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Niddah 37b

נדה ל״ז ע״ב

Learn Niddah 37b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Whether birth-impurity days count toward a זבה's seven clean days, and when blood seen during labor pains makes a woman a זבה

Overview

The גמרא finishes explaining why the תורה had to teach the count of seven clean days for both a זב and a זבה, since each has its own strictness. אביי then tries to prove that a woman's days of birth-impurity do not count toward a זבה's seven clean days. His first proof, from a ברייתא on "דותה תטמא", is pushed off: "clean" may just mean clean of blood. His second ברייתא compares birth days to נדה days. רבא says it follows רבי אליעזר, and the גמרא asks how one can learn a possible case from an impossible one, which is answered in two ways. The גמרא then returns to the משנה about labor pains. רב חסדא and רבי חנינא argue about a woman whose pains and bleeding both stopped before the birth, and each side defends his view against a challenge from the משנה. רב חסדא explains why רבי מאיר gives both forty and fifty days for early labor pains. Finally, רבי לוי and רב argue about which days the birth keeps her from becoming a זבה, and רב אדא בר אהבה begins a point that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

בְּזָב — מִשּׁוּם דְּלָא מְטַמֵּא בְּאוֹנֶס,

[If it had been written only] with a zav — because he is not made impure through circumstances beyond his control,

אֲבָל זָבָה — דִּמְטַמְּיָא בְּאוֹנֶס

but a zava — who is made impure even through circumstances beyond her control,

אֵימָא לָא, צְרִיכָא.

I might say no; therefore it was necessary.

וְאִי כְּתַב רַחֲמָנָא בְּזָבָה —

And if the Merciful One had written it with a zava —

The steps (29)

  1. ResolutionWhy writing it only for a זב would not be enough
  2. ResolutionWhy writing it only for a זבה would not be enough
  3. Proofאביי introduces a ברייתא on "דותה תטמא"
  4. ProofThe ברייתא includes nights and a woman who gives birth while a זבה
  5. Proofאביי reads 'clean days' as clean from the birth
  6. RejectionRejected: clean days means clean of blood
  7. Proofאביי's second proof: birth days compared to נדה days
  8. Rejectionרבא: this ברייתא follows רבי אליעזר
  9. ChallengeCan we learn the possible from the impossible?
  10. ResolutionThe ברייתא follows רבי אליעזר, who learns possible from impossible
  11. ResolutionThe verse itself compared birth days to נדה days
  12. ResolutionA second version of who said each answer
  13. StatementBack to the משנה: labor pains for three days
  14. QuestionWhat if both the pain and the bleeding stopped?
  15. Responseרב חסדא says טמאה, רבי חנינא says טהורה
  16. Proofרבי חנינא's parable of the king's soldiers
  17. Proofרב חסדא turns the soldiers parable around
  18. ChallengeChallenge to רב חסדא from רבי יהושע in the משנה
  19. Resolutionרב חסדא: the משנה teaches the bigger new point
  20. ChallengeSetting up a challenge to רבי חנינא from the משנה
  21. ChallengeWhy does the משנה need three days of pain?
  22. ChallengeA new reading of the משנה refutes רבי חנינא
  23. ResolutionThe משנה is aimed at a different רבי חנינא
  24. StatementQuoting the משנה: how early can labor pains start?
  25. ChallengeWhy mention forty if fifty is already true?
  26. ResolutionSick woman versus healthy woman
  27. Statementרבי לוי limits when the birth keeps the mother pure
  28. Statementרב extends the rule to the counting days of a zava
  29. Statementרב אדא בר אהבה begins a conclusion from רב's view