Berakhot 22a (כב.) — the Talmud in English

Rather, no—

it is Rabbi Yehuda’s opinion, and it is taught specifically.

It is referring to a case in which initially she

had intercourse and

afterward

saw menstrual blood,

to teach that Rabbi Yehuda’s view is that she

does not require immersion

even in a case where the impurity of a seminal emission preceded the impurity of menstruation, since immersion is not obligatory when it does not completely purify the person. And it follows that only when a person with a seminal emission has an additional, more severe impurity did Rabbi Yehuda exempt him from immersion before Torah study;

but one who has only a seminal emission is obligated.

And how, then, did he say in the Mishna that one with a seminal emission may recite a blessing?

The Gemara rejects this:

Do not say

that Rabbi Yehuda said in the Mishna, “One with a seminal emission

recites a blessing,”

but only that he

contemplates it.

The Gemara challenges this:

And does Rabbi Yehuda indeed hold

that there is reason to distinguish between

contemplation

and speech?

But wasn’t it taught in a beraita: One with a seminal emission who has no water with which to immerse recites the Shema. But he does not recite the blessings before it or afterward. However, he contemplates them in his heart,

and does not articulate them with his lips; these are the words of Rabbi Meir.

Rabbi Yehuda says: In either case, he articulates them with his lips.

And it is thereby proven that Rabbi Yehuda permits one with a seminal emission to speak as well.

Rav Naḥman said: Rabbi Yehuda rendered

the recitation of the blessings

like

the study of

the laws of proper conduct,

whose study is easy, and which is permitted to one with a seminal emission.

And we find that Rabbi Yehuda permits one with a seminal emission to study the laws of proper conduct,

as it was taught in a beraita:

It is stated [Deuteronomy 4:9],

“And you shall make them known to your children and your children’s children.” And it is written afterward, “The day on which you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb.” Just as there,

at Horeb, they stood to hear the word of the Lord

with awe, reverence, trembling, and quaking, so too here,

in “And you shall make them known to your children,” which refers to all study of

Torah,

one must study it

with awe, reverence, trembling, and quaking.

From here the Sages said

:

Those who have a gonorrheal discharge, lepers, and those who have intercourse with menstruating women

who immersed themselves because of seminal emissions, even though their impurity is severe,

are permitted to read from the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings,

and likewise

to study Mishna, Gemara, halakhot, and aggadot,

because they can study with awe and reverence.

But those with seminal emissions,

even though their impurity is minor,

are prohibited

from reading and studying, because their impurity results from frivolity, and they are not in a state of awe and reverence .

Rabbi Yosei says: He may study familiar teachings,

mishnayot familiar to him, which he recites quickly without examining their explanation,

provided that he does not expound

the explanation of

the Mishna.

Rabbi Yonatan ben Yosef says: He may expound the Mishna, but he may not expound the Gemara.

Rabbi Natan ben Avishalom says: He may even expound the Gemara, provided that he does not recite the Divine Names contained in it,

namely, in the verses cited in the Gemara [or in the midrash] .

Rabbi Yoḥanan the Sandalmaker, the student of Rabbi Akiva, said in the name of Rabbi Akiva: He may not enter the house of study at all,

for he is prohibited both from expounding and from studying; rather, he enters the bейт-midrash and remains silent.

And

some

say

that this is what he said:

He may not enter the bейт-midrash at all.

Rabbi Yehuda says: He may study the laws of proper conduct.

These are the ways of Torah scholars explained in tractate Derekh Eretz, and they constitute easy study that does not require deep analysis.

There was an incident involving Rabbi Yehuda, who experienced a seminal emission and was walking along the riverbank

to look for a suitable place to immerse.

His students said to him:

Until you immerse,

teach us one chapter of the laws of proper conduct. He descended, immersed, and taught it to them. They said to him:

But

did you not teach us this, our teacher: “He may study the laws of proper conduct”? —

He said to them: Although I am lenient for others

to study before immersion,

I am stringent with regard to myself.

