Niddah 27b

נדה כ״ז ע״ב

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Topic

רבי שמעון's rulings on mixed רקב, the שליא and the חררת דם (סופו כתחלתו and בטול ברוב), and the law of a corpse or fetus that lost its shape

Overview

The amud opens by finishing off a rejected explanation of רבי שמעון's view that רקב (a corpse's dust) mixed with dirt is טהור. רבה gives a new reason, סופו כתחלתו: just as foreign material buried with a corpse cancels its רקב, so too foreign dirt mixed in later cancels it. The גמרא proves the first half from a ברייתא about corpses buried naked on stone versus in clothes, wood or on bricks. It then explains why the ברייתא needed both the case of mixed רקב and the case of scattered רקב. It also brings the case of cemetery dirt, which the רבנן call טמא because it surely holds a full תרווד of רקב. Next the גמרא asks why רבי שמעון rules a house with a miscarried שליא טהור. רבי יוחנן answers בטול ברוב, and he uses the same idea to explain רבי אליעזר בן יעקב's ruling about an animal that expelled a חררת דם. רבי יוחנן adds that רבי שמעון agrees the mother is טמאה לידה, and an elder brings the source from 'אשה כי תזריע'. Finally, ריש לקיש compares a crushed fetus to a מת שנתבלבלה צורתו. רבי יוחנן asks how we know such a corpse is טהור, and the proposed source continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (26)

1. RejectionOne grain of dirt would just add to the amount
2. Resolutionרבה: the corpse's end stage follows its beginning stage
3. QuestionWhere is the rule about the beginning stage taught?
4. ProofA corpse buried with nothing else around it has רקב
5. ProofA corpse buried with clothes, wood or bricks has no רקב
6. Statementרקב applies only to someone who died naturally
7. StatementReturning to the ברייתא: mixed רקב and scattered רקב
8. ResolutionWhy the scattered case is needed
9. ResolutionWhy the mixed case is needed
10. StatementAnother ברייתא: a little more than a ladle of cemetery dirt
11. QuestionWhy do the רבנן say the cemetery dirt is טמא?
12. ResponseThere must be a ladle of רקב inside
13. QuestionWhat is רבי שמעון's reason for the שליא case?
14. Responseרבי יוחנן: the ולד is nullified by the majority
15. Statementרבי יוחנן is consistent: two תנאים said the same thing
16. StatementThe two rulings: the שליא and the חררת דם
17. Statementרבי חייא: the mass gives no טומאה
18. ChallengeIf it gives no טומאה, why bury it?
19. ResolutionBurial lets people know the mother is exempt
20. ChallengeIf it counts as a real ולד, why no טומאה?
21. ResolutionAgain בטול ברוב: the ולד is lost in the blood
22. Statementרבי שמעון agrees the mother is impure from childbirth
23. ProofAn elder explains רבי יוחנן's reason from a verse
24. Statementריש לקיש: a crushed fetus is like a corpse that lost its shape
25. Challengeרבי יוחנן asks for the source that a ruined corpse is pure
26. ProofA proposed source: a burned corpse with its skeleton intact