Niddah 63b — the Talmud in English

And the Gemara answers:

Ulla, son of Rav Ilai, said:

the Mishna is speaking

of a flow of impure blood from pure blood.

That is, she has a regularity of seeing pure blood, such as blood whose color is green or white, before seeing the impure blood, and this is the establishment of her veset: to see impure blood after she sees pure blood; therefore, “her time is sufficient,” so that she renders sacrificial foods impure only from the beginning of seeing the impure blood.

We learned in the Mishna:

“And a kind of shivering”

seizes her, and similarly those like them.

And the Gemara discusses: “

And similarly those like them” —

what does this come to include?

Rabba bar Ulla said: It comes to include a woman whose head is heavy upon her, whose limbs are heavy upon her, who trembles and belches

[she burps].

Rav Huna bar Hiyya said in the name of Shmuel: They have said

[Shmuel had a tradition that there is a position of the Sages who said]:

“For days,”

for establishing a veset of days, it is sufficient

[to see on] two

days, so that when she returns and sees once more on the same date, the veset is established.

For bodily vesetot

a single sighting is sufficient,

one

alone.

However, on the other hand,

why did the Sages not enumerate

in the Mishna, as a bodily veset, that they must occur

three

times in order to establish them?

And Shmuel was uncertain:

“Why did the Sages not enumerate” —

what does this come to include?

Rav Yosef said: It comes to include [a woman] whose head is heavy upon her, whose limbs are heavy upon her, who trembles and belches,

whom the Sages did not enumerate in the Mishna’s list of bodily vesetot; therefore, she must experience it three times in order to establish this veset.

Abaye said

to Rav Yosef:

What does he teach us

[and the intention of this expression here is: What is he telling us]?

But

it is the Mishna, for Rabba bar Ulla explained

what is stated in the Mishna, “and similarly those like them,” as teaching us about a woman whose head is heavy and who trembles and belches. If so, this veset is included among the vesetot that the Sages enumerated. And according to the position of the Sages cited by Shmuel, a single occurrence should suffice for it!?

Rather, Abaye said:

Shmuel, who said according to the position of the Sages that “why did the Sages not enumerate” requires three occurrences, intended

to include

a veset established by her

eating garlic and seeing

in this manner three times, or

eating onions

three times

and seeing,

and likewise

nibbling peppers and seeing.

[The novelty of this veset is that it does not arise from the woman’s nature but from her actions,

for as long as she does not eat garlic or peppers, she will not see on account of the nature of her body; therefore, she must establish it through three occurrences.]

Rav Yosef said: I have not heard this teaching

that Shmuel said, “for days, two; for vesetot, one.”

Abaye said to Rav Yosef: You said it to us, and you said it to us concerning

the following Mishna [at the end of the page]: “

If she was accustomed to seeing on the fifteenth day, and she changed

to seeing

on the twentieth day, both this and that are forbidden,

for she must be concerned both for the fifteenth day established for her and for the twentieth day on which she saw most recently. And if she saw

three times on the twentieth day —

the fifteenth day is permitted,

for she need no longer be concerned for it,

and she established the twentieth day

alone as the day of her veset, because

“a woman does not establish a veset until she establishes it three times.”

Therefore, she must see three times on the twentieth day in order for her veset to change from the fifteenth day to the twentieth.

And you said to us concerning it:

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel: This is the statement of Rabbi Gamliel son of Rabbi, who said it in the name of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel

who said that a veset is established after at least three occurrences.

But the Sages

disagree

and say

that there is no need for three occurrences to establish a veset, and consequently there is no need for three occurrences to change a veset, but rather: if she

saw

once, she established a veset

and does not need either to change

it once more

or to repeat it three times!

And we say to you:

If

“to change,” you said to us

that she does not need to do so, because she establishes a veset after one occurrence —

is it necessary to say “or to repeat it three times”?!

