Gemara Clarity

Niddah 9b

נדה ט׳ ע״ב

Learn Niddah 9b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Niddah 9b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Who counts as a זקנה, how long an עונה is, when women get דיה שעתה after long breaks, relying on רבי אליעזר in a time of pressure, and the rules for young girls who see blood.

Overview

The גמרא finishes defining a זקנה as a woman who is called 'אמא, אמא' without being bothered. It shows how two slightly different wordings of this sign differ in practice. It explains that an average עונה is 30 days if you count the days of טומאה, or 20 days if you count only the days of טהרה. A ברייתא teaches that an older woman who sees blood after three עונות gets דיה שעתה. After this happens three times, she is like all women. The גמרא questions the ברייתא's wording about even and uneven gaps and gives two answers, one following the רבנן and one following רבי דוסא. Next, רבי אליעזר brings a real case to show that any woman who stopped for three עונות gets דיה שעתה. The חכמים reject it as a ruling made under pressure, and the גמרא explains that רבי relied on רבי אליעזר only in a time of pressure, because many sages disagreed with him. The amud ends with a ברייתא about young girls who see blood, and the גמרא begins to examine its last line.

Opening lines

כֹּל שֶׁקּוֹרִין לָהּ

Any woman whom people call

״אִמָּא אִמָּא״ וְאֵינָהּ בּוֹשָׁה.

'Mother, Mother,' and she is not embarrassed.

רַבִּי זֵירָא וְרַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר רַב יִצְחָק —

Rabbi Zeira and Rabbi Shmuel bar Rav Yitzchak:

חַד אָמַר: כֹּל שֶׁאֵינָהּ מַקְפֶּדֶת,

One says: any woman who does not take offense,

The steps (29)

  1. StatementDefining an older woman
  2. StatementTwo versions of the definition
  3. QuestionWhat is the practical difference?
  4. ResponseEmbarrassed but not offended
  5. QuestionHow long is a cycle?
  6. ResponseAn average cycle is thirty days
  7. Responseרב חסדא says twenty days
  8. ResolutionThey do not really disagree
  9. StatementAn older woman who sees after long breaks
  10. StatementAfter the third time she is like all women
  11. StatementEven uneven gaps count
  12. ChallengeWhy does the ברייתא treat evenly spaced sightings as the obvious case?
  13. ChallengeEven under the רבנן, the wording should be reversed
  14. ResolutionFirst answer: change the wording to match the רבנן
  15. ResolutionSecond answer: the ברייתא excludes the even case and follows רבי דוסא
  16. StatementBack to the משנה: רבי אליעזר's view
  17. Proofרבי אליעזר's proof: the girl from הַיְתָלוֹ
  18. RejectionThe Sages reject the real case as proof
  19. QuestionWhat was the pressure?
  20. ResponseFirst answer: years of famine
  21. ResponseSecond answer: many pure items were at stake
  22. Statementרבי ruled like רבי אליעזר under pressure
  23. QuestionWhat does 'after he remembered' mean?
  24. ChallengeIf the halacha was decided against him, how could רבי follow him?
  25. ResolutionNo final ruling, but many sages disagreed
  26. StatementA young girl who sees blood before her time
  27. StatementBreaks of three cycles bring back the leniency
  28. StatementA girl old enough to see blood
  29. StatementThe גמרא quotes a line of the ברייתא to discuss it