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Niddah 28a

נדה כ״ח ע״א

Learn Niddah 28a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

A shapeless corpse and טומאת אהל; when a miscarried limb or a partial birth counts as לידה; and the birth and impurity rules for a טומטום and אנדרוגינוס.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing the debate about a corpse that lost its shape: the גמרא turns ריש לקיש's proof from the burned-corpse ברייתא around, and רבינא shows that רבי יוחנן's view matches רבי אליעזר on the ashes of burned bodies. אביי, רבא and רבינא then explain how a burned body can still keep its frame. Next, a ברייתא rules that a woman who miscarries a shaped hand or foot is טמאה לידה. רב חסדא and רבה בר רב הונא add that she gets no ימי טוהר, since the main birth may have been long before, and אביי defends this against רב יוסף's challenge. רב הונא rules that a fetus that put out its hand and pulled it back makes the mother impure. After challenges, the גמרא concludes this is only מדרבנן and the פסוק about תמר is an אסמכתא. A new משנה teaches the rules for miscarrying a טומטום or אנדרוגינוס, alone or as a twin, and when a baby counts as born. The גמרא explains why the twin-with-a-boy case was needed. The amud ends with רב's ruling on a טומטום or אנדרוגינוס who sees white or red discharge, and the פסוק behind it continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְטִהֲרוּ לוֹ פְּתָחִים קְטַנִּים.

But they declared the small doorways pure for it.

וְקָא דָיְיקַתְּ מִינַּהּ:

And you inferred from it:

טַעְמָא דְּשִׁלְדּוֹ קַיֶּימֶת,

The reason is that its frame is intact,

הָא לָאו הָכִי טָהוֹר.

but if not so, it is pure.

The steps (24)

  1. ProofRestating the inference from the burned-corpse ברייתא
  2. RejectionReversing the inference: without the frame, even small doorways are impure
  3. QuestionWhich תנא agrees with רבי יוחנן?
  4. Responseרבי יוחנן follows רבי אליעזר on the ashes of burned bodies
  5. QuestionHow can a burned corpse keep its frame?
  6. ResponseThree answers: אביי, רבא and רבינא
  7. StatementA miscarried shaped hand or foot makes the mother impure from childbirth
  8. StatementShe gets no days of purity, because the birth may have been long ago
  9. Challengeרב יוסף objects: the משנה should then add נדה strictures
  10. Resolutionאביי: the משנה left out נדה to teach that her offering is eaten
  11. StatementA fetus that put out its hand and pulled it back
  12. ChallengeA ברייתא says the mother need not worry at all
  13. Resolutionרב נחמן explains what רב הונא really meant
  14. ChallengeBut the ברייתא says 'not about anything'
  15. ResolutionNo concern from the תורה, but concern from the רבנן
  16. ChallengeBut רב הונא brought a פסוק
  17. ResolutionThe פסוק is only a hint
  18. StatementNew משנה: miscarrying a טומטום or an אנדרוגינוס
  19. StatementTwins: A Doubtful Baby Together with a Boy or a Girl
  20. StatementWhen Does a Baby Count as Born?
  21. ChallengeWhy Teach the Twin Case with a Boy?
  22. ResolutionTwins Do Not Have to Be the Same
  23. StatementA single kind of discharge from a person of unclear gender
  24. StatementBoth kinds of discharge together, and the start of the source