And you said to us:

What I said, “she does not need

to change,” was

with bodily vesetot

[such as yawning and the like], because she establishes them after one occurrence. And what I said, “she does not need

to repeat it three times,” was

with

vesetot of

days,

because she establishes them after two occurrences.

And the Gemara asks:

Let us say

concerning the Mishna’s statement that she must establish a veset through three occurrences,

“This is the statement of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel,”

who holds everywhere that a presumption is established only through three occurrences, and this is likewise the halakha everywhere. Why, then, did Shmuel need to say concerning veset that “this is the statement of Rabbi Gamliel son of Rabbi, who said it in the name of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel”?

Shmuel teaches us this —

that Rabbi Gamliel son of Rabbi holds like Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel.

Mishna:

We learned in the preceding Mishna that a woman who has a bodily veset has only the time of her discovery, and does not render sacrificial foods impure retroactively; the Mishna explains:

If she was accustomed to seeing at the beginning of the vesetot:

that she was accustomed to seeing blood together with the beginning of yawning or shivering, then

all the pure things that she prepared within the vesetot are impure.

For the time of her veset was established at the beginning of the bodily veset; therefore, all the pure things that she touched from the beginning of the bodily veset are impure, even though she saw the blood only after some time.

But if she was accustomed to seeing blood only

at the end of the vesetot

of the bodily veset, then

all the pure things that she prepared within the vesetot are pure.

For the time of her veset was established only for the end of the bodily veset; therefore, there is no concern for pure things prepared by her during the time of the veset.

This law also applies with regard to marital relations: the time of the veset is established according to her practice of seeing — at the beginning of the bodily veset or at its end [with a bodily veset, the entire day is not forbidden, but only the time during which the bodily veset appears; and during that time itself, the time of the veset is established according to her practice of seeing at that time, at its beginning or at its end].

And it is not only with a bodily veset that the veset is established for the time of the veset alone, and she does not render impure or become forbidden during the entire day, but rather —

Rabbi Yosei says: Even days and hours are vesetot!

For even with a day-veset, such as a veset of intervals or a monthly veset, if she establishes a fixed time for seeing, she is forbidden to her husband only at that time and not throughout the entire day.

For example:

If she was accustomed to seeing with sunrise —

she is forbidden only with sunrise,

and she is permitted during the nighttime hours preceding it. Likewise, she is permitted during the hours after sunrise if she has not yet seen as is her practice.

Rabbi Yehuda says:

If she was accustomed to seeing with sunrise, then only

the entire day

is hers!

She is not forbidden during the daytime hours, which are “hers” and in which she is permitted, but during the preceding night she is forbidden throughout. Since she saw at night [“with sunrise” was explained as the end of the night, close to sunrise], the entire night is the “season of the veset.” The same law applies if she was accustomed to seeing during the day: according to Rabbi Yehuda, she is forbidden during the day and permitted at night. [And concerning a bodily veset, Rabbi Yehuda concedes]. And on the following day, although it is only a short time after the time of her veset, she is not forbidden at all. For the forbidden “season” of the veset is only the day or only the night.

Gemara:

The Mishna explains the dispute between Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yosei concerning “she was accustomed to seeing with sunrise.”

This period is a defined time of sunrise and is not a complete hour.

And the Gemara asks:

It was taught: How did Rabbi Yosei say, “days and hours are vesetot

in establishing a veset for hours during the remaining hours of the day?

And the Gemara explains:

If she was accustomed to seeing from the twentieth day to the twentieth day, and from six hours to six hours,

her veset is established for the sixth hour on the twentieth day.

The twentieth day arrived and she did not see

at its beginning,

she is forbidden to have intercourse for all the first six hours, the words of Rabbi Judah,

because they expound from “And you shall separate the Children of Israel from their impurity” that Israel are obligated to separate from their wives close to their veset.

And Rabbi Yose permits until six hours,

that is, until the beginning of the sixth hour.

And she is concerned during the six hours,

throughout the entire sixth hour, which is the hour of her veset.

