Niddah 53a — the Talmud in English

Rabbi said: The words of Rabbi Judah ben Agra appear

that she is concerned about seeing during twilight

, when she did not examine herself.

And

they appear

the words of the Sages

that they were not concerned about seeing during twilight

, when she examined herself.

And this is what it means: The Sages and Rabbi Judah ben Agra in the name of Rabbi Yosei disputed with regard to whether she examined herself or did not examine herself, and Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] decided in accordance with the Sages when she examined herself, and in accordance with Rabbi Yosei when she did not examine herself.

And the Gemara wonders: What is the nature of this examination

?

What

is “she examined herself,”

and what

is “she did not examine herself”?

For if she examined her garment during twilight and did not find a stain, it is clear that she did not see then; and why should she be concerned that she might discharge blood, according to Rabbi Judah ben Agra in the name of Rabbi Yosei? [Meiri]

Rava said: I found the Sages of the house of Rav sitting and saying

in explanation of the examination

, Here we are dealing with a case such as one in which she examined

herself

during

the time of twilight

, but she did not examine her garment!

And even

herself

she did not examine

during the entire period of “twilight,” which according to all opinions is included in that term

, but

only during

the twilight of Rabbi Judah [the measure of time required to walk half a mil before the emergence of the stars]. But

[the period equal to the time required to walk half a milu before the stars emerge]. But

with regard to the twilight of Rabbi Yosei,

which is an extremely brief period adjacent to the emergence of the stars, like the blink of an eye

, she did not examine herself!

And the dispute between the Sages and Rabbi Yosei is in accordance with their respective positions:

For the Sages hold

that it does not matter to us that she did not examine herself

during the twilight of Rabbi Yosei,

which is immediately adjacent to night, because this period, in their opinion

, is night!

And the entire concern is only when she sees during twilight, lest her seeing be counted as extending over two days; but here she need not be concerned about this, since

she examined herself during the twilight of Rabbi Judah

and did not find blood in it.

And Rabbi Yosei

proceeds

according to his own reasoning, for he said: Twilight

which is adjacent to night also

is a period of uncertainty,

and since she did not examine herself during it, she must be concerned lest she saw during it, and her seeing thereby be counted as extending over two days.

And I said to them [Rava said to the Sages of the house of Rav, who had explained the reasoning of the Sages that she is not concerned because she examined herself during the twilight of Rabbi Judah]:

[Rava said this to the Sages of the school of Rav, who had explained the reason of the Sages—that she need not be concerned because she examined herself during Rabbi Yehuda’s twilight]:

If only

[her hands were

before her eyes,

to pay attention to that place to see whether she would see blood, throughout

the entire twilight period—you speak well!

But

now

that she does not examine herself throughout the entire period, let us be concerned

lest she saw blood when she removed her hands!?

And they said to me: When we say

that she is not concerned according to the Sages

, it is when she placed her hands before her eyes

throughout

the entire twilight period

of Rabbi Judah.

And after the Gemara explained the dispute between the Sages and Rabbi Yosei, it explains Rabbi’s statement:

“Rabbi said: The words of Rabbi Judah ben Agra appear

in the name of Rabbi Yosei, that she is concerned about seeing during twilight

, when she did not examine herself.”

What

is “she did not examine herself”?

If you say: It means that she examined herself

only

during

twilight

of Rabbi Judah, but did not examine herself during

twilight

of Rabbi Yosei,

and therefore Rabbi decided in accordance with his words, since she did not examine herself during the entire twilight period, including the time that according to Rabbi Yosei is also twilight, and therefore she is concerned about seeing during twilight.

It cannot be said so. For

by implication, Rabbi Judah

ben Agra himself, who does not distinguish between one who examined herself and one who did not examine herself, and is concerned in every case

, held

that

even though she examined herself during both of them,

the twilights [both that of Rabbi Judah and that of Rabbi Yosei]

he is concerned

lest she saw during twilight. And why

? She examined herself

during the entire twilight period and did not find blood in it

!?

