Niddah 48b — the Talmud in English

Your breasts became firm,

when your breasts began to grow [and this means also when the Israelite nation began to grow in Egypt],

you did not turn back,

you still did not turn back from your evil path, to fornicate with the Egyptians.

And also when

your breasts became firm,

when they grew completely, when you had large breasts [and this means when the nation grew and reached the age of maturity],

you likewise did not turn back.

Even then you did not turn back from the disgraceful path, and you continued in your attachment to Egypt.

And we raised an objection:

According to everyone,

both according to the Sages and according to Rabbi Meir,

at least, upon the lower one

alone

we rely

to make her of age.

From where do we know

that we rely upon the lower one by itself, and that the upper sign does not also have to appear?

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav, and likewise the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: The verse says

[Numbers 5] “

A man or a woman, when they commit any of the sins of man.”

The verse equated a woman with a man for all punishments in the Torah.

And from here they also learned:

Just as a man

reaches maturity

through one sign,

the lower one, for he has no upper sign,

so too a woman

reaches maturity

through one sign.

And the Gemara discusses:

But say

that for a woman one sign is indeed sufficient, but not specifically the lower one; rather, let it be said:

either this one,

the lower one,

or this one,

the upper one, by itself.

And we answer: Therefore the verse likened them to one another, to teach us that the law of a woman is

like that of a man

completely:

Just as a man

reaches maturity through a sign

lower and not upper,

so too a woman through a sign

lower and not upper.

It was taught likewise,

that only the lower sign determines, for we learned in a beraita:

Rabbi Eliezer, son of Rabbi Tzadok, said: This is how they would explain it in Yavneh, and they said: Once the

sign

lower has come, no longer do we pay attention to the

sign

upper,

whether it came or did not come, for she is of age through the lower one alone.

It was taught: Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says:

Among

the daughters of cities,

the sign

lower is quick to come,

before the upper sign,

because they are accustomed to bathhouses

[which cause the hairs to appear earlier]. But among

the daughters of villages,

the sign

upper is quick to come, because they grind with handmills,

and the movements of their hands cause the breasts to come and precede the hairs.

Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: Among

the

daughters of the wealthy,

the breast of

the right side is quick to come,

because

it is rubbed,

the place of the right breast is rubbed

by their outer garments

[by the cloth hanging on their right side], and through the rubbing the breast on that side comes earlier. But among

the daughters of the poor,

the breast of

the left side is quick to come, because they draw water with them.

And if you wish, say:

The reason that the left side comes earlier among them is

because they carry their brothers on their left sides

[on their left side].

The Sages taught:

The breast of

the left side comes first

in its appearance

to the right side.

Rabbi Hanina, son of the brother of Rabbi Yehoshua, says: The left side never preceded the right side, except for one woman who was in my neighborhood, for whom the left side preceded the right side,

and it too was healed in the end

and returned to its proper condition.

The Sages taught: All those who are examined

for their signs

are examined by women,

who are trustworthy to examine and testify concerning the signs of maturity, and it is sufficient for only one woman to examine her.

And so Rabbi Eliezer would entrust [the examination] to his wife, and Rabbi Yishmael would entrust [it] to his mother

to examine her, and they relied upon their examination.

Rabbi Yehuda says:

It is not always possible to rely upon the examination of women, but only

before the age threshold,

before she is eleven years and one day old,

and after the age threshold,

after she has reached twelve full years and one day,

women examine them.

And the reason is: before the age threshold, even if they find that she brought hairs, she is a minor, and the entire benefit of the examination is only that if they find hairs, we will know that those hairs have merely the status of “blemishes,” so that if these hairs remain in her after she grows up, they will not be signs of maturity. For this the testimony of women is effective, in order to rule stringently concerning her maturity, so that she should not perform chalitza or undergo yibbum on the basis of those hairs found in her while she was a minor.

And likewise, after she has reached twelve full years and one day, the women are trustworthy concerning the examination to say that she brought hairs, because it is her usual way at that time to bring hairs, and it follows that we do not rely upon their examination alone. But if they say that they did not find hairs in her, they are not trustworthy to say that she is still a minor and may perform mi'un concerning her marriage [if her mother or brothers married her through a rabbinic kiddushin], because we rely upon their testimony only to be stringent, and not to be lenient.

