Gemara Clarity

Niddah 61a

נדה ס״א ע״א

Learn Niddah 61a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Niddah 61a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Three women and blood in one bed, searching for hidden טומאה, and the stories and lessons that follow (נדה 61a)

Overview

The amud opens with the last words of the previous discussion. Then a new משנה begins: three women sleep in one bed by a wall, and blood is found under one of them. Where the blood was found, how the women got into the bed, and which women examined themselves decide who is טמאה. The משנה compares this to a טמא pile of stones mixed up with two טהור piles. רבי מאיר says that if all the piles are searched and nothing is found, they all stay טמא. The חכמים say a search down to bedrock or untouched soil clears them. The גמרא explains why the רבנן still keep all three women טמאות: blood had to come from someone, while a raven might have carried off the טומאה from a pile. Stories follow about searches that missed hidden bones, and one clever search with wet sheets that found a pit full of bones. That pit leads to גדליה, who ignored a warning, and to רבא's rule that you must not believe לשון הרע but must still take precautions because of it. רבי טרפון applies this rule. The גמרא also explains why משה feared עוג but not סיחון. The amud ends with a ברייתא about a garment whose stain can no longer be found, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

כְּאִילּוּ הֵן רְאוּיוֹת.

as though they were fit.

מַתְנִי'

MISHNA:

שָׁלֹשׁ נָשִׁים שֶׁהָיוּ יְשֵׁנוֹת בְּמִטָּה אַחַת,

Three women who were sleeping in one bed,

וְנִמְצָא דָּם תַּחַת הָאֶמְצָעִית —

and blood was found beneath the middle one —

The steps (26)

  1. ConclusionClosing words: treat them as if they could be the source
  2. StatementThree women in one bed: where the blood is found decides who is impure
  3. StatementThe rule depends on how the women got into the bed
  4. StatementWhat a self-examination does
  5. StatementComparison to a mixed-up impure pile of stones
  6. StatementAll three piles checked clean: רבי מאיר says all stay טמא
  7. StatementThe חכמים say to dig down to bedrock or untouched soil
  8. ChallengeWhy does one משנה split by location and the other does not?
  9. Resolutionרבי אמי: the earlier case is about women lying intertwined
  10. QuestionWhy did the משנה need the comparison 'what is this like'?
  11. Responseרבי מאיר uses the blood case to push the Rabbis
  12. ResolutionThe Rabbis explain why blood is different from a pile
  13. Proofרבי מאיר's story of the sycamore tree in כפר סבא
  14. RejectionThe Sages reject the sycamore proof
  15. Proofרבי יוסי's story of the cave in שיחין
  16. RejectionThe Sages reject the cave proof too
  17. ProofThe rock at בית חורון and the wet sheets
  18. StatementThis was the pit of ישמעאל בן נתניה
  19. ChallengeDid גדליה kill them?
  20. Resolutionגדליה ignored the warning
  21. Statementרבא: Don't believe לשון הרע, but be careful
  22. Proofרבי טרפון refuses to hide the rumored killers
  23. QuestionWhy was משה told not to fear עוג but not סיחון?
  24. Responseמשה feared אברהם's merit would protect עוג
  25. Proofעוג was the escapee who brought אברהם the news
  26. StatementCleaning a garment whose stain was lost