Niddah 62a — the Talmud in English

6.

Kamonia,

a type of herb that, after being ground and dried, is used for cleaning .

7.

And lye from pearls,

a cleaning substance produced from the shell of a pearl that is used for cleaning the hands.

The Mishna explains the benefit of removing these substances:

If one immersed it

—a garment containing a stain—

and performed acts of ritual purity on it,

and after the immersion

he applied the seven substances to it and it did not come off,

the stain—

it is dye!

These substances are capable of removing bloodstains, but not dye stains; since they were ineffective against the stain before us, it must be dye .

Therefore,

the ritually pure objects

that he prepared on this garment

are pure, and he does not need

to

immerse it again.

But if, as a result of applying the substances, the stain

came off

the garment,

or its appearance faded—

that is, it became lighter—

it is a bloodstain,

which again renders impure the garment on which it is found, and

the ritually pure objects

that touched the garment

are impure, and it must be immersed once more. The second immersion, performed after applying the substances, purifies it, because the substances are also effective in purifying menstrual bloodstains so that they will not again impart impurity.

The Mishna explains the first three substances:

The Mishna explains the first three substances:

What is tasteless saliva?

Any saliva produced by a person who has not tasted

anything

that day.

Food, which sweetens the saliva, weakens its effectiveness .

Bean-water—

chewing split bean kernels.

That is, one takes bean kernels that were cooked extensively until they split on their own, rather than by human action, from their husks , chews them, and mixes a large amount of saliva into them . He then applies them to the stain.

Urine—

that has fermented

and begun to give off a foul odor.

The Mishna explains how the washing with the seven substances is performed.

a.

One must scrub

the garment with his hands

three times for each one

of the substances.

b. If

he applied

the seven substances

out of order, or applied all seven substances at once,

he has accomplished nothing.

Rather, he must wash the stain separately with each substance, in the order in which they are listed in the Mishna.

Gemara:

The Gemara explains the last four substances, which the Mishna did not explain:

A tanna taught: Natron—

Alexandrian natron, but not Antipatrian natron,

from a place called Antipatris .

“Borit.” Rav Yehuda said: This

is a substance called

ahala.

The Gemara raises an objection:

But was it not taught: “Borit and ohel”?

Since “borit” and “ohel” are listed separately in the beraita—a tannaitic source not included in the Mishna—it follows that they are not the same substance.

Rather, what is borit?

It is kibrit,

sulfur.

And they raise the following contradiction from another source:

We learned the following concerning substances subject to the laws of the Sabbatical year:

They added to them: halvitzin, la’onin, borit, and ohel.

And if borit

is

kibrit,

can sulfur have

sulfur

the sanctity of the Sabbatical year?

Sulfur is not a plant. But we learned: This is the general rule: Anything that has a root—

a root from which it grows—

has the sanctity of the Sabbatical year.

But anything that does not have a root

does not have the sanctity of the Sabbatical year!

Sulfur is merely earth and has no root from which it grows!?

Rather, what is borit?

It is ahala,

as in the first explanation. But the Gemara’s objection was:

Was it not taught: “Borit and ohel”?!

This can be resolved by saying that

there are two types of ahala:

one type is also called borit, while the other is called only ohel.

Kemonia and ashlag:

Rav Yehuda said:

This is

shalf dootz.

It is a type of herb [the identity of which has not been clarified] that, after being dried and ground, is used for cleaning.

And ashlag.

Shmuel said: I asked the sailors,

those who travel the seas,

and they said: Its name is ashlaga, and it is found among the holes of pearls

—the pearl—

and they remove it with an iron probe.

That is, they extract it with a long iron nail.

We learned in the Mishna:

“He immersed it and performed

acts of ritual purity on it; he applied the seven substances to it and the stain did not come off—it is dye” .

The Sages taught: If he applied the seven substances to it, and the stain did not come off,

and afterward he applied a cleaning substance called

“tzafon”

—soap—

and it came off,

the ritually pure objects he had prepared are impure.

And we wonder: But

tzafon

also removes dye!

Why, then, are the ritually pure objects impure? The fact that the stain did not come off through the seven substances proves that it is dye and not a bloodstain!

And we answer:

Rather, if he applied six substances to it and it did not come off, and then applied tzafon and it came off,

the ritually pure objects are impure.

For if he applied the seventh substance first,

perhaps it would have come off .

Another teaching states: If he applied the seven substances to it and the stain did not come off, repeated them, and it came off,

the ritually pure objects are pure,

because if it had been blood, it would have come off the first time; the second time, dye also comes off .

Zeira said: They taught

that the ritually pure objects are pure

only with regard to the ritually pure objects prepared between the first washing and the second,

because at that time the pure objects that touched the garment did not become impure.

But with regard to ritually pure objects prepared after the second washing,

the ritually pure objects are impure! For

by repeating the process rather than being satisfied with the first application,

he showed concern for it,

revealing that he was concerned even about the possibility that such a stain might be blood.

And it came off:

through the second washing, this stain assumed the behavior of a bloodstain. Therefore, there is concern that the ritually pure objects prepared on the garment after its second washing are impure .