Niddah 63a (סג.) — the Talmud in English

And

Rabbi Yohanan

held that although it can emerge

if he is particular about it—

no; if not—

no.

And the beraita that stated that if it can emerge it is impure is dealing with a case in which he is particular that it emerge; and in that case Rabbi Yohanan agrees that it is impure.

We learned in the Mishna:

What is tasteless spittle?

Anything that he has tasted nothing.

It was taught: Anything that he has tasted nothing of since the previous evening.

Rav Pappa thought to say before Rava: It is in accordance with the one who says that he tasted nothing at night,

meaning that he had already tasted nothing on the preceding night.

Rava said to him: Does it teach

“in the evening”—

“since the evening”

it teaches,

meaning that from the evening onward he did not eat;

excluding a case in which he arose early

before daybreak and

ate

after awakening from his sleep. Sleep is what strengthens the spittle, whereas eating nullifies its power; therefore, the spittle is capable of cleansing only when he has tasted nothing from after his sleep onward.

Rabba bar bar Hanna said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: What is tasteless spittle—

anything over which midnight passed, and sleep,

meaning that he slept from midnight until morning , and the spittle became properly strengthened.

And the Gemara raises a difficulty:

Does this imply that the matter depends on sleep?

But didn’t we learn in the Mishna: If he slept all day—

this is not tasteless spittle; if he remained awake all night—

this is tasteless spittle!

Thus, the night causes it even without any sleep at all?

The Gemara answers:

There—

it is a case of dozing,

and dozing suffices from midnight until morning to strengthen the spittle.

The Gemara explains:

What are the circumstances of dozing?

Rav Ashi said: He is asleep

(sleeping)

but not asleep, awake

(awake)

but not awake.

This state is characterized as follows:

If they prick him—

he answers,

but

he cannot formulate a thought in response;

but

if they remind him—

he remembers 101 .

It was taught: If he rose early and reviewed his chapter—

even though he had eaten nothing—

this is not tasteless spittle.

Speech too diminishes the power of the spittle.

The Gemara explains:

And how much

must he speak for the power of the spittle to be weakened by it?

Rav Yehuda bar Sheila said in the name of Rav Ashi, who said in the name of Rabbi Elazar: Anything that emerged

from his mouth in an amount of speech equivalent to

most of the speech of three hours.

We learned in the Mishna: Bean water—

chewed water of beans.

And the Gemara discusses this:

Shall we say

that the Mishna, which required that the beans be chewed in order for there to be spittle in the bean water, thereby

supports Reish Lakish?

For Reish Lakish said: Tasteless spittle must be present with each and every one

of the substances.

The Gemara rejects this:

Perhaps

the chewing of the beans is not for the sake of the spittle, but

the vapor

(heat)

of the mouth improves it,

strengthening the cleansing power of the bean water.

The Gemara says:

The Mishna—

is not in accordance with Rabbi Yehuda.

As it was taught: Rabbi Yehuda says: Bean water

must be

boiling, and must precede

(come first, as follows)

one’s putting into it

the beans

salt,

because the salt weakens the power of the bean water . The fact that Rabbi Yehuda required the bean water to be boiling is therefore unlike our Mishna, which was satisfied with the vapor of the mouth.

The Gemara explains the meaning of the word “must precede” used by Rabbi Yehuda:

From where is it inferred that this “

precede”

is an expression of going ahead? Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: For the verse states: “And Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and passed the Cushite,”

meaning that since Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain, which was a shorter route, he went ahead and arrived at David’s location before the Cushite.

Abaye said: From here: “And he passed before them,”

meaning that Jacob went ahead and proceeded toward Esau before his sons and wives.

And if you wish, say: From here: “And their king shall pass before them, and the Lord at their head.”

We learned in the Mishna:

Urine that has fermented,

that has become foul:

It was taught: How long does it take to ferment?—

Three days.

Rabbi Yohanan said: All the measures of the Sages concerning

the removal of

stains

by means of urine

require a measure for their measures;

there are different types of urine, differing in their cleansing power, and four uncertainties must be considered:

a. Is it also urine

of a child, or

specifically

of an old man,

which is more effective for cleansing?

b. Is it specifically

of a man, or

also

of a woman?

