Gemara Clarity

Niddah 69a

נדה ס״ט ע״א

Learn Niddah 69a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Niddah 69a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Checks during the seven clean days of a זב or זבה, and the immersions of a confused woman (טועה)

Overview

A זב or זבה must count seven clean days (שבעה נקיים) before becoming טהור. The גמרא first asks about someone who checked only on day one and day eight. רב says that for רבי אליעזר the day-one check alone is enough. רבי חנינא says a check is needed at both ends of the seven days. A ברייתא saying 'they agree' that only day eight counts is answered: the Sages who agree are רבי יהושע and רבי עקיבא. Next, רב rules about a זבה who stopped bleeding on her third day. After a challenge from רב ששת, the ruling is explained: even if she checks only on the seventh day, that end check makes the seven days count. This is the mirror image of his first ruling. An objection from a טועה, a confused woman who immerses only at night, is pushed aside because that ruling follows רבי עקיבא, who requires the days to be counted before us. The גמרא then quotes a ברייתא about a טועה who immerses 9, 11 or 15 times. רבא mocks the 15 with the story of the unfair town גלחי. The ברייתא is re-read, and the breakdown of the fifteen immersions begins, continuing on the next amud.

Opening lines

לְרַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר מַהוּ?

According to Rabbi Eliezer, what is the law?

תְּחִלָּתָן וְסוֹפָן בָּעֵינַן,

Do we require their beginning and their end,

וְהָכָא תְּחִלָּתָן אִיכָּא סוֹפָן לֵיכָּא,

and here there is their beginning but not their end,

אוֹ דִילְמָא תְּחִלָּתָן אַף עַל גַּב שֶׁאֵין סוֹפָן?

or perhaps their beginning is enough, even though there is not their end?

The steps (31)

  1. QuestionWhat does רבי אליעזר hold about checking on day one and day eight?
  2. Responseרב: the first-day check alone is enough
  3. Responseרבי חנינא: both a first-day and a last-day check are needed
  4. ChallengeA ברייתא seems to show רבי אליעזר agrees only day eight counts
  5. ResolutionThe ones who agree are רבי יהושע and רבי עקיבא
  6. Statementרב's ruling about stopping on the third day
  7. ChallengeWhy would a נדה need to count?
  8. ResolutionRead it as a זבה
  9. ChallengeDoes רב follow the כותאי?
  10. Resolutionרב meant: not counting the third day
  11. ChallengeThen it is obvious
  12. ResolutionThe new point: no check until the seventh day
  13. Resolutionרב taught two mirror-image rulings
  14. ResolutionWhy the second ruling was needed
  15. ChallengeIs that really so? רבין's report about a טועה
  16. Statementרבין: a טועה immerses only at night in her first week
  17. ChallengeWhy not let her immerse by day too?
  18. RejectionThat ruling follows רבי עקיבא
  19. QuestionWhere do we see the רבנן don't need counting before us?
  20. ProofThe confused woman who saw one day: nine immersions
  21. StatementIf she saw at twilight: eleven immersions
  22. QuestionWhy eleven immersions?
  23. ResponseShe came to us at twilight: eight for נדה and three for זיבה
  24. StatementIf she saw no blood at all: fifteen immersions
  25. Challengeרבא: this law is like the twisted laws of גלחי
  26. StatementThe orphan slaughters the oxen and divides the skins
  27. QuestionThe townspeople ask: what are you saying?
  28. ResponseThe end of the law follows the beginning of the law
  29. ChallengeApplying the parable: less blood cannot require more immersions
  30. ResolutionRe-reading the ברייתא: she saw but does not know when
  31. StatementCounting the fifteen: seven immersions for נדה