Niddah 55a

נדה נ״ה ע״א

Learn Niddah 55a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The limits on comparing a נדה's blood to her, the sources and limits of טומאה from a dead body's parts, and the source that זוב is טמא

Overview

The גמרא first asks whether a נדה's blood shares her special power of אבן מסמא. רב אשי answers that the word ״אותם״ limits that rule. Next, ריש לקיש and רבי יוחנן give two different פסוקים for why dry בשר המת is טמא. Their sources lead to different rulings about flesh that has crumbled. A משנה says the teeth, hair and nails of a מת are טהור, and רב אדא בר אהבה explains this with a two-part test: only parts that were created with the person and do not grow back are like a bone. The גמרא tests his rule against skin, using עולא's statement about a rabbinic גזרה, and against flesh, which leaves a scar. Finally, a ברייתא learns from ״זובו טמא״ that זוב is טמא, since a קל וחומר fails because of the שעיר המשתלח. רב ביבי בר אביי begins to explain why the פסוק must be teaching more than טומאה by touching, and his answer continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (26)

1. ChallengeShould her blood also make things impure under a heavy stone?
2. ResolutionThe word 'them' limits the heavy-stone rule
3. QuestionWhere do we learn the rule for a corpse's flesh?
4. Responseריש לקיש learns it from 'any of his impurity'
5. Responseרבי יוחנן compares the dead body to a bone
6. QuestionWhat is the practical difference between the two sources?
7. ResponseThe difference is flesh that has crumbled
8. ChallengeA ברייתא says crumbled flesh is טהור
9. ResolutionThe ברייתא means flesh that turned into dust
10. ChallengeA משנה says teeth, hair and nails of a מת are טהור
11. ResolutionOnly parts created with the person, like a bone
12. ChallengeHair and nails were there from birth, yet they are טהור
13. Resolutionרב אדא בר אהבה's revised rule: like a bone that never grows back
14. ChallengeChallenge from skin, which grows back but is still treated as impure
15. Resolutionעולא: human skin is impure only by rabbinic decree
16. ChallengeSecond version: skin does not grow back, yet עולא calls it pure
17. Resolutionעולא was only talking about tanned skin
18. ChallengeFlesh grows back yet is impure
19. ResolutionFlesh leaves a scar, so it does not truly grow back
20. QuestionWhere do we learn that זוב is impure?
21. ResponseThe verse 'זובו טמא'
22. ChallengeWhy not learn it from a קל וחומר?
23. RejectionThe שעיר המשתלח breaks the logic
24. ConclusionSo the verse is needed: זוב is impure
25. ChallengeMaybe זוב makes things impure only by touching
26. ResolutionNo verse is needed for touching