yannai read this verse about him:

“And to him who orders his way,

I will show the salvation of God” (Psalms 50:23),

for he considered his conduct and determined when it was inappropriate to challenge his master.

Appendix 1 - Practical Rules for Marking Public Ritual impurity

The sugya cites a lengthy baraita detailing when and how courts mark impurity.

Baraita - Courts do not mark minimal impurity (olive-bulk, barley-bone, etc)

What They Do NOT Mark

• Not for minimal impurity:

  • k’zayit of corpse-flesh,

  • a barley-grain-sized bone,

  • anything that does not convey tum’ah by Ohel.

These are too small and marking them would be excessive.

תנו רבנן:

אין מצינין

1. לא על כזית מן המת,

2. ולא על עצם כשעורה,

3. ולא על דבר שאינו מטמא באהל.

§ With regard to the halakhot of marking graves, A baraita states the following:

The courts do not mark

1. the area of an olive-bulk of a corpse;

2. nor of a bone that is the size of a barleygrain-bulk;

3. nor of any item that imparts impurity only through physical contact but does not impart ritual impurity by means of a tent to an individual or object that it overshadows, or that is overshadowed by it, or that is found together with it under the same structure.

... but do mark spine, skull, majority of bones by structure/number

What They DO Mark:

• Spine (שדרה)

• Skull (גולגולת)

• Majority of the body’s structure (רוב בנין)

• Majority of the body’s bones (רוב מנין)

אבל מצינין

1. על השדרה,

2. ועל הגולגולת,

3. על רוב בנין,

4. ועל רוב מנין המת.

But they do mark

1. the area of the spine of a corpse,

2. the skull,

3. or the bones that comprise the majority of the skeletal structure

4. or the majority of the number of bones in the body.

Certain vs. Doubtful Impurity

They mark doubtful, not obvious, impurity:

• They do not mark obvious, well-known certain impurity (וודאות).

• They do mark doubtful cases (ספיקות):

  • Overhanging branches (סככות) where a corpse may lie beneath

  • Protruding rocks (פרעות) with possible concealment

  • Beit ha-Peras, an area where plowed earth may contain dispersed bone fragments

ואין מצינין על הוודאות,

אבל מצינין על הספיקות.

ואלו הן הספיקות:

1. סככות

2. ופרעות

3. ובית הפרס.

And furthermore, they do not mark the area of certain ritual impurity, i.e., a place that is known to all as ritually impure,

but they do mark a place of uncertain ritual impurity.

And these are the places of uncertain ritual impurity:

1. Overhanging boughs (סככות),

2. protrusions (פרעות),

3. and a beit ha-peras.

Placement of Markers

They do not place the marker on top of the tum’ah, to avoid accidental contact before noticing the sign, which would destroy taharot being carried.

They do not place the marker too far from the tum’ah, to avoid unnecessarily restricting usable land in Eretz Yisrael.

• ואין מעמידין ציון במקום טומאה,

  • שלא להפסיד את הטהרות.

• ואין מרחיקין ציון ממקום טומאה,

  • שלא להפסיד את ארץ ישראל.

• And they do not erect the marker directly over the site of the ritual impurity,

  • so as not to cause a loss of ritually pure food items, as one who is carrying such food might inadvertently walk up to the site of ritual impurity and only then notice the marker, after the food has already contracted impurity.

• Similarly, they do not distance the marker from the actual site of ritual impurity,

  • so as not to cause a loss of Eretz Yisrael, i.e., so as not to increase the area into which individuals refrain from entering.

Appendix 2 - Rules outlining what forms of water-infrastructure maintenance are permitted on Chol HaMoed (Moed Katan 5a)

The Talmud presents several baraitot outlining what forms of water-infrastructure (בורות שיחין ומערות) maintenance are permitted on Chol HaMoed.

The baraitot consistently distinguish between systems serving individuals and those serving the public.

Minor maintenance for private installations is allowed, but more labor-intensive work is restricted; public needs justify broader allowances, including digging and plastering.

Cleaning vs. Digging Cisterns (routine maintenance is acceptable but new construction is not)

A baraita permits removing accumulated debris⁴ from private cisterns, and a fortiori from public ones, on chol ha-moed.

However, digging new installations is barred even for public use, and a fortiori for private use.

[...]

תניא:

• חוטטין בורות שיחין ומערות של יחיד,

  • ואין צריך לומר של רבים,

• ואין חופרין בורות שיחין ומערות של רבים,

  • ואין צריך לומר של יחיד.

[...]

[...]

It is 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 dig new cisterns, ditches, or caves of the public during the intermediate days of a Festival,

  • And, needless to say, one may not dig those of an individual.

[...]

Additional Limitations for Private Systems

A second baraita asserts that for private cisterns one may only allow water to collect; cleaning and plastering cracks are prohibited.

Public cisterns, by contrast, may be cleaned and plastered.

(This reflects a hierarchy of need: communal water infrastructure justifies more strenuous labor.)

