Niddah 29b — the Talmud in English

For it was taught: ![](pamud.bmp "

exact page location")

A woman who went out full

[pregnant], and after a long time returned

and came

when she was

empty,

and she does not know what she gave birth to, nor on which day she gave birth!

And she brought her

[and from the day she came]

before us

her condition was as follows: a.

The first three weeks

were

pure,

for she saw no blood in them at all.

b.

And ten weeks,

after the three pure weeks, she saw alternately—one week

impure

in which she would see every single day,

and

one week

pure,

in which she saw no blood at all.

And the law of this woman is: a.

She may engage in intercourse

only

on the night of the thirty-fifth day

of her coming, that is, the night following the thirty-fourth day.

b.

And they immerse her in ninety-five immersions—

the words of Beit Shammai.

And Beit Hillel say—

they immerse her

thirty-five

immersions בלבד.

Rabbi Yosei the son of Rabbi Yehuda says—

One immersion is sufficient for her, which should be on the last one!

[And below it will be explained why she is permitted to engage in intercourse only on the night of the thirty-fifth day, and for what purpose they immerse her in this manner; but before this explanation, the Gemara explains what the refutation of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi was, and why Ravin did not understand it.]

And the Gemara explains:

Granted, the first week

that she came,

she may not engage in intercourse

despite the fact that she did not see, because

perhaps—

she is a woman who gave birth to a male,

and this week is the seven days of impurity of a woman who gave birth to a male.

And likewise,

the second week

she may not engage in intercourse despite the fact that she did not see, because

perhaps—

she is a woman who gave birth to a female,

and because of the uncertainty she is impure for fourteen days, as is the law of a woman who gave birth to a female.

The third week

she may not engage in intercourse despite the fact that she did not see, because

perhaps—

she is a woman who gave birth to a female while in a state of ziva,

for if she became impure with ziva impurity before the birth then she is a “woman who gave birth while in a state of ziva,” who must count “seven clean [days]” in order to become pure from zava impurity; and the count of the days begins only after the fourteen days of impurity of a female have ended, even if those fourteen days themselves were clean, during which she did not see at all.

But the fourth week, even though she is seeing blood—

she may engage in intercourse,

for this blood does not render her impure,

for this is certainly pure blood!

For according to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, a woman who was presumed pregnant and gave birth is considered certainly to have given birth, since she brings a sacrifice and it is eaten; and if so, during the fourth week she is certainly in the middle of the days of purity [whether for a male or for a female], and we should permit her to engage in intercourse despite the fact that she saw blood?

Rather,

no,

the reason that we prohibited her during the fourth week is

because we do not follow the majority,

that women whose fetuses were presumed viable give birth to a viable offspring; and she is forbidden because of the concern that perhaps she miscarried a nonviable form and has no days of purity—and this is a refutation of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi!

And the Gemara continues to explain Ravin’s words:

Rather, what is the meaning of “I do not know what the refutation is,”

as Ravin said?

Because the prohibition during the fourth week is for another reason: we are concerned that

perhaps her birth took place long ago!

For she does not know when she gave birth. It is possible that she gave birth a long time ago, and her days of purity have already ended.

But she will certainly bring the sacrifice of a woman who gave birth, in accordance with Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, for the entire uncertainty is when she gave birth, but it is certain to us that she gave birth to a fully viable offspring; therefore Ravin said, “I do not know what his refutation is.”

And now the Gemara returns to explain the words of the beraita, and first the first law, that she may engage in intercourse only on the night of the thirty-fifth day, and is forbidden on all the preceding days.

This fifth week,

This fifth week,

after three weeks of the impurity of a woman who has given birth and of ziva impurity had already passed, and the first week of the ten weeks in which she sees alternately—during which she is impure because she saw blood—had also passed, and the fifth week arrived,

which is pure—

she may engage in intercourse

throughout this entire week; and why did we permit her to engage in intercourse only on the night of the thirty-fifth day, which is the seventh day of the fifth week?!

And it answers:

This fourth week,

during which she saw every day, cannot be regarded as the seven days of niddah, at the end of which she immerses and becomes pure, with the blood that she saw during the days not extending the impurity, because—

each and every day

that she sees during the fourth week,

we consider

it

at the end of childbirth and at the beginning of niddah,

for we must be concerned that perhaps yesterday the days of purity of the birth ended, and only today the days of niddah began; and she must count seven days of niddah from the sighting on this day, which is the first day of her niddah impurity.