It follows that Rabbi Yehuda’s reason in our Mishna for permitting the recitation of the Shema and Birkat HaMazon is that he regarded speech concerning them as the easy study of the laws of proper conduct.

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira would say: Words of Torah cannot contract impurity.

And one with a seminal emission need not refrain from studying Torah .

There was an incident involving a certain student who was

one with a seminal emission, and therefore he

stammered

in the presence of Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira.

He said to him: My son, open your mouth

to speak clearly

and your words will shine, for

indeed

words of Torah cannot contract

impurity,

because their status is like that of fire,

as it is stated [Jeremiah 23:29]:

“Is not My word like fire, declares the Lord?” —

Just as fire cannot contract impurity, so too words of Torah cannot contract impurity.

The master said

[Rabbi Yonatan ben Yosef in the beraita]:

He may expound the Mishna, but he may not expound the Gemara.

This supports Rabbi Ilai.

For Rabbi Ilai said that Rabbi Aḥa bar Yaakov said in the name of our master

[Rav]:

The halakha is that he may expound the Mishna, but he may not expound the Gemara.

And this law is subject to a dispute

among the tannaim: He may expound the Mishna, but he may not expound the Gemara; these are the words of Rabbi Meir.

Rabbi Yehuda ben Gamla says in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina ben Gamla: Both this and that,

Mishna and Gemara,

are prohibited

to one with a seminal emission.

And some say

in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina ben Gamla:

Both this and that are permitted.

The one who says, “Both this and that are prohibited,”

holds

like Rabbi Yoḥanan the Sandalmaker,

who may not engage in midrash at all .

The one who says, “Both this and that are permitted,”

holds

like Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira,

who permits one with a seminal emission to study words of Torah.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: The world now follows

the lenient practical halakha

according to these three elders

:

of these three elders:

a.

Like Rabbi Ilai—

with regard to the first of the shearing.

b.

Like Rabbi Yoshiyya—

with regard to diverse kinds.

c.

Like Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira—

with regard to words of Torah.

And the Gemara explains:

a.

Like Rabbi Ilai with regard to the first of the shearing—

as it was taught in a beraita

Ḥullin 135a]:

Rabbi Ilai says:

The law requiring the giving of

the first of the shearing

to a priest

applies only in Eretz Yisrael.

b.

Like Rabbi Yoshiyya with regard to diverse kinds—

as it is written [Deuteronomy 22:9]:

“You shall not sow your vineyard with diverse kinds.” Rabbi Yoshiyya says: One is never liable

for lashes for sowing diverse kinds

until he sows wheat, barley, and a grape seed in a single act,

that is, he takes a grape seed together with two other species of grain in his hand and sows them together in the field. But if he sows only wheat with barley, or one of the two in a vineyard, he is not lashed for diverse kinds.

c.

Like Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira with regard to words of Torah—

as it was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira says: Words of Torah cannot contract impurity,

and therefore one with a seminal emission is not required to immerse before studying Torah.

When Ze’iri came

from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia,

he said:

The Sages

nullified the immersion

of one with a seminal emission for Torah and prayer .

And some say

that this is what Ze’iri said:

They nullified the washing,

the washing of the hands for prayer.

The one who says, “They nullified the immersion,”

holds

like Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira,

that one with a seminal emission is not required to immerse before studying Torah.

The one who says, “They nullified the washing,”

holds

as in this case,

as we found above [15a],

that Rav Ḥisda cursed

and was particular with

whoever sought water,

concerning one who searched for water for washing before prayer,

at the time of prayer,

when it was time to pray.

The Sages taught: With regard to one who experienced a seminal emission, if nine kav of drawn water were poured over him,

he is considered

pure

with regard to Torah study and prayer [but not with regard to the laws of the Torah, such as eating teruma]:

Nahum of Gam Zo whispered

whispered this discreetly] this leniency, that it suffices for nine kav of water to be poured over him,

to Rabbi Akiva. And Rabbi Akiva whispered it to ben Azzai. And ben Azzai went out and taught it to his students in the marketplace.

