Gemara Clarity

Niddah 45a

נדה מ״ה ע״א

Learn Niddah 45a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Niddah 45a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

נדה מה. – The age of three for a girl and nine for a boy: בתולין under three, two stories, and a new משנה about a nine-year-old and his יבמה

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a debate: a ברייתא fits רבי יוחנן's reading of רבי מאיר, but the גמרא admits it is a difficulty for רבי ינאי. Next the גמרא asks about the משנה's line that under age three it is 'like a finger in the eye.' The question is whether the בתולין go away and grow back, or are never removed before three. A first practical difference is rejected by רב חייא בריה דרב איקא, and a second one about דם בתולין versus דם נדה is offered. רב חסדא then proves from the eye comparison that the בתולין go away and come back. Two stories follow. In the first, יוסטני claims she gave birth at seven, and the גמרא challenges this from the ברייתא about the three women who use a מוך. In the second, רבי עקיבא tests his students about a girl under three marrying a כהן, and the answer is that she is כשרה as a הלכה למשה מסיני. A new משנה then teaches that the relations of a boy of nine years and a day count legally, for יבום, טומאה, תרומה and עריות. The גמרא challenges whether a גט alone is enough for his יבמה, and רב's answer begins at the end of the amud.

Opening lines

בִּשְׁלָמָא לְרַבִּי יוֹחָנָן,

Granted, according to Rabbi Yoḥanan,

כִּי הֵיכִי דְּאִיכָּא תַּנָּא דְּקָאָמַר

just as there is a tanna who says

יוֹם אֶחָד בַּשָּׁנָה חָשׁוּב שָׁנָה,

one day in a year is considered a year,

הָכִי נָמֵי אִיכָּא תַּנָּא דְּאָמַר

so too, there is a tanna who says

The steps (29)

  1. ChallengeSetting up the comparison: רבי יוחנן's view fits the ברייתא
  2. ChallengeThe ברייתא is a problem for רבי ינאי
  3. ConclusionThe גמרא admits the difficulty stands
  4. StatementQuoting the משנה: under three it is like a finger in the eye
  5. QuestionWhat happens to the בתולין under age three?
  6. QuestionWhat difference does it make?
  7. ResponseThe case: blood the first time, none after age three
  8. ResponseThe other side of the first suggested difference
  9. RejectionThe first suggested difference does not work
  10. ResponseA new practical difference: blood both times
  11. Proofרב חסדא proves it from the finger in the eye
  12. Statementיוסטני asks רבי about the age for marriage
  13. StatementThe age of pregnancy and יוסטני's surprising claim
  14. ChallengeCan a girl that young become pregnant?
  15. StatementWho counts as the 'young girl' who uses a מוך
  16. ChallengeThe Sages' view, and the challenge against יוסטני
  17. ResolutionTwo answers: non-Jews are physically different, or she lied
  18. Statementרבי עקיבא: a girl who had relations under three may marry a כהן
  19. StatementThe woman's parable of the baby and the honey
  20. Statementרבי עקיבא now rules she is disqualified
  21. QuestionThe students look puzzled and רבי עקיבא asks why
  22. ResponseThe students say a girl under three is always fit
  23. Conclusionרבי עקיבא only said it to test his students
  24. StatementNew משנה: a nine-year-old boy and his יבמה
  25. StatementThe nine-year-old becomes impure from a נדה
  26. StatementThe boy's relations affect תרומה and sacrificial animals
  27. StatementForbidden relations: the adult is punished, the boy is exempt
  28. ChallengeIs a גט really enough once he grows up?
  29. Resolutionרב begins to explain what the משנה means