Therefore, even on the last day of the fourth week [during which, as stated, she sees every day], which is—

twenty-eight

days from the day of her coming—on this day

itself

she is uncertain:

perhaps it is the beginning of niddah,

and until now her sightings were sightings of the pure blood of a woman who has given birth.

And she must wait seven [days] for her niddah,

which are the last day of the fourth week and another six days of the fifth week; it follows that she becomes certainly pure only on the seventh day of the fifth week, and she is permitted to engage in intercourse.

And the Gemara asks another question: Why did we prohibit her from engaging in intercourse on the last day of the third week? For during this week we prohibited her from engaging in intercourse only because of the concern that perhaps she gave birth while in a state of ziva, and must count seven clean days of a zava after the fourteen days of impurity of a woman who has given birth; but the halakha is that a zava may immerse on the morning of the seventh day of counting the clean days and become pure, and she need not wait until sunset at the end of the day. If so—

on the twenty-first

in the morning, she should immerse

and engage in intercourse?

The Gemara answers:

It is Rabbi Shimon, who says that it is forbidden to do so,

to engage in intercourse on the seventh day after the immersion,

lest she come to uncertainty,

for if she sees during the day, she will invalidate all seven clean days, and it will become retroactively clear that she engaged in intercourse while forbidden as a zava; and because of the uncertainty, she is forbidden to engage in intercourse even before she sees.

And the Gemara continues to ask: On the night of the twenty-second day, after the seven clean days of the zava have ended,

in the evening—

may she engage in intercourse?

And even though it is the first day of the ten weeks during which she sees alternately, should she be permitted until she sees blood?

And it answers:

When she saw

in the evening!

And now the Gemara comes to explain the number of immersions:

“And they immerse her in ninety-five immersions—

the words of Beit Shammai.”

The first week—

they immerse her at night

every evening:

perhaps she is a woman who gave birth to a male!

Since it is not known when she gave birth or what she gave birth to, we are concerned on every night of the first week from her coming that perhaps the seven days of impurity of a male have now ended, and she must immerse immediately at night, because immersion at its proper time is a mitzva.

The second week—

they immerse her at night,

every evening:

perhaps she is a woman who gave birth to a female,

who has fourteen days of impurity!

And likewise, during the second week they immerse her also

during the day,

every morning:

perhaps she is a woman who gave birth to a male while in a state of ziva!

For if she gave birth to a male and was a zava at the time of her birth, we must be concerned on every day of the first week that perhaps the seven impure days of a male ended on it and the seven clean days of a woman who gave birth to a male while in a state of ziva began; and therefore on every day of the second week there is a concern that perhaps the seven clean days ended today, and she must immerse also in the morning, in accordance with the immersion of a zava, which is in the morning, in addition to her immersion at night, because of the concern that perhaps she gave birth to a female without ziva.

The third week—

they immerse her during the day,

every morning:

perhaps she is a woman who gave birth to a female while in a state of ziva,

who counts seven clean days after the fourteen days of impurity of a woman who has given birth. And also

at night

they immerse her every evening, according to Beit Shammai. And although the days of impurity of a woman who has given birth ended, at the latest, at the end of the second week,

Beit Shammai follow their own position, for they say: One who immersed on a long day requires immersion!

For every woman who gives birth to a female immerses at the end of the days of purity, and her immersion at the end of the fourteen days of impurity is not sufficient, because during the days of purity she is forbidden with regard to teruma, and she requires an additional immersion on the night of the eighty-first day, before she begins to eat teruma.

And this woman, since it is not known when she gave birth, according to the view of Beit Shammai must immerse every night throughout the first eighty days from her coming, because perhaps the days of purity have now ended. And even though this woman is forbidden with regard to teruma because of the uncertainty, immersion at its proper time is a mitzva.

And the number of her immersions up to this point is:

The first week: seven nighttime immersions, because perhaps she is a woman who gave birth to a male.

The second week: seven nighttime immersions, because perhaps she is a woman who gave birth to a female. And in addition, seven daytime immersions, because perhaps she is a woman who gave birth to a male while in a state of ziva.

The third week: seven nighttime immersions, because perhaps eighty days ended; and seven daytime immersions, because perhaps she is a woman who gave birth to a female while in a state of ziva.

In total, thirty-five immersions during the first three weeks; and during the following weeks she continues to immerse at night because of the concern that perhaps only during them the sixty-six days of purity ended.