Niddah 36b

נדה ל״ו ע״ב

Learn Niddah 36b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Bleeding during labor: when it makes a woman a נדה or a יולדת בזוב, the תורה sources for the rule, and the story of שילא בר אבינא and רב אסי.

Overview

The משנה teaches that a woman in hard labor who bleeds is a נדה. It then covers a woman who bled three days during the days of זיבה and had relief before giving birth. רבי אליעזר and רבי יהושע argue over what relief makes her a יולדת בזוב, and three opinions say how long before birth labor pains can last. The גמרא asks whether every woman in labor is really a נדה. רב, שמואל and רבי יצחק each answer, and רבא explains that labor blood makes her a נדה in the days of נדה but is pure in the days of זיבה. A ברייתא supports רבא and teaches that the day closest to the birth decides: pains then mean she is not a יולדת בזוב, and relief then means she is. The גמרא learns the rule from the word ״דמה״, defends that reading, and settles on אבוה דשמואל's source ״כנדתה״ and not ״כזיבתה״ for treating the two periods differently. The amud ends with the story of שילא בר אבינא, who followed רב's ruling, and רב אסי, who misheard רב's dying words, put שילא in נידוי, and then fell ill and died.

Opening lines

The steps (41)

1. StatementA woman in hard labor who bleeds is a נדה
2. Statementרבי אליעזר: bleeding three days, then relief before birth
3. Statementרבי יהושע: the relief must be a night and a day, and relief from pain is enough
4. QuestionHow long before birth can labor pains last?
5. ResponseThree opinions: 40–50 days, one month, or two weeks
6. ChallengeIs every woman in hard labor a נדה?
7. Resolutionרב: She is a נדה for one day
8. Resolutionשמואל: We worry her labor pains may stop
9. Statementרבי יצחק: A woman in labor is completely pure
10. ChallengeChallenge: The משנה calls her a נדה
11. Resolutionרבא: נדה in the days of נדה, pure in the days of זיבה
12. ProofA ברייתא supports רבא
13. StatementWhen labor with breaks makes her a יולדת בזוב
14. StatementMixed days ending in labor pains do not make her a יולדת בזוב
15. StatementThe general rule: what matters is the day closest to the birth
16. Statementחנניא: any pain on the third day is enough
17. QuestionWhat do the words 'the principle of the matter' add?
18. ResponseIt includes חנניא's ruling
19. QuestionWhat is the source that labor blood is not זיבה?
20. Response'Her blood': only blood caused by herself, not by the baby
21. QuestionDoes 'her blood' remove blood from the baby or from outside causes?
22. ResponseOutside causes are already included, so 'her blood' must remove the baby's blood
23. ChallengeWhy not reverse it?
24. ResolutionBirth leads to a time of purity, outside causes do not
25. ChallengeBut a זב who flows from an outside cause is pure
26. ResolutionWe are dealing with a woman, and for a woman אונס is never pure
27. ResolutionLabor is the greatest outside cause of all
28. ChallengeThe same reading should work for a נדה too
29. Resolutionריש לקיש learns from the word ״תשב״
30. RejectionMaybe the other case is the days of נדה
31. Resolutionאבוה דשמואל learns from ״כנדתה״ and not ״כזיבתה״
32. ChallengeWhy do we need the word ״דמה״?
33. Resolution״דמה″ limits it to bleeding from labor
34. Statementשילא בר אבינא rules like רב
35. Statementרב's dying instruction and the misheard word
36. Statementרב אסי tells שילא to retract
37. Rejectionשילא refuses to believe it
38. Statementנידוי and שילא's warning
39. Responseרב אסי: I am a copper mortar
40. Rejectionשילא: I am an iron pestle
41. Statementרב אסי falls ill and dies