Niddah 31b — the Talmud in English

Rather, from the fact ![](pamud.bmp "

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that they delay themselves in the womb

and do not hurry to emit seed,

so that their wives will emit seed first, and their sons will be males —

Scripture considers them as though they increase sons and grandsons!

And this is what Rav Ketina said: I am able to make all my sons males!

For he is able to delay himself from emitting seed.

And Rava said: One who wishes to make all his sons males —

should have intercourse and repeat it,

for through the desire caused by the first intercourse, his wife will emit seed before him during the second intercourse.

And Rabbi Yitzhak said in the name of Rabbi Ami: A woman becomes pregnant only near the time of her menstrual period! As it is stated —

“Behold, in iniquity I was formed,” near the time

when intercourse is forbidden with the prohibition of a menstruating woman is the time of conception.

And Rabbi Yohanan said:

A woman becomes pregnant only

near the time of her immersion! As it is stated —

“And with purification

after the purification, the purity

my mother conceived me!”

From where is it understood that this “purification” is an expression of cleansing

and purity

?

As it is written: “And he shall purify the house,” and we translate:

“And he shall cleanse

and purify

the house.”

And if you wish, say from here: “You shall purify me with hyssop —

and I shall be pure,”

for as a result of the purification he became pure; it follows that purification is an act of making pure.

And Rabbi Yitzhak said in the name of Rabbi Ami: Once a male comes into the world —

peace comes into the world! As it is stated: “Send a gift, the ruler of the land.”

And we expound

“male”

as an acronym:

“this is a gift”

— and the meaning is that just as sending a gift to the ruler of the land brings peace, so does the birth of a male bring peace.

And Rabbi Yitzhak said in the name of Rabbi Ami: Once a male comes into the world —

his loaf comes

[his livelihood]

in his hand. “

Male” —

this is a loaf!

And “loaf” means a person’s sustenance,

as it is written: “And he prepared a great meal for them.”

But when a

female

comes into the world —

nothing comes with her!

A destitute female

[lacking all property]

comes! Until she says

and requests in her prayer

sustenance —

they do not give it to her

sustenance of her own from Heaven. And this matter is learned from the verse:

“Set your wages for me

and I shall give them,”

for a female must stipulate her wages in her prayer, and then the Holy One, blessed be He, will give them to her.

His disciples asked Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai:

a.

Why did the Torah say that a woman who gives birth brings an offering?

He said to them: When she crouches to give birth, she impulsively swears that she will no longer have intercourse with her husband. Therefore, the Torah said —

she shall bring an offering

a sin offering for her oath.

Rav Yosef raised an objection against him: But she is intentional, and the matter depends on regret

when she again has intercourse with her husband, whereas an offering for an oath of utterance is owed only if the oath has escaped her memory at the time that she violates it?

And furthermore —

an oath offering

which is a female sheep or a female goat

must be brought,

and not a bird, which is what a woman who gives birth brings?!

b.

And why did the Torah say —

when a male is born,

his mother is pure

for seven

days,

and when a female is born,

her mother is pure only

for fourteen days?

Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai answered them:

A male, with whom everyone rejoices,

[his father and mother] — his mother

regrets

her oath already

after seven

days from the birth.

A female, over whom everyone is distressed —

her mother

regrets

her oath only

after fourteen.

c.

And why did the Torah say —

circumcision on the eighth

day?

Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai answered them:

So that they will not all

eat and

rejoice

at the meal,

while his father and mother are distressed

because they are forbidden marital intercourse!

It was taught: Rabbi Meir would say —

Why did the Torah say that a menstruating woman is unclean for seven days? Because he is accustomed to her,

his wife, and from excessive familiarity

he is disgusted with her;

therefore,

the Torah said: Let her be unclean for seven days, so that she will be beloved by her husband as at the time of her entering the wedding canopy!

His disciples asked Rabbi Dostai the son of Rabbi Yannai:

a.

Why does a man pursue a woman, but a woman does not pursue a man?

And he answered them —

A parable of a person who lost a lost object: Who pursues whom? —

The owner of the lost object pursues his lost object!

And so too, the man pursues the woman, who is the rib that was taken from him and is missing from him.

b.

And why does a man’s face point downward,

at the time of intercourse,

while a woman’s face points upward, toward the man?

And he answered them —

This one,

the man,

toward the place from which he was created

[the earth], toward it he turns his face.

And this one,

the woman,

toward the place from which she was created,

the man, from whom she was formed, toward him she turns her face.

c.

And why does a man accept appeasement

[it is easy to reconcile him]

but a woman does not accept appeasement?

And he answered them —

This one,

the man,

toward the place from which he was created,

and his nature resembles the earth, which is soft.

And this one,

the woman,

toward the place from which she was created,

and her nature resembles flesh and bone, which are hard.

d.

Why is a woman’s voice pleasant, but a man’s voice is not pleasant?

And he answered them —

This one is from the place from which he was created,

for when the ground is struck, its voice is not heard.

And this one is from the place from which she was created,

for when a bone is struck, its voice is heard.

As it is stated

that the husband praises the woman: “

For your voice is pleasant and your appearance is beautiful”!

And the woman does not in turn praise the man with a pleasant voice.

We shall return to you, chapter “The Woman Who Expels a Piece.”

Mishna:

1.

Samaritan women

are

menstruants from their cradles,

from the day of their birth, and the reason for this will be explained in the Gemara.

2.

And the Samaritans render the lower bedding impure as

a covering

upper

of a zav, which renders only food and drink impure, but not a person, as explained in the Gemara,

because they are those who have intercourse with menstruants. 1 .

3.

3.

And they,

the Samaritan women, are considered menstruants even when they grow up and know how to immerse , because they

observe [seven days] for every blood,

for even for pure blood, such as green blood, they count seven days of menstruation. Through this they come to a mishap, for if they saw green blood and after several days saw red blood, they do not count the seven days of menstruation from seeing the red blood, but from seeing the green blood, and they immerse in the midst of the seven days of menstruation. Therefore they are always in the uncertainty of menstruants, and likewise those who have intercourse with them are considered those who have intercourse with menstruants

. 4.

And one is not liable on their account

for entering the Temple,

for their impurity is not certain, but only uncertain, since they practice the laws of purity and immersion, except that there are cases in which they act unlawfully. Therefore the garments that were their bedding do not have the status of certainly impure [garments], and one who wears them or covers himself with them does not certainly become impure; rather, the Sages decreed concerning them that they be considered menstruants, and therefore one is not liable for entering the Temple

.

And therefore also

we do not burn teruma on their account

if they touched it, because

the impurity

of these garments is only

uncertain. 6 .

Gemara:

The Gemara clarifies:

what are the circumstances

of the manner in which Samaritan women are impure from their cradles?

If

it is known to us

that they see

blood during their minority—

even

the daughters

of ours alsoare thereby impure, and even if they are one day old!

would thereby be impure, even if they were one day old!

And if

it is known to us

that they do not see—

then also the daughters

of theirs are notrendered impure, even when they are adults?!

The Gemara explains:

Rava, son of Rav Aha son of Rav Huna, said in the name of Rav Sheshet: with what are we dealing here—

with an unspecified case,

in which it is not known whether the minor saw blood or not.

Since there is a minority

of minors

who see, we are concerned

for the minority, and we render all minors impure. [The Gemara still does not answer why they are concerned for the minority only concerning Samaritan women and not concerning Israelite women].

And who is the tanna who is concerned for the minority—