Bechoros Chapter 6, Mishnah 3 - We continue with the laws of blemishes in the eye. In this Mishnah there are two blemishes: the chavarvar and mayim hakevuim, and both must be permanent and consistently stable in their place:
Chavarvar - "Chivair" in Aramaic means white, and this refers to white spots or dots that are permanently present in the eye and cover its black part.
Mayim Hakevuim - An eye that tears constantly, tears that do not stop.
What is a permanent chavarvar?
The Mishnah says: "Kol sheshahah shemonim yom" - A white spot that remains on the black of the eye for eighty days. "Rabbi Chanina ben Antigonos omer: Bodkin osah shalosh pe'amim besoch shemonim yom" - In his opinion, it must be checked three times during the eighty days, which is approximately every twenty-seven days (about four weeks), because we suspect that the white spots might have disappeared and returned. The halachah follows Rabbi Chanina ben Antigonos.
Mayim Hakevuim:
What is a tearing eye that has no cure? The test is done through food: "Achal lach veyavesh shel geshamim" - We feed the animal moist grain and dry grain that grew in a field watered by rain, not by irrigation. If this is not enough to heal its tearing eyes, it is a permanent problem.
And what are the moist and the dry?
The moist - Grain that grew in Adar and the first half of Nisan, and at the beginning of spring it is still green and soft.
The dry - Grain that grew in Elul and the first half of Tishrei, after the summer, when it is completely dry.
First we feed it the moist grain and then the dry, from grain that grew in a field nourished only by rainwater - a good, strong, and healthy field - and this is supposed to heal the eyes. If the test did not help, it is a permanent blemish.
There are two ways in which the test proves nothing:
"Lach veyavesh shel shelachin" - He fed it moist and then dry, but the grain was brought from an irrigated field and not from a field nourished by rainwater.
"O achal yavesh ve'achar kach achal lach" - He altered the order, giving the dry grain that grew at the end of the summer, in Elul and Tishrei, before the moist grain that grew in Adar and Nisan.
In both of these cases, the Mishnah rules: "Eino mum, ad sheyochal hayavesh achar halach" - The only way to clarify the matter is to feed it first with the moist grain and then with the dry. And if even then it does not heal, it is a permanent blemish.
In summary: In this Mishnah, we learned about two eye blemishes: "havarvar" - white spots covering the black of the eye, which is established by waiting eighty days and checking it three times during that period, following the opinion of Rabbi Chanina ben Antigonos which is the accepted halachah; and "mayim kevuim" - a constantly tearing eye, which is tested by feeding the animal moist grain followed by dry grain, specifically from a rain-watered field and specifically in that order, and only if it does not heal through this is it considered a permanent blemish.