Arakhin 8b (ח:) — the Talmud in English

Twelve

days I saw as impure,

her onset

was

after eight

clean days. For, whichever way you consider it, the ninth day is the onset of menstruation. Whether all of them were days of ziva, or whether the first two days were the end of the days of ziva, the following seven days were days of menstruation, and the remaining three days were days of ziva—she had already counted seven clean days, and eleven days of ziva had also passed, once the eight clean days are combined with the three days on which she saw blood. It follows that the ninth day of the clean days is the onset of menstruation.

Thirteen

days I saw as impure,

her onset

was

after seven

clean days. For, whichever way you consider it, the eighth day is the onset of menstruation. If all of it was ziva, seven clean days had already passed; and even if the first two days were days of ziva, the following seven days were days of menstruation, and the final four days were days of ziva, eleven days of ziva had already passed, and she had counted seven clean days, so the eighth day of the clean days is the onset of menstruation.

The general rule is: There is no need to be concerned that the first three days on which she saw blood were days of ziva, and that afterward the sighting continued into the days of menstruation. Once she has seen blood for three consecutive days of ziva, she does not leave the days of ziva until she counts seven clean days.

And this is what the Mishna says:

“There is no onset for a woman who is confused of fewer than seven,”

for even if she saw blood for fourteen days, she does not return to the onset of menstruation until she counts seven clean days,

“and not more than seventeen,”

for even if she saw blood for only one day, after seventeen days she has emerged from doubt, as explained at the beginning of the beraita.

Rav Adda bar Ahava said to Rabba: “Why do I need all this?”

Rav Adda erred and thought that all these days required by the Mishna were needed in order to permit her to her husband. Therefore he asked:

“Let her count seven”

clean days בלבד—

“and she will be permitted.”

For whether she is menstruating or a zava, she is permitted to her husband after seven clean days.

He said to him:

The Mishna is not discussing permitting the woman to her husband; rather,

“we are saying this in order to restore her to the status of menstruation and its onset.”

So that she can return to the calculation of the days of menstruation and the days of ziva. This has practical ramifications for many laws, as explained.

The Sages taught: All women who are confused

with regard to the days of menstruation and ziva mentioned above are treated stringently according to the law of

women who are zavot.

They must

bring an offering

of a zav: two birds, one as a sin-offering and one as a burnt-offering. But the bird sin-offering

is not eaten,

because it is an offering of uncertain status, perhaps an offering and perhaps ordinary unconsecrated property. Perhaps they are not zavot but menstruating women and are not obligated to bring an offering; the bird sin-offering is then slaughtered by pinching. If it is unconsecrated, it is therefore like an animal carcass. The Torah permitted a pinched bird to be eaten by priests only when it has the status of a sin-offering. The bird brought as a burnt-offering is sacrificed conditionally: If she is a zava, it will be offered for her obligation; and if she is menstruating, it will be offered as a voluntary offering.

Except for one whose onset is seven

in the case of a woman who sees blood for thirteen days,

and one whose onset is eight

in the case of a woman who sees blood for twelve days,

who bring an offering and it is eaten

as offerings of definite zavot. For it is certain that among these twelve days there are three consecutive days of ziva. Even if we say that the first two days were the end of the ziva period and the seven days following them were days of menstruation, there still remain at their end three consecutive days on which she saw blood, and this is certainly a sighting of ziva.

And all the more so if the first seven days were all days of menstruation, in which case all the final five days are days of ziva.

And he raises a difficulty with the first clause of the beraita:

“Is that to say: ‘All women who are confused are zavot’?”

[This wording implies that they are certainly zavot.] Yet they are only in a state of uncertainty.

And furthermore,

he raises a difficulty: Is a woman who sees

one or two days

[which are included among all the confused women listed in the Mishna]

fit to bring an offering?

The obligation to bring an offering applies only to a major zava, who saw blood for three consecutive days, and not to a woman who observes one day corresponding to one day.

And we answer:

Rather,

the intention of the beraita is:

All zavot who are confused

[meaning all those in whose case there is uncertainty with regard to ziva, namely, one who sees blood for three days or more]

bring an offering, and it is not eaten, except for one whose onset is seven and one whose onset is eight, who bring an offering and it is eaten.

Mishna:

There is no

purification with regard to afflictions

of fewer than a week

one

of quarantine.

Nor

is it ever necessary

to have more than three weeks

of quarantine in order for the purification to be established.

Gemara:

The statement that there is no

fewer than a week

refers

to human afflictions 17 .

For among them there are cases in which one week of quarantine suffices. For example, a white affliction on a boil or a burn: If it does not have one of the signs of impurity, such as a white hair or spreading, the koen quarantines him for seven days. If within the seven days these signs appear, he is a confirmed leper; and if not, he becomes pure.

And the statement:

“Nor more than three weeks”

refers

to afflictions on houses.

For example, the koen saw it and quarantined it for seven days. At the end of the seven days, the affliction remained as it was and had not spread, so he quarantines it for an additional week. If at the end of the second week it still remained as it was, he removes the afflicted stones, scrapes and plasters the house, and quarantines it for an additional seven days. At the end of the third week, if the affliction returns, the entire house is demolished; and if it does not return, it is pure.

