Niddah 67a

נדה ס״ז ע״א

Learn Niddah 67a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

חציצה in טבילה: mud, food, scabs, the eyes, posture and knotted hair

Overview

This amud is a list of rulings about חציצה, anything that comes between a woman's body and the water of the מקוה. It opens by finishing a ruling that a woman should not immerse at a muddy port, because mud may have stuck to her and then fallen off on the way out. אבוה דשמואל put this concern into practice by spreading mats on the muddy riverbed for his daughters. רב then rules that a woman who handled food right before immersing has an invalid טבילה, for the same reason. Next come rulings about things on the body: bloodletting scabs block only after three days, and eye discharge blocks only once it is dry. Eye makeup blocks only when it sits on the outside of the eye. רבי יוחנן and ריש לקיש teach that the eyes and body must be held in a natural, relaxed way, not squeezed shut or forced open. ריש לקיש's rule is supported by a משנה about how people stand for a צרעת inspection. The amud ends with רבה בר רב הונא's ruling that even one knotted hair is a חציצה, and that discussion continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (10)

1. StatementDo not immerse at a muddy port
2. StatementHow שמואל's father protected his daughters' immersion
3. StatementHandling food right before immersing makes the immersion invalid
4. StatementBloodletting cuts block only after three days
5. StatementEye discharge: moist does not block, dry does
6. StatementEye makeup inside the eye versus on the eyelid
7. StatementOpening or squeezing the eyes too much ruins the immersion
8. StatementA woman immerses in her natural posture
9. ProofSupport from how a person stands for a צרעת inspection
10. StatementA single knotted hair blocks the immersion