Gemara Clarity

Niddah 61b

נדה ס״א ע״ב

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

Open Niddah 61b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Searching garments for lost stains and lost כלאים, מצוות בטלות לעתיד לבוא, Torah-level שעטנז, stains on colored garments, and the seven substances for testing a stain

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a ברייתא on searching a garment for a lost stain. You check it section by section, and a section is at least three fingerbreadths. Lost semen is found with a needle in a new garment and by sunlight in a worn one. A ברייתא then rules that a garment with lost כלאים may be used as תכריכין, and רב יוסף learns from this that מצוות בטלות לעתיד לבוא. When challenged with רבי ינאי, he answers with רבי יוחנן, who allows even burial in it, since the dead are free from מצוות. רב חסדא rules that dyeing such a garment permits it, based on a משנה about searching until bedrock. מר זוטרא permits a cloak when we are unsure whether a linen thread was fully pulled out, because Torah-level שעטנז needs combing, spinning and weaving together, and the הלכה follows him over רב אשי. A ברייתא then argues over whether a stain on a colored garment makes a woman impure, and the גמרא explains that colored garments were almost banned during Vespasian's war. Finally, a new משנה begins listing seven substances used to test a stain.

Opening lines

בּוֹדְקוֹ שְׁכוּנוֹת שְׁכוּנוֹת.

He examines it section by section.

אָבְדָה בּוֹ שִׁכְבַת זֶרַע,

If semen was lost in it,

חָדָשׁ — בּוֹדְקוֹ בְּמַחַט,

if it is new, he examines it with a needle,

שָׁחוּק — בּוֹדְקוֹ בַּחַמָּה.

if it is worn out, he examines it in the sun.

The steps (23)

  1. StatementSearch the garment section by section
  2. StatementHow to find lost semen in a garment
  3. StatementHow big is a 'section'?
  4. StatementA garment with lost כלאים
  5. Statementרב יוסף: מצוות will be cancelled in the future
  6. ChallengeChallenge: allowed only for the eulogy, not for burial
  7. ResolutionAnswer: רבי יוחנן allows it even for burial
  8. Proofרבי יוחנן's ruling fits his teaching that the dead are free from מצוות
  9. StatementA garment with a lost כלאים thread may be dyed and then worn
  10. Questionרבא asks where רב חסדא got this rule
  11. ResponseThe source is the משנה about searching until bedrock
  12. StatementA linen thread pulled out of a wool cloak, unsure if fully removed
  13. QuestionWhy is מר זוטרא lenient?
  14. ResponseSewing alone is only a rabbinic ban, so a doubt is permitted
  15. Challengeרב אשי: maybe any one of the three is enough
  16. ConclusionThe הלכה follows מר זוטרא
  17. Statementתנא קמא: a colored garment makes her impure because of a כתם
  18. Statementרבי נתן בר יוסף: a colored garment does not make her impure
  19. ChallengeWhat enactment could there be?
  20. ResolutionRead it as 'permitted' instead of 'enacted'
  21. Challenge'Permitted' implies they were once forbidden
  22. ResolutionYes, colored garments were almost forbidden
  23. StatementSeven substances used to test a stain