Niddah 25b

נדה כ״ה ע״ב

Learn Niddah 25b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Examining a miscarried embryo, שמואל's ruling on an embryo without hair, and the laws of a סנדל

Overview

This amud finishes a ברייתא about examining a miscarried embryo: clean it with oil, not water, and look at it only in sunlight. The גמרא rereads the ברייתא's question 'כיצד בודקין אותו?' as asking how to tell male from female. אבא שאול gives a test with a smooth sliver of wood, and רב נחמן limits it to an upward motion. The גמרא adds a sign for a female embryo and describes how the forming arms and thighs look. Next it turns to שמואל's ruling: the woman must worry that she is טמאה, but she gets the ימי טהרה only if the embryo has hair. The גמרא explains that this doubt is meant for ordinary people, even though שמואל himself was an expert. Then it turns to the סנדל, a flattened fetus. It asks whether a סנדל needs a face shape, bringing שמואל, רבי יצחק and רבי ינאי. Finally it explains why the משנה needs to mention a סנדל at all, since one is always born with a twin, and it begins to look at another משנה that mentions a סנדל, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (28)

1. StatementExamine the embryo with oil, and look only in sunlight
2. ChallengeWhy ask how to examine it when we just said?
3. ResolutionThe question really asks how to tell male from female
4. Responseאבא שאול's test with a smooth sliver of wood
5. StatementThe test only counts when the sliver moves from below to above
6. StatementThe sign of a female embryo
7. ChallengeMaybe the line belongs to a male
8. ResolutionToo early to see the seam
9. StatementWhat the thighs and arms look like
10. StatementDo not rule until there is hair
11. Challengeשמואל seems to contradict himself
12. ResolutionConcern, yes; ימי טהרה, no
13. ChallengeHow could the expert שמואל be unsure about an embryo?
14. Resolutionשמואל was unusually skilled
15. StatementWhat a סנדל looks like
16. StatementA סנדל needs the shape of a face
17. Statementשמואל rules that the testimony is the הלכה
18. StatementThe face may even be on the back
19. Statementרבי ינאי objects to declaring a faceless סנדל טהור
20. ChallengeChallenge from the testimony that a סנדל needs a face
21. ResolutionThe testimony is only רבי נחוניא's view
22. Statementרב ביבי earned credit by speaking first
23. ChallengeWhy does the משנה need to mention a סנדל
24. ResolutionThe ruling matters when the other baby is a boy
25. ResolutionYou might think a boy twin means the סנדל is a boy too
26. ResolutionBoth may have emitted seed together, so the twins can differ
27. ResolutionSecond answer: births on two sides of sunset
28. StatementTurning to another משנה that mentions a סנדל