Niddah 17b — the Talmud in English

Even

the foods and liquids that he does not touch, as, for example, if the earthenware vessel were

full

of mustard

seeds,

each of which is food in itself, and the vessel did not touch all the mustard, yet all the mustard became impure by being inside the vessel.

Mishna:

The Sages drew a parable concerning a woman

in relation to her internal structure, which resembles a house containing:

a.

The room —

a parable for the womb itself.

b.

The corridor —

a parable for the passageway from the womb outward.

c.

The upper chamber —

a parable for a separate place, situated above the womb and above the corridor, and from there there is a passageway called a “loop” to the corridor.

And two different bloods emerge from the same “house”: one blood emerges from the room [womb], and a second blood emerges from the upper chamber.

The blood of the room —

impure.

The blood of the upper chamber —

pure.

If

the blood is found in the examination that she performed

in the corridor,

and it is not known whether it is impure blood coming from the room or pure blood coming from the upper chamber —

its uncertainty is impure! According to

the presumption

that the blood comes

from the source

and not from the upper chamber, since most of the bloods that emerge from a woman’s body come from the womb itself and not from the upper chamber above it.

Gemara:

Rami bar Shmuel and Rav Yitzhak, son of Rav Judah, taught:

they studied Tractate

Niddah, in the academy of Rav Huna:

Rabba bar Rav Huna found them sitting,

as they were studying our Mishna,

and saying:

The room

is located

inside,

on the woman’s inner side.

The corridor is located outside,

on the woman’s outer side.

And the upper chamber —

is built upon both of them,

above them.

And the loop,

a passageway,

is open between the upper chamber and the corridor,

through that loop the pure blood of the upper chamber emerges and descends into the corridor.

The room is located on the inner side of the body, near the woman’s back; the corridor is located before it, near the abdomen; and the upper chamber is above both of them . There are three openings in the corridor: one brings in blood from the upper chamber, and its location is in the upper part of the corridor, called the roof of the corridor. This opening is the loop mentioned in our discussion. The second brings in blood from the room, and its location is at the bottom of the room, near the floor of the corridor. The third takes both bloods from the body outward.

It follows that two bloods pass through the corridor on their way outward: the blood of the room, which is impure, and the blood of the upper chamber, which is pure. Therefore, a woman who finds blood in the corridor has an uncertainty as to her status, and four approaches to this will be explained in the course of the discussion .

If

the blood is found

in an examination performed in the inner part of the corridor, which is

from the loop inward,

that is, toward the inner room —

its uncertainty

concerning the blood about which we are uncertain whether it is from the room or from the loop —

is impure!

And if the examination was performed in the “outer” part of the corridor, which is

from the loop outward,

and blood was found there —

its uncertainty is pure,

for we can say that this blood is only from the upper chamber, and it is pure blood. For the impure blood coming from the room reaches the middle of the corridor, and from there exits through an opening in the “walls of the womb,” and does not continue toward the outer part of the corridor!

Rabba bar Rav Huna came [after he heard the words of Rami bar Shmuel and Rav Yitzhak, son of Rav Judah, who had taught them in the academy of Rav Huna, his father].

after hearing the words of Rami bar Shmuel and Rav Yitzhak, son of Rav Yehuda, who had taught them in the school of Rav Huna, his father.

And he said to his father [to Rav Huna]: “Is it the case that ‘if the blood is found from the loop inward,

—Rav Huna: “Did you say to us that when ‘the blood is found from the loop inward,

its uncertainty is impure’ —

you said this to us, Master!?” [as I heard the students studying in your academy].

This was according to what he had heard the students studying in his school.

But we learned that ‘its presumption is that it is from the source’

in our Mishna,

and if so, it is certainly impure , and not an uncertainty!?

He said to him,

Rav Huna to his son Rabba:

I,

did not teach my students what they said, but

I said this:

[The second approach concerning the law of blood found in the corridor]

If the blood is found in the corridor

from the loop inward —

certainly impure,

for its presumption is that it is from the source.

From the loop outward —

its uncertainty is impure,

for it must be uncertain whether the blood came from the room or from the upper chamber.

Abaye said: What is different about from the loop outward, whose uncertainty is impure, for perhaps she bent down,

lying on her abdomen,

and it came from the room!

Then the blood descended in the corridor toward its “outer” side and did not exit through the opening for the departure of blood in the “walls of the womb.”

If so, when the blood is found

from the loop inward as well —

why is it certainly impure?

Say that she arched herself,

lying on her back,

and it came from the upper chamber 148 ,

and it should be only an impure uncertainty?

Rather, Abaye said:

[A third approach concerning the law of blood found in the corridor]

If you follow concern,

that one must be concerned lest she changed her body’s normal standing position [such as the concern that she bent down or arched herself] —

both this and that,

whether it was found in the corridor inward from the loop or outward from it —

is an uncertainty!

For the location of the blood changes according to the change in her body’s position, and we do not know how it changed.

[Another possibility raised by Abaye, and this is the fourth approach in our discussion]

And if you follow the presumption,

that we do not concern ourselves with changes in her body’s standing position —

from the loop inward, certainly impure,

for the blood emerging from the upper chamber does not flow back toward the rear ; and if so, certainly the blood found is only from the room.

And from the loop outward —

certainly pure,

for only blood from the upper chamber reaches there.

Rabbi Hiyya taught: Blood found in the corridor, one is liable on its account for entering the Temple [

if she entered the Temple after she found the blood in the corridor ],

and they burn

the teruma because of it

that it touched.

And Rav Ketina said: One is not liable on its account for entering the Temple, and they do not burn the teruma because of it,

for it is only a doubt .

And the Gemara explains how the four opinions brought above will interpret the beraita: [

a ]

According to this wording [

the third view ],

which says, “If you follow concern

both this and that are a doubt” —

it supports Rav Ketina, and disagrees with Rabbi Hiyya

with regard to Abaye, for according to Abaye it is always a doubt, whereas Rabbi Hiyya deems it certainly impure. [

b ]

According to this wording [

the fourth view ],

which says, “If you follow presumption

from the opening inward it is certainly impure” —

it supports Rabbi Hiyya

who deems it certainly impure, and Rabbi Hiyya spoke of from the opening inward,