Rav Pappa said: “‘Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains of God’—these are human afflictions.

They are established in one week, whether he is to be declared a confirmed leper or to become pure, and this is like righteousness for the leper.

“‘Your judgments are a great deep’—these are afflictions on houses.”

Their law is difficult, as they are not established until after three weeks.

And they ask:

“With regard to what is the plain meaning of the verse written?”

Rav Yehuda said: “Were it not for ‘Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains of God,’ who could stand before Your judgments,”

which are like

“a great deep.”

Rabba said:

The verse is interpreted as follows:

“Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains of God, because Your judgments are a great deep.”

And we explain:

“With regard to what do they disagree? They disagree in the dispute between Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina.”

As it was stated: Rabbi Elazar says: He suppresses

the Holy One, blessed be He, and conceals the sins beneath the cover of the Throne of Glory, so that the merits will prevail.

Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: He lifts

the pan of sins and raises it upward so that the pan of merits will prevail.

And the amoraim cited above also disagree in this regard.

Rabba

holds

in accordance with Rabbi Elazar

and explains as follows: “Your righteousness,” that is, that You justify us, is as great as the mighty mountains of God, because You suppress and conceal Your judgments—that is, the sins—in a great deep.

And Rav Yehuda

holds

in accordance with Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina,

and explains: Were it not for Your raising the pan of our sins like the mighty mountains of God, who could stand before Your judgments, which are the sins that would have prevailed down to a great deep?

Mishna:

One may not have fewer than four intercalated months

of thirty days

[in the year,

and it did not appear

to the Sages appropriate to make

more than eight

months in a year. In the Gemara, the amoraim disagree whether the intention is eight intercalated months or eight deficient months.

The two loaves may not be eaten less than two

days after they were baked. They were baked on the eve of Shavuot, because their baking does not override Shabbat or a Festival. Therefore, when they are eaten on Shavuot, it is at least the second day after they were baked.

And not more than three days.

If Shavuot occurred on Sunday, so that they were baked on the eve of Shabbat, their eating is on the third day after they were baked; but it cannot be later than that.

The showbread may not be eaten less than nine

days after it was baked, because its baking does not override Shabbat or a Festival. It was baked on Friday and arranged on the table on Shabbat, and it was eaten on the following Shabbat, which is the ninth day after it was baked.

And not more than eleven,

for example, when Rosh Hashanah occurred on Thursday, and Friday was the second day of Rosh Hashanah. In that case it was baked on Wednesday and eaten on the following Shabbat, which is the eleventh day after it was baked. But it cannot be later than that.

A minor may not be circumcised before eight,

and this is circumcision at its proper time.

And not more than twelve

days old. For example, if he was born during twilight on the eve of Shabbat, which is uncertainly Friday or the night of Shabbat, he is not circumcised on the following Shabbat, since it is possibly the ninth day, and circumcision not at its proper time does not override Shabbat or a Festival. If Sunday and Monday are Rosh Hashanah, he is circumcised only on Tuesday, which is the twelfth day after his birth.

Gemara:

And we inquire about it:

What is the meaning of “it did not appear appropriate to have more than eight,”

as we learned in the Mishna?

Rav Huna said: It did not appear appropriate to the Sages to intercalate more than eight

months. And they make at least four deficient months of twenty-nine days.

A Torah year is a lunar year, consisting of twelve cycles of the lunar conjunction, called months [or thirteen months in an intercalated year]. The interval between one conjunction and the next is twenty-nine and a half days and 793 parts of an hour [an hour consisting of 1,080 parts]. But since it is impossible to sanctify the month in the middle of the day, because of the halakhic principle that “you calculate days for the months, but you do not calculate hours,” some months are therefore made full, of thirty days, and some deficient, of twenty-nine days. If one month is full and the next deficient, every two months will total fifty-nine days, approximately equal to the period of two lunar conjunctions, which is also approximately fifty-nine days.

According to this calculation, between the conjunction of Tishrei in one year and the conjunction of Tishrei in the following year there is an advance of four days in the days of the week. For according to this, a year of twelve months contains 354 days, which are fifty weeks and four days [4 + 50 = 7: 354], [as well as eight hours and 876 parts of an hour]. If six months are made full and six deficient, the difference between Rosh Hashanah of one year and Rosh Hashanah of the following year will likewise be four days. For example, if Rosh Hashanah occurs on Shabbat in one year, it will occur on Wednesday in the following year. It follows that Rosh Hashanah occurs on the day of the Tishrei conjunction.

But if there are seven full months and five deficient months, Rosh Hashanah will be delayed until one day after the conjunction; if there are eight full months and four deficient months, Rosh Hashanah will be delayed until two days after the conjunction; and if there are nine full months, Rosh Hashanah will be delayed until three days after the conjunction.

Accordingly, we ask:

What is different about nine

full months

that

we do not make them? The reason was explained,