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Niddah 31b

נדה ל״א ע״ב

Learn Niddah 31b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Conception and birth אגדות, the end of פרק המפלת חתיכה, and the new משנה about כותים (נדה ל״א ע״ב)

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a teaching about having sons: men who hold back so their wives 'give seed' first are credited with many sons, and רבא adds another method. Next, רבי אמי and רבי יוחנן disagree about when a woman conceives, close to her period or close to her טבילה, each reading half of the same פסוק in תהלים. A string of אגדות follows: a boy brings peace and his own livelihood, while a girl comes empty-handed. The students of רבי שמעון בן יוחי ask why a יולדת brings a קרבן, why she is טמאה seven or fourteen days, and why מילה is on the eighth day. He explains all three through the oath she makes in labor, though רב יוסף challenges it. רבי מאיר explains the seven days of נדה as keeping a wife dear to her husband, and רבי דוסתאי explains differences between men and women from how each was created. Then פרק המפלת חתיכה ends, and a new משנה rules that daughters of כותים are נדות from the cradle and their men are בועלי נדות, though their impurity is only a ספק. The גמרא asks what case this means, רב ששת answers that it is an unknown case where we worry about the minority, and the גמרא begins asking which תנא holds that view. The answer comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

שֶׁמְּשַׁהִין עַצְמָן בַּבֶּטֶן

that they hold themselves back inside

כְּדֵי שֶׁיַּזְרִיעוּ נְשׁוֹתֵיהֶן תְּחִלָּה,

so that their wives give seed first,

שֶׁיְּהוּ בְּנֵיהֶם זְכָרִים —

so that their children will be boys —

מַעֲלֶה עֲלֵיהֶן הַכָּתוּב

the verse counts it for them

The steps (35)

  1. ResponseMen who hold back are credited with many sons
  2. ProofThis matches what רב קטינא said
  3. Statementרבא's method for having sons
  4. StatementA woman conceives only close to her period
  5. Statementרבי יוחנן: conception is close to her immersion
  6. QuestionHow do we know חטא means purity?
  7. ResponseProof from the purifying of a house
  8. ResponseSecond proof: purge me with hyssop
  9. StatementWhen a boy is born, peace comes to the world
  10. StatementA boy comes into the world with his loaf in hand
  11. StatementA girl comes empty-handed and must ask for her needs
  12. QuestionWhy does a woman bring a קרבן after giving birth?
  13. ResponseShe swore during labor never to be with her husband
  14. Challengeרב יוסף: She broke the oath on purpose
  15. Challengeרב יוסף: The wrong kind of offering
  16. QuestionWhy seven days for a boy and fourteen for a girl?
  17. ResponseJoy over a boy makes her regret sooner
  18. QuestionWhy is מילה on the eighth day?
  19. ResponseSo the parents are happy at the ברית too
  20. Statementרבי מאיר: Why seven days of נדה
  21. QuestionWhy does a man pursue a woman?
  22. ResponseThe owner searches for his lost item
  23. QuestionWhy do man and woman face different directions?
  24. ResponseEach faces where they came from
  25. QuestionWhy is a man easier to calm down?
  26. ResponseSoft earth versus hard bone
  27. QuestionWhy is a woman's voice pleasant?
  28. ResponseBone rings, earth is silent, with a פסוק
  29. ConclusionHadran — Closing the chapter of המפלת חתיכה
  30. StatementSamaritan girls are נדות from the cradle, and Samaritan men make lower bedding impure
  31. StatementWhy כותים are considered בועלי נדות
  32. StatementThe impurity of כותים is only a doubt, so no punishment and no burning of תרומה
  33. ChallengeWhat case is the משנה talking about?
  34. ResolutionThe משנה means an unknown case, and we worry about the minority
  35. QuestionWhich תנא worries about a minority?