Rather, it is obvious that Rabbi did not state his decision in accordance with Rabbi Judah ben Agra in such a case, but in another case

, that she did not examine herself either during

the twilight

of Rabbi Judah or during

the twilight

of Rabbi Yosei,

and therefore Rabbi decided in this matter in accordance with Rabbi Yosei, that she is concerned lest she saw during twilight.

And according to this—that Rabbi was concerned only where she did not examine herself at all during twilight—it follows:

But if she examined herself during

the twilight

of Rabbi

Yehu

d

ah

and did not examine herself during

the twilight

of Rabbi Yosei, she is not concerned!

Evidently, “

the twilight of Rabbi Yosei”

is, according to Rabbi, night!

And therefore Rabbi was not concerned lest she see during it. For even if she sees, it is only one day, unlike when she sees during twilight: that seeing is considered a seeing of two days, and if she sees once more, there is here a sequence of three days and she becomes a zava

. Come and hear the latter clause

of Rabbi’s statement:

And

they appear

the words of the Sages

that they were not concerned about seeing during twilight

, when she examined herself!”

What

is “she examined herself”?

If you say that she examined herself during

twilight

of Rabbi Judah, and did not examine herself during

twilight

of Rabbi Yosei,

and Rabbi decided in accordance with the Sages because she examined herself during the twilight of Rabbi Judah, and that is sufficient for us not to be concerned.

By implication, the Sages

themselves, who do not distinguish between one who examined herself and one who did not examine herself

, hold

that

even though she did not examine herself during either of them, we are not concerned!

And why

? She did not examine herself

at all during twilight, and perhaps she saw during them

!? Rather, it is obvious

that Rabbi’s decision in accordance with the Sages is referring to another case:

That she examined herself both during

twilight

of Rabbi Judah and during

twilight

of Rabbi Yosei,

and only in this case did Rabbi decide in accordance with the Sages, that we are not concerned.

But if she examined herself during

twilight

of Rabbi Judah and did not examine herself during

twilight

of Rabbi Yosei, we are concerned

according to Rabbi [whereas the Sages themselves are not concerned]!

Evidently, the twilight of Rabbi Yosei is, according to Rabbi, a period of uncertainty! This is a difficulty from Rabbi to Rabbi!

For from the first clause we inferred that he holds that this time is certainly night and is not twilight.

And on the basis of this difficulty, the Gemara establishes Rabbi’s words differently, that he did not come to dispute but to explain:

Rather,

this is what Rabbi said

Rabbi:

The words of Rabbi Judah ben Agra appear

in the name of Rabbi Yosei

to the Sages,

that she is concerned about seeing during twilight where

she did not examine herself at all, neither during

twilight

of Rabbi Judah nor during

twilight

of Rabbi Yosei.

For even the Sages did not dispute him except where she examined herself during Rabbi Judah’s [twilight] but did not examine herself during Rabbi Yosei’s [twilight].

For according to the Sages, this examination is sufficient so that she need not be concerned, because the twilight of Rabbi Yosei is night in their opinion.

Whereas according to Rabbi Yosei she is concerned, and he proceeds according to his position that even his twilight is still a period of uncertainty.

But where she did not examine herself at all, the Sages agree with him

that she is concerned!

And according to Rabbi’s words in this form, it is not possible to prove as we had thought earlier, that the Sages and Rabbi Yosei dispute in every case, whether she examined herself or did not examine herself. For now Rabbi is not deciding that when she examined herself the law is according to the Sages and when she did not examine herself the law is according to Rabbi Yosei; rather, he is explaining their words.

And he raises a contradiction

apparently contradicting this, from what we learned: A woman

who sees a stain,

For a substantial seeing,

of three gris and more

, is concerned

that she may become a zava.

For a slight seeing,

of less than three gris and more

, she is not concerned!

These are the words of Rabbi Judah ben Agra, who said them in the name of Rabbi Yosei.

Rabbi said: I heard from him,

from Rabbi Yosei

, that in both this case and that case she is concerned.

