Niddah 7a

נדה ז׳ ע״א

Learn Niddah 7a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

ספק חלה as a weak doubt like נשען, whether dough before חלה is treated like חלה (אביי's rule and the מעת לעת challenge), and a new משנה on women whose time is enough

Overview

The גמרא finishes quoting a ruling that the חלה from a doubtful dough is 'suspended': not eaten and not burned, because it is a 'ספק חלה'. אביי and רבא explain that this is not an even doubt like the 'two paths' case, which would make even plain חולין impure. It is a weaker doubt like נשען, where a זב may have leaned on a pure person, and that kind of doubt counts only for holy food. The גמרא challenges this: is dough that still needs חלה really treated like חלה? A ברייתא lets a טבולת יום knead such dough, because her touch only makes it שלישי, which is pure for חולין. אביי answers that the חכמים made a decree about doubts only where the definite impurity already affects חולין, and a טבולת יום never does. The גמרא then challenges אביי from the backward 24-hour impurity (מעת לעת) of a נדה. It gives two answers: dough has the future חלה mixed inside it, and the מעת לעת is only rabbinic anyway. A new משנה then begins. רבי אליעזר says four women are impure only from the moment they see blood, and רבי יהושע says he received this only about a בתולה. The משנה continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (13)

1. StatementThe חלה is suspended, and the doubt is called ספק חלה
2. QuestionWhat exactly is a ספק חלה?
3. ResponseIt is not an even doubt like the 'two paths' case
4. ResponseIt is a weaker doubt, like a זב leaning
5. ChallengeIs dough that still needs חלה treated like חלה?
6. ChallengeThe challenge completed: third-level impurity is pure for plain food
7. Resolutionאביי: the חכמים made a decree only where the definite case already affects plain food
8. ChallengeChallenge to אביי from the 24-hour impurity of a נדה
9. ProofProof: the 24-hour impurity reaches holy-level food but not תרומה-level food
10. ResolutionDough Has the Future חלה Mixed Inside It
11. ResolutionSecond Answer: The מעת לעת Is Only Rabbinic
12. StatementNew משנה: Four Women Impure Only From the Moment They See
13. Statementרבי יהושע Received It Only About a בתולה