Niddah 2a

נדה ב׳ ע״א

Learn Niddah 2a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How far back a woman's טומאה reaches once she finds blood: שמאי, הלל, and the חכמים argue about retroactive impurity for the טהרות she touched.

Overview

The first משנה of מסכת נדה asks a practical question. A woman finds menstrual blood. Do we worry that the blood actually started earlier, so that the pure items (טהרות) she touched before noticing are now impure? שמאי says no: her טומאה starts only from the moment she sees. הלל says it goes all the way back to her last self-check (פקידה), even many days back. The חכמים take a middle path: she goes back 24 hours (מעת לעת) or back to her last check, whichever is shorter. A woman with a fixed cycle (וסת) gets the rule that her time is enough, and checking with cloths at intercourse counts as a פקידה. The משנה gives a case showing what 'her time is enough' means, and it adds that the 24-hour look-back affects only טהרות, not when she starts counting her days. The גמרא then explains that שמאי relies on חזקה, the rule that a woman stays in her status of being pure. It begins to give הלל's answer: חזקה does not work where the weakness comes from the thing itself. That explanation continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (10)

1. Statementשמאי: A woman's impurity starts only when she sees
2. Statementהלל: Impurity reaches back to her last check
3. StatementThe חכמים: 24 hours or the last check, whichever is shorter
4. StatementA woman with a fixed cycle, and checking with cloths
5. QuestionWhat does 'her time is enough' look like?
6. ResponseThe case: she is impure, but the items she handled stay pure
7. StatementHer counting starts only from when she saw
8. QuestionWhat is שמאי's reason?
9. Responseשמאי: a woman keeps her status of being pure
10. Responseהלל: חזקה fails when the thing has its own weakness