Is it specifically

covered

so that their power is preserved,

or

also

uncovered?

d. Is it specifically

in the summer,

when urine is more effective for cleansing,

or

also

in the rainy season?

We learned in the Mishna:

And one must rub it three times.

Rabbi Yirmeya raised a dilemma:

Regarding the rubbing that they stated, is

bringing

it toward one side and

returning

it toward the other side considered

one

rubbing? For three rubbings, he must bring it three times and return it three times.

Or perhaps bringing it and returning it

are considered

two?

Thus, when he brings it, returns it, and then brings it again, three rubbings have been performed .

What is the ruling?

The dilemma remains unresolved.

We learned in the Mishna:

If he passed them over out of order,

he has done nothing.

The Sages taught: If he placed first

the nether, soap, kaminah, and alum, which were supposed to remove

second the

tasteless spittle, bean water, and urine, which he was supposed to remove

first.

One [baraita] teaches:

The substances that he applied

second,

the three substances listed first in the Mishna,

count for him,

whereas the substances that he applied

first—

do not count for him.

He must return and apply the final four substances after the first three substances that he has already applied, so that he applies all seven substances in their proper order .

And another [baraita] teaches: The first—

count for him; the second—

do not count for him.

This contradicts the baraitot!

The Gemara answers:

Abaye said: Both this and that,

the tanna’im of both baraitot, hold that only the substances

second

that he applied, although they were supposed to be applied first,

count for him.

But not

the substances that he applied

first,

because they occupy the second place in the list of substances. This is as explained in the words of the first tanna: the substances that he applied second, which are the first in the sequence, count for him.

And what is meant by

“first,”

which the second tanna said count for him? He means the substances that are

first according to their order,

and in this case they were

second

in their application.

In other words, only the wording used by the tanna’im differs between the baraitot: the tanna of the second baraita called “first” the substances listed first in the Mishna, whereas the tanna of the first baraita called “first” the substances that she applied first in this case.

Mishna:

Any woman who has a regular menstrual cycle, “her time is sufficient”:

Although we learned at the beginning of the tractate (2a) that when a woman sees blood, all pure items that she touched during the preceding twenty-four hours are retroactively rendered impure, out of concern that the blood may already have emerged on the previous day, if she has a fixed cycle for her sightings, she renders impure only from the time of her sighting onward, provided that this sighting occurred specifically at the time of her cycle!

And these are the cycles:

The Mishna here is explaining cycles based on bodily sensations .

If, when she sees, she is accustomed to experience one of the following sensations for an extended period

She yawns

(stretches) .

And she sneezes

(expels wind through the throat or from below) .

She feels pain in the region of her abdomen,

opposite the navel, and in the lower part of her intestines [the end of the womb, which is the place of nakedness ].

She flows

(this will be explained in the Gemara).

And chills like shivering

(heat )

grip her

every time she sees blood.

And similarly with any sensations like these,

when she experiences other sensations that women typically feel at the time the blood emerges.

And any sensation that she established for herself,

when she saw

three times

blood with that sensation—

that is a cycle,

and if she saw blood when she experienced the sensation that she is accustomed to feel, her time is sufficient, and she does not retroactively render impure the pure items that she touched .

Gemara:

The Gemara asks: This has already

been taught once

(above, 2a):

Any woman who has a cycle—her time is sufficient!?

It answers:

There, it concerns cycles based on days,

when she has a fixed day for her sightings;

here, it concerns bodily cycles,

when she experiences a fixed sensation but on different days .

As it teaches

in the Mishna, which itself explains that it is speaking only of bodily cycles:

These are the cycles: If she yawned, sneezed, felt pain in the region of her abdomen or in the lower part of her intestines, or flowed.

We learned in the Mishna: “and flows”:

And the Gemara asks:

“Flows”—

what is her veset?

Is it that she flows continuously

, always seeing menstrual blood? And where is her veset, since she sees blood throughout all her days?!