Two amoraim in the West,

in Eretz Yisrael, disagreed about this, and they were:

Rabbi Yosei bar Avin and Rabbi Yosei bar Zevida:

One taught: He taught it

to his students.

And one taught: He whispered it

to them.

And we explain:

The one who taught, “He taught it,”

held that ben Azzai publicized this leniency

because

immersion entails

the neglect of Torah study, and because

the effort involved in immersion leads to

the neglect of procreation.

And the one who taught, “He whispered it,”

held that ben Azzai kept this leniency hidden so

that Torah scholars would not be constantly with their wives like roosters,

which engage in intercourse frequently. Therefore, they were stringent with regard to Torah scholars and required them to immerse.

Rabbi Yannai said: I heard that

there are

those who are lenient with regard to it

and suffice with pouring nine kav over themselves,

and I heard that

there are

those who are stringent with regard to it

and are particular to immerse in forty seah before Torah study.

And anyone who is stringent with regard to it for himself, his days and years are prolonged.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said [

in astonishment]:

What is the nature of those who immerse at dawn!?

The Gemara raises a difficulty: Did Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi really wonder

what is the nature

of those who immerse in the morning!?

But he is the one who said earlier [21b]

:

“One who experienced a seminal emission is prohibited from engaging in words of Torah”!

The Gemara explains:

This is what he is saying: What is the nature

of their immersing

in forty seah?

After all,

it is possible with nine kav .

And he likewise wondered:

What is the nature of immersion?

After all,

it is possible by pouring! [

That is, only forty seah must be contained in the ground, and one must enter them and immerse in them; but the nine kav are taken in a vessel and poured over himself.]

Rabbi Ḥanina said: They established a great safeguard with regard to it

by requiring those who experienced a seminal emission to immerse specifically in forty seah.

As it was taught in a beraita: There was an incident involving a man who solicited a woman

who was unmarried

to engage in a sinful act.

She said to him: Worthless man!

Do

you have forty seah in which you can immerse

after the act?

Immediately, he withdrew

from her .

Rav Huna said to the Sages: My masters, why are you treating this immersion lightly

on the basis of the statement of Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira?

If it is because of the cold,

there is no need to immerse in a cold ritual bath, because

it is possible

to immerse in forty seah of drawn water , and it can be heated in

bathhouses .

Rav Ḥisda said to him

to Rav Huna:

Is there immersion in

drawn

hot water

in bathhouses? After all, even immersion for one who experienced a seminal emission is specifically in water gathered in the ground.

He said to him,

Rav Huna said to Rav Ḥisda:

Rav Adda bar Ahava

supports your position,

that immersion must take place in the ground and not in vessels [but I maintain that one who experienced a seminal emission may immerse in vessels for the sake of Torah study].

Rabbi Zeira was sitting in a basin

a tub

of water in the bathhouse

in the bathhouse.

He said to his attendant: Go and bring me nine kav, and pour them over me

and pour them over me.

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said to him: Why does the Master need all this? But

the Master

is sitting inside them,

inside the nine kav of water.

He said to him:

The law of the nine kav is

like

the law

of forty seah,

and one must use them in the manner for which they were instituted, rather than alter it:

Just as forty seah

purify specifically

through immersion

in them,

and not through pouring, so too the nine kav

purify specifically

through pouring

over one's body,

and not through immersion.

Rav Naḥman instituted a vessel

a water container

holding nine kav

from which the students would pour water over themselves in the morning before beginning their study .

When Rav Dimi came, he said: Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Yehuda the Door-Hinge said: They taught

that the pouring of nine kav is effective

only for a sick person

who experienced a seminal emission

involuntarily. But for a sick person who causes it habitually,

who perpetuates the impurity of seminal emission through intercourse, he must immerse in

forty seah.

Rav Yosef said:

If so,

Rav Naḥman's vessel is broken!

That is, there is no need for it, because only a sick person who experienced a seminal emission involuntarily may use it, while a sick person who does not engage in intercourse at all is uncommon .