Niddah 60b

נדה ס׳ ע״ב

Learn Niddah 60b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Niddah 60b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Attributing blood stains to other women, רבי נחמיה's rule on surfaces that cannot become impure, and the משנה of three women in one bed

Overview

The גמרא first settles a clash inside a ברייתא about a woman who lent her garment: blaming a stain on a woman already impure from a כתם works for the past (למפרע) but not for the future (להבא). רבינא then rereads the ברייתא so it is about lending to a נכרית or to a woman in her days of דם טוהר, which saves רבי יהודה בר ליואי's view. Next the גמרא turns to רבי נחמיה, who says a stain found on something that cannot become impure does not make a woman impure. רב מתנה finds his source in the פסוק 'ונקתה לארץ תשב', and the גמרא applies the rule to the outside of a כלי חרס and to tiny rags. רב rules that the הלכה follows רבי נחמיה. רב נחמן challenges this with a real case where the חכמים ruled impure, and the answer is that this is a dispute between תנאים, with the final ruling like רבי נחמיה. A new משנה follows about three women sleeping in one bed. רב requires the check to be within שיעור וסת, following בר פדא, while רבי אושעיא disagrees and two parables explain his view. Finally, a ברייתא explains which woman may pin the blood on another, a discussion that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (29)

1. ResolutionOne clause is about the past, the other is about the future
2. ChallengeEven so, the ברייתא still challenges רבי יהודה בר ליואי
3. Resolutionרבינא reads the ברייתא as talking about a gentile woman
4. ChallengeBut the ברייתא clearly mentions a woman sitting on a stain
5. ResolutionRead it as a woman sitting on דם טוהר
6. StatementQuoting the משנה about three women and רבי נחמיה
7. Questionרב מתנה asks for רבי נחמיה's reason
8. ResponseA פסוק: once she sits on the ground, she is clean
9. StatementEven on the back of an earthenware vessel she is pure
10. ChallengeIsn't that obvious?
11. ResolutionNo decree on the outside because of the inside
12. StatementTiny rags also leave her pure
13. StatementThe הלכה follows רבי נחמיה
14. ChallengeA real case where the חכמים ruled impure
15. QuestionWhat was that real case?
16. ResponseTwo women grinding at a hand mill
17. ResponseBlood on a bathtub edge and an olive leaf, and the women were ruled impure
18. ResolutionIt is a dispute between תנאים, and the Sages ruled like רבי נחמיה
19. StatementNew משנה: three women in one bed
20. StatementBlaming the blood on each other, and when none were expected to bleed
21. Statementרב limits the woman's check to a very short time
22. Statementרב follows בר פדא's three-level rule
23. Statementרבי אושעיא says the items are only in doubt
24. StatementWhy relations and טהרות are different
25. StatementParable of the child and the old man
26. StatementParable of the finger in the eye
27. QuestionHow can the women pin the blood on each other?
28. ResponseThe woman less likely to bleed pins it on the one more likely
29. ResponseWhen both women are in the same situation