Niddah 7b

נדה ז׳ ע״ב

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

Open Niddah 7b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The four women who are דיין שעתן, and שמואל's list of cases where the הלכה follows רבי אליעזר

Overview

This amud finishes the משנה about four women (בתולה, מעוברת, מניקה, זקנה) who are טמא only from the moment they see blood (דיה שעתה). The משנה rules like רבי אליעזר and defines each of the four women. It also brings a מחלוקת about a mother who stopped nursing and wider views from רבי אליעזר and רבי יוסי. It then limits the leniency to the first sighting, unless that first sighting came from an אונס. The גמרא brings a ברייתא where רבי אליעזר tells רבי יהושע that he heard the tradition about many women. It explains why people followed רבי יהושע while רבי אליעזר was alive: רבי אליעזר was a שמותי, and out of respect for him no one could protest if people followed his other rulings. Then שמואל lists four cases where the הלכה follows רבי אליעזר, including the impure outsides of vessels, along with a debate about a קל וחומר from a טבול יום. The גמרא explains that שמואל teaches that we do not decide הלכה only from a ruling written in a משנה or ברייתא. Finally it asks whether his list is complete, and that question continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (29)

1. ConclusionThe הלכה follows רבי אליעזר
2. StatementWho counts as a virgin
3. StatementWhen pregnancy and nursing begin and end
4. StatementA nursing mother who stopped nursing
5. StatementWho counts as an elderly woman
6. Statementרבי אליעזר: any woman who missed three cycles
7. Statementרבי יוסי on pregnant and nursing women
8. QuestionWhen does 'her time is enough' apply?
9. ResponseOnly the first sighting is lenient
10. StatementIf the first sighting came from an outside cause
11. Statementרבי אליעזר: I heard more than you did
12. StatementWhat people actually did, before and after רבי אליעזר's passing
13. QuestionWhy not follow רבי אליעזר during his lifetime?
14. ResponseBecause רבי אליעזר followed בית שמאי
15. ResponseRespect for רבי אליעזר made protest impossible until he passed away
16. StatementThe halacha follows רבי אליעזר in four cases
17. StatementSecond case: a woman in hard labor who gets relief
18. StatementThird case: checking only on the first and seventh days
19. ProofA ברייתא rules like רבי אליעזר in the זב case
20. StatementThe case of vessel outsides made impure by liquids
21. Proofרבי יהושע's קל וחומר from a טבול יום
22. RejectionWhy רבי אליעזר rejects the קל וחומר
23. ConclusionWhy the חכמים decreed on liquids but not on foods
24. QuestionWhy did he single out vessel outsides?
25. ResponseVessel outsides are a lighter impurity
26. ChallengeWhat does שמואל add?
27. RejectionRejecting the idea that שמואל means only vessel outsides
28. ResolutionA written ruling alone is not enough
29. ChallengeIs שמואל's list complete?