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Niddah 41b

נדה מ״א ע״ב

Learn Niddah 41b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Blood and other discharges from the מקור: when they make a woman טמאה, where the inner boundary lies, and רבי שמעון's rule about discharging שכבת זרע

Overview

The amud opens by finishing an explanation of a ברייתא about blood that comes with a יוצא דופן. רב יוסף rejects that explanation and says the argument is whether the womb (מקור) is itself a טמא place, even when the blood leaves through the side. ריש לקיש and רבי יוחנן then argue whether the woman herself becomes a נדה in that case. רבי יוחנן says she does not, because a woman is a נדה only when the blood leaves through her ערוה. Next come rulings about a womb that falls out and about pearl-like drops from the womb. Both bring only טומאת ערב, not seven days of נדה. The גמרא then defines the בית החיצון, where blood already makes a woman טמאה while it is still inside her, and a ברייתא learns this from the word ״בבשרה״. Finally it discusses רבי שמעון's rule that a woman discharging שכבת זרע is no more טמאה than the man. The גמרא resolves a contradiction in his words and ends with a question about רבא's three-day rule for a woman who had relations.

Opening lines

וְדָם דֶּרֶךְ רֶחֶם,

and the blood through the womb,

וְאַזְדָּא רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן לְטַעְמֵיהּ

and Rabbi Shimon follows his own reasoning

וְרַבָּנַן לְטַעְמַיְיהוּ.

and the Rabbis follow their own reasoning.

מַתְקֵיף לַהּ רַב יוֹסֵף:

Rav Yosef objected to it:

The steps (33)

  1. ResolutionFinishing the first explanation: baby through the side, blood the normal way
  2. Challengeרב יוסף's two problems with that explanation
  3. Resolutionרב יוסף's new case: baby and blood both through the side
  4. StatementThe real argument: is the womb itself a טמא place?
  5. StatementIs the woman herself טמאה when the blood is טמא?
  6. Proofרבי יוחנן's view matches his rule from a פסוק
  7. StatementA womb that fell out makes the woman טמאה
  8. QuestionWhat kind of טומאה can this be?
  9. ResponseOnly טומאה until evening
  10. StatementTwo pearl-like drops from the womb make her טמאה
  11. QuestionWhich kind of טומאה is this?
  12. ResponseIt is טומאת ערב, and only with two drops
  13. QuestionWhat is the outer chamber?
  14. Responseריש לקיש: the place seen when a girl sits
  15. Challengeרבי יוחנן: that place already counts as exposed
  16. Responseרבי יוחנן: up to בין השינים
  17. QuestionIs the area between the teeth inside or outside?
  18. Responseרבי זכאי: between the teeth counts as inside
  19. StatementA ברייתא names the point as 'the place of threshing'
  20. QuestionWhat does 'place of threshing' mean?
  21. Responseרב יהודה explains the phrase
  22. Statement״בבשרה״: נדה and זבה are טמאה even while the blood is still inside
  23. Statement״יהיה″: discharging שכבת זרע also makes her טמאה from inside
  24. Statementרבי שמעון: she is no more טמאה than the man
  25. ChallengeDoes רבי שמעון really hold דיה כבועלה?
  26. Challengeרבי שמעון asks what the פסוק comes to teach
  27. ChallengeThe תורה decrees that hidden contact makes her impure
  28. ResolutionDuring relations versus a later discharge
  29. ChallengeShe is already impure from the relations
  30. ResolutionShe already immersed for the relations
  31. ChallengeCan one immersion really be enough?
  32. ResolutionShe was immersed while lying in bed
  33. ChallengeThen why would רבא's walking woman still be טמאה?