Gemara Clarity

Niddah 27a

נדה כ״ז ע״א

Learn Niddah 27a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Long gaps between a birth and its שליא or a twin, and whether a שליא in a house makes it טמא

Overview

The amud opens with the end of a ברייתא that suspects two births when a fetus and a שליא come out together. The גמרא calls it a תיובתא against the earlier claim. Next come reports of real cases about how long a שליא or a second twin can come after a birth: ten days (שמואל), twenty-three days (רבי יוחנן), and thirty-three days for a twin (רבי יצחק), with רב יוסף correcting the numbers by one day. A question about the 34-day twin gap is answered by swapping the numbers, so 33 days was about a שליא and 23 days was about a twin. Then a report of twins born three months apart, the sons of רבי חייא, is explained by אביי as one drop that split in two. The גמרא then turns to the משנה's rule that a שליא in a house makes the house טמא. רבי מאיר holds there is always a baby with it, and three sages disagree. רב פפא explains רבי שמעון's reason as a rule that mixed טומאה is בטל, and teaches not to stay silent before one's teacher. Finally, רבה reports and challenges the study hall's explanation of רבי שמעון's view on a ladleful of רקב mixed with dirt, and his challenge continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

חוֹמֶר שְׁנֵי וְלָדוֹת,

the stringency of two offspring,

שֶׁאֲנִי אוֹמֵר שֶׁמָּא

for I say: perhaps

נִמּוֹחַ שָׁפִיר שֶׁל שִׁלְיָא

the sac of the afterbirth dissolved

וְנִמּוֹחָה שִׁלְיָא שֶׁל שָׁפִיר.

and the afterbirth of the sac dissolved.

The steps (27)

  1. ChallengeThe ברייתא ends: suspect two births
  2. ConclusionThe challenge stands as a refutation
  3. Statementשמואל: afterbirth linked to a baby ten days earlier
  4. Statementרבי יוחנן: a twenty-three day gap
  5. Rejectionרב יוסף corrects the number to twenty-four
  6. Statementרבי יצחק: a twin born thirty-three days later
  7. Rejectionרב יוסף corrects the number to thirty-four
  8. ChallengeHow can twins be born 34 days apart?
  9. ResolutionSwap the two numbers
  10. StatementTwins born three months apart: the sons of רבי חייא
  11. ChallengeA pregnant woman cannot conceive again
  12. ResolutionOne drop split into two
  13. StatementAn afterbirth in the house makes the house impure, according to רבי מאיר
  14. StatementThree sages say the house is pure
  15. ChallengeThe sages ask: you agree the outer room stays pure
  16. Resolutionרבי מאיר agrees: the baby is no longer there
  17. ChallengeThe sages push back: then it is gone from the inner room too
  18. ResolutionFalling apart once is not like falling apart twice
  19. QuestionWhat is רבי שמעון's reason?
  20. Responseרבי שמעון holds that impurity mixed with another kind is cancelled
  21. Statementרב פפא says the same reason applies to two more sages
  22. ChallengeThe others laugh because the point is obvious
  23. Statementרב פפא's lesson: don't stay silent before your teacher
  24. Proofרבי שמעון holds the same idea about corpse-dust mixed with dirt
  25. QuestionWhy does רבי שמעון rule the corpse-dust pure?
  26. ResponseTwo grains of dirt cancel one grain of corpse-dust
  27. Challengeרבה answers 'on the contrary' to the study-hall reason