Niddah 38b

נדה ל״ח ע״ב

Learn Niddah 38b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Pregnancy length, how long before birth labor pains (קושי) make bleeding pure, and the dispute over labor bleeding during the days of purity

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a ברייתא: the חסידים הראשונים timed marital relations so that a birth would not lead to חילול שבת, and the גמרא reads it as 'from Wednesday onward.' מר זוטרא then learns the 271-day minimum pregnancy from the גימטריא of הריון. He also shows from the birth of שמואל הנביא that a seven-month baby can be born after incomplete months. Next, שמואל explains from 'וטמאה שבועים כנדתה' why רבי יוסי and רבי שמעון say labor pains (קושי) count for only two weeks before birth. A ברייתא then works out that a woman can bleed for up to 25 days before birth without becoming a זבה, but not for 26. רבא explains that the purity of labor pains does not apply to a נפל. A new משנה then brings a dispute about labor bleeding during the 80 days after a girl's birth. The חכמים use a קל וחומר to call it pure, and רבי אליעזר answers with the rule of דיו that it still makes her a נדה. רבא adds a reading of ״מְקוֹר דָּמֶיהָ״ that supports רבי אליעזר, and ״תֵּשֵׁב״ teaches that the whole period follows one rule. The amud ends with the start of a new משנה: during the eleven days of זיבה, a woman is presumed pure.

Opening lines

The steps (25)

1. StatementThe end of the ברייתא: avoiding חילול שבת
2. ChallengeWhy only Wednesday?
3. ResolutionRead it as 'from Wednesday onward'
4. StatementThe source for 271 days: the word הריון
5. StatementA seven-month baby can be born after incomplete months
6. StatementQuoting the משנה: labor pains last at most two weeks
7. Statementשמואל's source: 'two weeks as in her נידה'
8. StatementA woman can have labor pains for twenty-five days without becoming a זבה
9. StatementTwenty-six days of labor pains always make her a זבה
10. ChallengeWithout a child, three days should be enough
11. Resolutionרב ששת changes the wording to 'where there is a child'
12. Rejectionרבא objects that the ברייתא clearly says 'without a child'
13. Resolutionרבא: the ברייתא teaches two cases, a real child and a נפל
14. StatementLabor bleeding within eighty days of a girl's birth
15. ChallengeThe חכמים challenge רבי אליעזר with a קל וחומר
16. Resolutionרבי אליעזר answers with the rule of דיו
17. ProofA ברייתא finds the חכמים' ruling in the word ״תֵּשֵׁב״
18. ChallengeThe Rabbis' first logical argument against רבי אליעזר
19. Resolutionרבי אליעזר answers: a logical argument can't go beyond its source
20. ChallengeThe Rabbis try a second version of the argument
21. Resolutionרבי אליעזר stands firm: דיו applies no matter how you argue
22. Proofרבא: רבי אליעזר wins using the Rabbis' own reading
23. ChallengeWhy not split the rule between the נדה days and the זיבה days?
24. Resolution'She shall sit' means one rule for the whole period
25. StatementNew משנה: the eleven days are presumed pure