Six hours passed and she did not see —

she is forbidden to have intercourse for the entire day, the words of Rabbi Judah,

and even if she examined herself at the time of the veset and was found pure, and knows that she did not see as she ordinarily does, she is forbidden, because the prohibition of the ona adjacent to the veset applies throughout the entire day.

And Rabbi Yose permits from the afternoon-offering onward,

that is, from the beginning of the seventh hour, and this permission applies also with regard to taharot, which she is permitted to handle after the time of the veset has passed and she examined herself and found herself pure.

We learned in the Mishna:

If she was accustomed

to see at sunrise, Rabbi Judah says: the entire day is hers.

And the Gemara raises an objection:

But it was taught: Rabbi Judah says: the entire night is hers,

and she is forbidden only at the end of the night, at the time of sunrise. And likewise on the day following it. But she is permitted during the nighttime hours preceding sunrise.

And we answer:

It is not difficult.

This

is the case in which she is permitted at night:

she is accustomed to see at the beginning of the day,

for since the seeing occurred during the day, the day becomes forbidden.

And this

is the case in which she is permitted during the day and forbidden at night:

she is accustomed to see at the end of the night,

for even the final moment of the night is still considered night.

One [teaching] states: Rabbi Judah forbids her before her veset and permits her after her veset.

And another [teaching] was taught:

Rabbi Judah

forbids her after her veset and permits her before her veset.

And it is not difficult.

This

is the case in which he forbids her before her veset:

she is accustomed to see at the end of the night,

and he forbids her from its beginning.

This

is the case in which he forbids her after her veset:

she is accustomed to see at the beginning of the day,

and therefore he forbids her from its beginning until its end. [And the same law applies if she is accustomed to see at the beginning of the night, in which case she is forbidden after her veset, and if she is accustomed to see at the end of the day, in which case she is forbidden before her veset].

Rava said: The halakha is according to Rabbi Judah

that she is forbidden for the entire ona.

And we object:

But did Rava say so?

But it was taught: “And you shall separate the Children of Israel from their impurity” —

from here Rabbi Yirmeya said: A warning to the Children of Israel that they separate from their wives close to their veset.

And how much [is “close”]?

Rava said: One ona.

What, not another ona!

That they are obligated to separate during the ona preceding the ona of the veset?

And the Gemara rejects:

No.

That same ona!

The Gemara raises an objection:

And two?

The times that Rava ruled that she is obligated to separate for one ona

why do I need them?

And it answers:

It is necessary: For if this alone had been taught,

that the halakha is according to Rabbi Judah in our Mishna,

I would have said: For taharot.

For it could have been said that the dispute between Rabbi Judah and Rabbi Yose applies only with regard to taharot, concerning which they were especially stringent in their law.

But with regard to her husband, no,

for he held that she is permitted during the ona of the veset and is forbidden only at the time of the veset, in accordance with Rabbi Yose.

And if [we derive it] from that [teaching]

of Rabbi Yirmeya,

I would have said: “close to her veset”

which Rabbi Yirmeya forbade

means another ona. It teaches us —

that she is forbidden during

that same ona

alone, both with regard to her husband and with regard to taharot.

Mishna:

If she was accustomed to see

every

fifteenth day

from her immersion [that is, with intervals of twenty-two days between one seeing and the next ,

and she changed

her veset once

to see on the twentieth day

from the immersion [which is the twenty-seventh day from the seeing], behold

both this and that are forbidden,

for in the following month she is concerned for the fifteenth day, and if she did not see on it, she is also concerned for the twentieth day.

She changed twice to the twentieth day,

so that the next seeing too was only after twenty days and not on the day fixed for her veset, which is the fifteenth day,

both this and that are forbidden,

for she is still concerned the next time for both days.

She changed three times to the twentieth day —

the

day

fifteenth is permitted.

And she established for herself

a new veset for

the twentieth day,

and she is forbidden on this day on all subsequent occasions until she uproots it three times.

And this is because

a woman does not establish a veset for herself until she establishes it three times, and she is not purified from the

established veset

until she uproots it three times 134.