However,

during the age threshold,

during the twelfth year, before she is twelve years and one day old,

women do not examine them,

because

doubtful cases are not married off on the basis of women.

For Rabbi Yehuda holds that if she brought signs during the age threshold, she is of age [but it is not her usual way to bring signs then]. It follows that if we rely upon the examination of the women, we will permit her to perform chalitza or undergo yibbum as one of age on the basis of their words; therefore an examination by men, and not by women, is required.

Rabbi Shimon says: Even during the age threshold, women examine them.

For he disputes Rabbi Yehuda and holds that if she brought two hairs during the age threshold, she is a minor. It follows that we do not rely upon their examination to permit her through chalitza or yibbum. Rather, we rely upon their examination only so that if those hairs are found in her when she grows and becomes twelve years and one day old, they will be considered merely “blemishes.”

And a woman is trustworthy to be stringent, but not to be lenient

[both according to Rabbi Yehuda and according to Rabbi Shimon].

How so?

The beraita explains: A woman is trustworthy to examine and say:

She is of age.

But this trustworthiness is only to be stringent,

so that she may not perform mi'un

[and not to be lenient with her to perform chalitza or yibbum, as the beraita explains below].

And likewise a woman is trustworthy to examine and say:

She is a minor.

And she is trustworthy only to be stringent,

so that she should not perform chalitza.

But she is not trustworthy to say: She is a minor,

in order to be lenient with her

so that she may perform mi'un.

And

likewise a woman is not trustworthy to say

She is of age,

to be lenient,

so that she may perform chalitza

on the basis of her examination.

The master said: Rabbi Yehuda says: Before the age threshold and after the age threshold, women examine them.

And we raised an objection:

Granted, before the age threshold an examination is required

by women, and there is something upon which to rely,

for if they are found,

if they find those hairs found in the examination before the age threshold also

after the age threshold, they are “blemishes,”

and she does not become of age through them.

But after the age threshold, why do I need an examination? For Rava said: A minor who has reached the age of her years

[twelve years and one day]

does not require an examination,

because

there is a presumption that she brought signs!?

And we answer:

When Rava said [there is] a presumption

that she brought signs and does not need to be examined,

for mi'un

alone did he say it, and it is to rule stringently concerning her, so that she should not perform mi'un without an examination.

But for chalitza, an examination is required.

And a woman is trustworthy in this examination because this is the normal course, that signs will come; it follows that we do not rely upon her trustworthiness alone, but together with Rava’s presumption.

And that which Rabbi Yehuda said,

“During the age threshold women do not examine them,”

is because

he holds that during the age threshold is like after the age threshold,

and the signs that come during the age threshold are signs of maturity, and she becomes of age even before she reaches twelve years and one day.

And that which Rabbi Yehuda said

that

after the age threshold

they are trustworthy is because

there is Rava’s presumption,

that when she reaches twelve years and one day she brings signs; therefore

we rely upon women

together with the presumption,

and they examine

women.

But,

within the period, since there is no presumption of Rava, we do not rely on women, and women do not examine women!

And now the Gemara explains the opinion of Rabbi Shimon:

Rabbi Shimon says: Even within the period, women examine them.

He holds that within the period is like before the period,

and she is certainly a minor, and consequently we have nothing on which to rely on women,

and she requires examination

not in order to discover whether she is an adult or a minor, for her signs now are merely growths, but only

that if they are found

these hairs

after the period,

they are not signs of maturity but

growths

alone

they are,

for they had already appeared during her minority.

And regarding that which the baraita teaches at its end,

“And a woman is believed to be stringent, but not to be lenient,”

there is a doubt:

This—who taught it?

And we say:

If you wish, say: Rabbi Judah

said it,

and [it refers] to within the period,

and according to his view, if she brought forth signs within the period, she is an adult; therefore, the women are believed concerning the examination only to be stringent, so that she may not exercise refusal, but not to be lenient, to perform halitza.