And for this reason Rabbi Yosei said to me:

“And if this woman with nida did not make a separation in purity

If a menstruating woman who did not perform a purification examination”

that is, she did not examine herself at the end of the seventh day

from the afternoon offering onward

on the seventh day, even though she examined herself in the morning of the seventh day of her nida and found herself pure, will she

not be presumed impure?

For she had the presumption of seeing throughout all the time of her nida, and she is required to separate in purity only at the conclusion of the seventh day, from the afternoon offering onward. And if she did not make a separation in purity then, and did not examine herself, we are concerned lest she saw at the conclusion of the day, and her seeing continued into the eighth day, and immersion on it will not help her.

And the same law applies to one who sees a stain: Since it is certain to us that she saw blood, she must examine herself throughout the entire twilight period. And if she did not examine herself throughout the entire twilight period, we are concerned lest she saw blood when she removed her hands at the end of the day, and her seeing be counted as extending over two days.

And Rabbi adds:

And

to me

his words

of Rabbi Judah ben Agra appear, that she is not concerned about a slight seeing

, when she examined herself!”

What

is “she examined herself”?

If you say that she examined herself during Rabbi Judah’s [twilight] but did not examine herself during Rabbi Yosei’s,

that Rabbi agrees with Rabbi Judah in this case: the examination during Rabbi Judah’s twilight is sufficient to remove her from concern about seeing during twilight, but he disputes him when she did not examine herself at all

, by implication, Rabbi Judah ben Agra held

that

even though she did not examine herself either during Rabbi Judah’s [twilight] or during Rabbi Yosei’s, she is not concerned! But she did not examine herself!?

Rather, it is obvious

that the case in which Rabbi agrees with Rabbi Judah ben Agra is where

she examined herself both during Rabbi Judah’s [twilight] and during Rabbi Yosei’s,

for according to Rabbi, it is only in this case, when she examined herself throughout the entire twilight period, including Rabbi Yosei’s twilight, that she is not concerned.

By implication, Rabbi Judah ben Agra held

that if she

examined herself during Rabbi Judah’s [twilight]

only

and did not examine herself during Rabbi Yosei’s, she is not concerned.

Evidently, the twilight of Rabbi Yosei is, according to Rabbi Judah ben Agra, night!

There is a difficulty from Rabbi Judah ben Agra to Rabbi Judah ben Agra!

For above we said, according to Rabbi Judah ben Agra, that Rabbi Yosei proceeds according to his position that his twilight is also considered a period of uncertainty.

Granted, without

the words of

Rabbi,

where it is possible to distinguish between one who examined herself and one who did not examine herself

, it is not difficult!

For it is possible to answer that Rabbi Judah ben Agra held as we had thought earlier, that Rabbi Yosei’s twilight is considered a period of uncertainty, and to establish his words in this manner:

That

there,

above, where Rabbi Judah ben Agra said in the name of Rabbi Yosei that she is concerned about seeing during twilight, the case is

that she examined herself

only

during Rabbi Judah’s [twilight] but did not examine herself during Rabbi Yosei’s,

whereas

here,

where he said in the name of Rabbi Yosei that she is not concerned about a slight seeing, the case is

that she also examined herself during both Rabbi Judah’s [twilight] and Rabbi Yosei’s.

Rather, with regard to Rabbi there is a difficulty,

for from his words above it follows that according to Rabbi Judah ben Agra in the name of Rabbi Yosei, Rabbi Yosei’s twilight is considered a period of uncertainty, whereas from his words here it is proven that it is considered night!

And the Gemara answers:

Two tannaim [transmitted teachings] and they differ according to Rabbi Judah ben Agra!

And according to both of them, Rabbi Yosei’s twilight is considered a period of uncertainty and not night. Rather,

this tanna,

above, who was concerned,

held that Rabbi Judah’s twilight had ended,

for the twilight period of Rabbi Judah does not overlap with Rabbi Yosei’s time; rather, it ends before Rabbi Yosei’s time.