Niddah 43b

נדה מ״ג ע״ב

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Topic

How much discharge or semen causes טומאה (for a זב, the man who emits semen, and one who touches it), and a new משנה on newborns' laws.

Overview

This amud starts by finishing a question about a non-Jewish זבה who converted after her urine had started to move inside her. The question ends in תיקו. The גמרא then turns to the משנה's rule that זוב and שכבת זרע make impure 'in any amount.' שמואל says a זב needs enough discharge to seal the opening, following רבי נתן in the name of רבי ישמעאל, a view the חכמים rejected. The גמרא shows how each side uses every phrase of the פסוקים in ויקרא 15. Together they teach that two sightings bring טומאה, three bring a קרבן, the discharge must leave the body, and the discharge itself is impure. Next, רב חנילאי rules that semen makes the man who emits it impure in any amount, but someone who touches it needs a lentil-size. The גמרא defends this against a משנה and a ברייתא, and explains the ברייתא's comparison of semen with a שרץ. רב פפא then shows that the toucher's amount depends on a תנאים dispute about how much of a comparison carries over. רב הונא בריה דרב נתן suggests a different source verse, and both versions turn out to have been taught. Finally, a new משנה begins, listing laws that apply to a baby girl and a baby boy from their very first days.

Opening lines

The steps (36)

1. QuestionShe went down and immersed before the urine came out — what is the law?
2. QuestionWhy it is a doubt: Torah-level impurity versus rabbinic impurity
3. ConclusionThe question stays unresolved
4. Statementשמואל: a זב needs enough discharge to seal the opening
5. ChallengeChallenge: the משנה says any amount
6. Resolutionשמואל follows רבי נתן, whose view the חכמים rejected
7. QuestionWhat is the source for רבי ישמעאל?
8. QuestionWhat do the רבנן learn from that phrase?
9. QuestionWhere does רבי ישמעאל learn the moist rule?
10. QuestionThe רבנן use the words to count three sightings
11. ResponseThe end of the verse teaches that two sightings already make a bed and seat impure
12. QuestionWhere does רבי ישמעאל learn the number of sightings?
13. Statementרבי סימאי: two sightings for impurity, three for the offering
14. QuestionWhat do the רבנן learn from 'איש איש כי יהיה זב מבשרו'?
15. QuestionWhy does the Torah say 'זובו טמא'?
16. StatementAny amount for the man it comes from, a lentil-size for one who touches
17. ChallengeThe משנה says any amount
18. ResolutionThe משנה means the man it comes from
19. ChallengeA ברייתא comparing semen and a שרץ
20. ResolutionThe ברייתא also means the man it comes from
21. ChallengeBut the ברייתא compares it to a שרץ, which is about touching
22. ResolutionThe ברייתא compares the categories in general
23. ChallengeDoes a creeping animal really need a lentil-size to make impure?
24. ResolutionA whole limb counts as a lentil-size
25. QuestionWhat does 'divided impurity' of semen mean?
26. RejectionNot Jews versus non-Jews, because a שרץ has a split too
27. ResponseThe split is between a minor and an adult
28. Statementרב פפא: the toucher's amount is a dispute between תנאים
29. StatementThe general dispute: copy everything, or keep the case in its own place
30. StatementFirst view: semen for a toucher needs a lentil-size, like a שרץ
31. StatementSecond view: semen for a toucher counts in any amount
32. ChallengeMaybe the source is semen's own verse, not the שרץ
33. ConclusionThe reciters had both versions
34. StatementA newborn girl can become נדה and זבה
35. StatementA newborn boy can become טמא in three ways
36. StatementA newborn boy already affects יבום and תרומה