תניא:

בורות שיחין ומערות

של יחיד —

כונסין מים לתוכן,

אבל

1. לא חוטטין

2. ולא שפין את סדקיהן.

ושל רבים —

1. חוטטין אותן

2. ושפין את סדקיהן.

[...]

It is taught in a baraita:

cisterns, ditches, and caves

of an individual --

One may gather water into them

but

1. one may not clean them out

2. or plaster their cracks;

but for those of the public,

1. one may indeed clean out

2. and plaster their cracks

[...]

A Third Baraita with Further Nuance

A further baraita broadens what counts as permissible for private systems—cleaning is allowed—but still prohibits plastering, filling cracks with earth, or liming.

Public cisterns may be fully excavated and limed.

(The baraita implies that structural reinforcement is considered closer to construction and therefore prohibited for private needs.)

תניא:

בורות שיחין ומערות

של יחיד —

1. כונסין מים לתוכן

2. וחוטטין אותן,

אבל

1. לא שפין את סדקיהן,

2. ולא חוטטין לתוכן,

3. ולא סדין אותן בסיד.

ושל רבים —

1. חופרין אותן,

2. וסדין אותן בסיד

[...]

It is taught in yet another baraita:

cisterns, ditches, and caves

of an individual --

1. One may gather water into them

2. and one may clean them out,

but one may not

1. plaster their cracks,

2. clear earth into them in order to fill in the cracks,

3. or lime them with lime so that they hold water.

But with regard to those of the public,

1. one may even dig them out

2. and lime them with lime.

Therefore, in a case where the public needs them, it is permitted to dig out public cisterns.

[...]

Broader Public-Works Activities (Deuteronomy 19:10)

A separate baraita extends permitted festival labor to clearing thorns (לקווץ) from roads, repairing streets and highways,⁵ and measuring mikva’ot to ensure they meet the 40-se’a minimum.

תניא:

יוצאין

1. לקווץ את הדרכים,

2. ולתקן את הרחובות ואת האסטרטאות,

3. ולמוד את המקואות.

It is taught in the following baraita:

On the intermediate days of a Festival, agents of the court go out

1. to clear thorns (לקווץ) from the road,

2. and to repair the city streets and highways [isterata’ot],

3. and to measure the ritual baths to ascertain that they have the requisite quantity of water.

If a mikveh is deficient, water may be routed into it in a way that avoids the status of “drawn water.”

וכל מקוה שאין בו ארבעים סאה --

מרגילין לתוכו ארבעים סאה.

And if any mikveh does not contain forty se’a the minimal measure for ritual purification —

they direct [margilin] a stream of water into it, such that it flows over the ground before entering the bath, so as not to disqualify the water as drawn water until it holds forty se’a of water.

The baraita then cites Deuteronomy 19:10 (“and so blood be upon you”) to derive that failure to perform these public-safety tasks makes the court morally responsible for preventable deaths.⁶

ומנין שאם לא יצאו ועשו כל אלו,

שכל דמים שנשפכו שם

מעלה עליהם הכתוב כאילו הם שפכום?

תלמוד לומר:

״והיה עליך דמים״.

And from where is it derived that if agents of the court did not go out and do all these repairs,

that with regard to any blood that is shed there on account of their negligence,

the verse ascribes to them guilt as if they had shed it?

The verse states with regard to the cities of refuge that offer protection to someone who committed inadvertent manslaughter:

“That innocent blood be not shed in your land, which YHWH your God gives you for an inheritance, and so blood be upon you” (Deuteronomy 19:10).

1. For anecdotes elsewhere in the Talmud about the marking of graves (ציון קברות), see these previous pieces of mine:

• “Ancient Burial Caves, Rankings of Beauty, and the Magus: Tales of R’ Bena’a (Bava Batra 58a)”, sections “Burial cave of Abraham and Sarah” and “Burial cave of Adam”

• “Pt1 Exploring the Greatness of R’ Hiyya (Bava Metzia 85b-86a)”, section “R’ Hiyya’s Greatness”

And compare also the stories of Abba Shaul the gravedigger, and his stories of the massive ancient skeletons of famous Biblical personalities, in my “Healthy Bones, Biblical Giants, and The (Literal) Decline (in Height) of the Generations: The Grave Observations of Abba Shaul (Niddah 24b-25a)”

2. פרוש

Steinsaltz:

The metzora must inform others of his status so that they know not to come into contact with him and thereby maintain their ritual purity.

So too, in our case, graves must be marked so that others will know to avoid them and prevent contracting ritual impurity.

3. Steinsaltz:

i.e., protective measures must be enacted to prevent people from transgressing halakha, a task that includes distancing people from ritual impurity by marking off graves, so that they not come to convey ritual impurity to teruma or other consecrated items.

4. חוטטין - “cleaning out”

5. astreta’ot, from Latin strata.

6. The Talmud thus links routine civic maintenance to the legal logic of bloodguilt in the cities-of-refuge system.