Niddah 31b (לא:) — the Talmud in English

Rather, since

they restrain themselves in the womb

and do not hurry to emit semen,

so that their wives will emit semen first, and their children will be male—

Scripture considers it as though they increase the number of sons and grandsons!

And this is what Rav Ketina said: I could make all my children male!

For he is able to delay emitting semen.

And Rava said: One who wishes to make all his children male—

should have intercourse and repeat it,

for as a result of the desire aroused by the first act of intercourse, his wife will emit semen before him during the second act.

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

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

when intercourse is forbidden due to the prohibition of niddah 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 through sin

after the cleansing, the purification]

my mother conceived me!”

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

and purification

?

As it is written, “

And he shall purify the house,” and we translate it, “And he shall cleanse

and purify]

the house.”

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

and I shall be clean,”

for as a result of the cleansing he becomes pure; therefore, cleansing is an act of purification.

And Rabbi Yitzhak said that Rabbi Ami said: Once a male comes into the world—

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

And we expound

“male”

as an acronym:

“this is a gift”

a present]! And this is analogous to the fact that just as sending a gift to the ruler of the land brings peace, so the birth of a male brings peace.

And Rabbi Yitzhak said that Rabbi Ami said: When a male comes into the world—

his loaf

livelihood]

comes with him. “

Male” —

this is a loaf!

And “loaf” refers to a person's sustenance,

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

But when a

female

comes into the world—

she comes with nothing!

A female, completely destitute

lacking all possessions]

comes! Until she says

and requests in her prayer

sustenance—

they do not give it to her

Sustenance of her own is not provided for her from Heaven. This is learned from the verse

“Name your wages to me—

and I will give them,”

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

Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai's students asked him

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 jumps and vows that she will never again engage in intercourse with her husband. Therefore, the Torah said—

she should bring an offering

a sin-offering for her vow.

Rav Yosef raised an objection to this: But she violates it knowingly, and the matter depends on regret

when she again engages in intercourse with her husband; and one is liable for an offering for an oath of utterance only when the oath has escaped one's awareness at the time one violates it?

Furthermore—

an offering for an oath

which is a female sheep or she-goat

would have to be brought,

and not a bird, which 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,

whereas 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 vow already

after seven

days following the birth.

A female, over whom everyone is distressed —

her mother

regrets

her vow only

after fourteen days.

c.

And why did the Torah say—

circumcision on the eighth

day?

Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai answered them:

So that they would not all

eat and

rejoice

at the feast, while

his father and mother are distressed

because they are forbidden to engage in intercourse!

It was taught in a baraita: Rabbi Meir would say—

Why did the Torah say that a woman in a state of niddah is impure for seven days? Because her husband is accustomed to her,

his wife, and because of his excessive familiarity

he becomes disgusted with her;

therefore,

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

Rabbi Dostai bar Rabbi Yannai’s students asked him:

Rabbi Dostai the son of Rabbi Yannai's students asked him:

a.

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

He answered them—

This may be compared to a person who lost a lost object: Who pursues whom?—

The owner of the lost object pursues his lost object!

And likewise, 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,

during intercourse,

whereas a woman's face points upward, toward the man?

He answered them—

This one,

the man,

faces toward the place from which he was created

the earth].

And this one,

the woman,

faces toward the place from which she was created,

the man, from whom she was formed.

c.

And why is a man receptive to appeasement

it is easy to placate him]

whereas a woman is not receptive to appeasement?

He answered them—

This one,

the man,

was created from a place

and his nature resembles the earth, which is soft.

And this one,

the woman,

was created from a place

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

d.

Why is a woman's voice pleasant, whereas a man's voice is not pleasant?

He answered them—

This one was created from a place,

for when the ground is struck, no sound is heard from it.

And this one was created from a place

where, when a bone is struck, its sound 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 for having a pleasant voice. We shall return to you, chapter “The Woman Who Miscarries a Sac-like Mass.”

Mishna:

1.

Samaritan women

are

niddot from their cradle,

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

2.

And the Samaritans render the lower bedding as

a covering

above

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 niddot 1.

3.

3.

And they,

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

count seven days for every sighting of blood,

for even for pure blood, such as green blood, they count seven days of niddah. As a result, they come to err: if they see green blood and, several days later, see red blood, they do not count the seven days of niddah from the sighting of the red blood, but from the sighting of the green blood, and they immerse during the seven days of niddah. Therefore, they are always in a state of uncertain niddah, and those who have intercourse with them likewise have the status of those who have intercourse with niddot .

4.

And they are not liable for them

for entering the Temple,

because their impurity is not certain but only doubtful: after all, they observe the laws of purity and immersion, except that there are circumstances in which they act improperly. Therefore, the garments that served as their bedding are not presumed certainly impure, and one who wears them or covers himself with them is not certainly rendered impure. Rather, the Sages decreed that they be considered niddot; therefore, he is not liable for entering the Temple .

And

for this reason, also

we do not burn teruma because of them

if they touched it, because

the impurity

of these garments is only

doubtful 6.

Gemara:

The Gemara asks:

What are the circumstances

of the case in which Samaritan women are impure from their cradle?

If

we know that

they see blood

during their minority,

even

our

women as well

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

And if

we know that

they do not see blood,

then the daughters

of theirs also do not

become impure, even when they are adults?! The Gemara explains:

Rava, son of Rav Aha, son of Rav Huna, said that Rav Sheshet said: Here, with what are we dealing—

with an unspecified case,

where it is not known whether the minor saw blood or not.

Since there is a minority

of minors

who see blood, we are concerned

about the minority and render all minors impure. [The Gemara has still not answered why concern for the minority applies only to Samaritan women and not to Jewish women.]

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