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Niddah 44a

נדה מ״ד ע״א

Learn Niddah 44a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

A one-day-old baby's full legal status, and the פסוקים behind each of the משנה's rules about him

Overview

This amud opens with the end of the משנה: a one-day-old baby boy already has full legal standing. He inherits and passes on an inheritance, killing him is murder, and his family mourns him fully. The גמרא then finds a פסוק for each rule. The extra ו in 'וְאִשָּׁה' brings baby girls into נדה and זיבה. For a baby boy as a זב, רבי יהודה learns from the doubled 'אִישׁ אִישׁ', while רבי ישמעאל learns from 'לַזָּכָר' and says the doubling is just normal speech (דברה תורה כלשון בני אדם). Short sources follow for נגעים, טומאת מת, יבום, and a baby's effect on his mother's right to eat תרומה. The גמרא explains why the תורה needs both 'no child' and 'as in her youth', and רב ששת explains why the משנה says 'one day old' rather than a fetus. Finally, רב ששת explains that the baby inherits his mother and passes her property to his brothers from his father, which a fetus cannot do. That last explanation finishes on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְנוֹחֵל וּמַנְחִיל,

And he inherits and bequeaths,

וְהַהוֹרְגוֹ חַיָּיב,

and one who kills him is liable,

וַהֲרֵי הוּא לְאָבִיו וּלְאִמּוֹ

and he is, to his father and to his mother

וּלְכׇל קְרוֹבָיו כְּחָתָן שָׁלֵם.

and to all his relatives, like a full-fledged groom.

The steps (27)

  1. StatementA one-day-old baby has full legal standing
  2. QuestionWhere do we learn that a newborn girl can be a נדה?
  3. ResponseThe extra ו in וְאִשָּׁה includes a baby girl for נדה
  4. QuestionWhere do we learn that a ten-day-old girl can be a זבה?
  5. ResponseThe same extra ו includes a baby girl for זיבה
  6. QuestionWhere do we learn that a newborn boy can be a זב?
  7. ResponseThe doubled אִישׁ אִישׁ includes a newborn boy for זיבה
  8. ResponseA different source: 'male or female' includes any age
  9. ChallengeThen why does the Torah say 'man, man'?
  10. ResolutionThe Torah speaks the way people speak
  11. ResponseA baby can become טמא with נגעים
  12. ResponseA baby can become טמא from a dead body
  13. ResponseA baby can create a bond of יבום
  14. ResponseA one-day-old son frees his mother from levirate marriage
  15. ResponseA one-day-old son lets his mother keep eating תרומה
  16. ResponseA one-day-old son stops his mother from eating תרומה
  17. ChallengeWhy does the פסוק need 'no child' if 'as in her youth' already excludes a pregnant woman?
  18. ResolutionBoth verses are needed: 'no child' alone would not cover a pregnant woman
  19. ResolutionAnd 'as in her youth' alone would not cover a woman who already gave birth
  20. ChallengeThe verses are settled, but why does the משנה say 'one day old'?
  21. Resolutionרב ששת: the case is a כהן's son from a divorced wife
  22. ResolutionThat baby stops his father's slaves from eating תרומה, but a fetus does not
  23. QuestionFrom whom does the baby inherit, and to whom does he pass it on?
  24. ChallengeThe brother would get the father's property anyway
  25. ResolutionThe baby inherits his mother and passes it to his father's sons
  26. StatementOnly a born baby inherits like this, not a fetus
  27. ResponseWhy a fetus cannot inherit its mother