Niddah 61a — the Talmud in English

“They were not fit to see” -

they are seen ![](pamud.bmp "

exact column location")

as though they were fit to see,

and since blood emerged from between them, it is certain that one of them saw, contrary to the natural cessation; and both are impure because of the uncertainty.

Mishna:

Three women who were sleeping in one bed, and blood was found underneath

the woman

in the middle -

all of them are impure,

because we are concerned that they moved in their sleep, and the others also came to the place where the middle woman had been lying.

Under

the woman

on the inside,

who was sleeping next to the wall -

the two women on the inside are impure, and the outer one is pure,

for we are not concerned that they moved so much that the outer one reached the inner one.

Under the outer woman -

the two outer women are impure, and the inner woman is pure.

When

they said that if blood was found beneath the outer woman, the inner woman is pure -

when they passed

to enter the bed

through the foot of the bed.

But if they passed over it,

when they all passed along the outer side of the bed -

all of them are impure.

For perhaps the blood fell from one of them when they passed there while entering inside.

If one of them examined herself and was found pure -

she is pure, and the two others are impure 44 .

If two examined themselves and found themselves pure -

they are pure and the third is impure.

If all three examined themselves and found themselves pure -

all of them are impure,

for one of them necessarily erred in her examination, but it is not known who she is.

To what is this comparable -

to an impure heap

containing an olive-sized portion of a corpse

that became mixed among two pure heaps, and one of them was examined and found pure -

it is pure and the two others are impure.

If two were examined and found pure -

they are pure and the third is impure.

If all three were examined and found pure -

all of them are impure, the words of Rabbi Meir.

For Rabbi Meir says: Anything that has the presumptive status of impurity -

remains forever in its impurity, until it becomes known to you where the impurity is.

And the Sages say: One examines until one reaches bedrock or

the

virgin

soil,

Gemara:

The Gemara asks:

What is different

above, in

the first clause [

in the previous Mishna] -

that it does not distinguish

where the blood was found, whether beneath the inner or the outer woman,

and what is different in the latter clause, that it does distinguish?

And it answers:

Rabbi Ami said:

The previous Mishna speaks of a case in which there was

a

manner in which they were

intertwined

together; and since they were very close to one another, we are concerned also that perhaps the outer woman moved as far as the place of the inner woman.

We learned in the Mishna:

“If one examined herself

etc.”,

to what is this comparable? To an impure heap that became mixed among two pure heaps.”

And the Gemara asks:

Why does it have to teach “

To what is this comparable,”

when the law of the Mishna is obvious and there is no need to explain it by means of a parable?

And the Gemara answers:

This is what Rabbi Meir said to the Rabbis: What is different with blood, that you do not distinguish,

for you agree with me that if blood was found and all three examined themselves and found themselves pure, we say that one of them necessarily erred in the examination and render all three impure because of the uncertainty,

and what is different with a heap, that you do distinguish

against me, and declared all the heaps pure even when all three were examined and found pure?

And the Rabbis

answered:

Granted, there

in the case of three heaps -

say that a raven took it,

and therefore it was not found in any of the heaps, and it is not necessary that there was an error in the examinations.

But here -

this blood,

that was found in the bed,

from where did it come?

Certainly from one of these women; and since it is necessary that one of them erred in her examination, we render all three impure.

And Rabbi Meir brings proof for his words, that one must be concerned about an error in an examination:

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Meir said: There was an incident involving a sycamore in Kfar Saba, which was presumed to contain impurity, and they examined it but did not find

the impurity.

After some time, the wind blew against it and uprooted it, and a corpse’s skull was found stuck at its base

of the tree.

They said to him

the Rabbis:

Is that proof?

Say that they did not examine it sufficiently,

but where it is known to us that they examined properly, it is not reasonable that they erred in the examination.

And the Gemara brings another proof that there are errors in an examination:

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Yosei said: There was an incident involving a cave in Sikhin, which was presumed to contain impurity, and they examined until they reached soil that was smooth like a fingernail,

which had never been sown,

but did not find anything.

After some time, workers entered it because of the rains. They struck with their axes, and found a mortar full of bones 46 .

They said to him: Is that proof?

Say that they did not examine it sufficiently.

It was taught in a beraita: Abba Shaul says: There was an incident involving the rock of Beit Horon, which was presumed to contain impurity, and the Sages could not examine it because it was extensive.

And there was one old man there, whose name was Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananiah. He said to them: Bring me sheets!

They brought him sheets, and soaked them in water, and spread them over it.

A place of purity,

whose floor was solid - remained

dry,

while

a place of impurity,

whose soil was soft because they had dug in it - became

moist,

because the moist soil absorbed the water from the sheets.

And they examined

beneath the moist place,

and found a large pit filled with bones. It was taught: This was the pit that Ishmael ben Netaniah filled with slain bodies. As it is written: “And the pit into which Ishmael cast all the corpses of the men whom he struck by the hand of Gedaliah.”

And the Gemara asks:

But did Gedaliah kill them? Surely Ishmael killed them! 48 .

And it answers:

Rather, since he was supposed

to Gedaliah

to heed the counsel of Johanan son of Kareah,

who informed him that he had heard that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had come to kill him,

and he did not heed it -

Scripture regards him as though he had killed them.

Rava said: This evil speech, although it is not necessary to accept it -

it is necessary to take heed of it

50 . There were those men of the Galilee about whom a voice went out that they had killed a person.

They came before Rabbi Tarfon.

They said to him: Let our master hide us,

for we killed no one; this is merely a false accusation.

He said to them: What shall we do?

If I do not hide you -

the authorities will see you

and kill you.

If I hide you -

behold, the Rabbis said: This evil speech, although it is not necessary to accept it -

it is necessary to take heed of it 51 .

Rather,

Go, you hide yourselves. “

And Og king of Bashan went out toward them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei,”

“and the Lord said to Moses: Do not fear.” 52 .

And the Gemara discusses this verse: Since Sihon and Og were brothers,

for the master said: Sihon and Og -

were the sons of Ahiyah son of Shemhazai [

one of the angels who descended in the generation of Enosh]

.

And if so,

what is different about Og -

that he was feared,

as Moses was concerned because of him,

and what is different about Sihon, that he was not feared?

And the Gemara explains from where we know that Moses feared Og:

Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai: From the response

of the Holy One, blessed be He, to his concern,

of that righteous man [

Moses] -

You know what was in his heart,

Moses’s heart, for from the fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, had to answer him, “Do not fear him,” we learn that Moses was afraid.

And the reason he feared Og but not Sihon was that

he said: Perhaps the merit of Abraham our forefather will stand him in good stead, as it is stated: “And the fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew.”

And Rabbi Yohanan said: This is Og,

and he was called “the fugitive” because

he escaped from the generation of the Flood 54 .

The Sages taught: Concerning a garment in which a stain

of menstrual blood that causes impurity through contact has been lost,

one passes seven substances over it [

listed in the following Mishna],

and nullifies it,

the stain; from then on it no longer returns to cause impurity, and one may immerse it in a ritual bath and purify it.