Niddah 65b (סה:) — the Talmud in English

The akkalim

are rods used for the olive press, made from materials

of wicker and hemp,

cannabis. —

One cleans them

14. And the akkalim made from flax and rushes —

one stores them away —

leaving them unused for a long time.

And how long must one store them away? Twelve months.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: One leaves them from one olive-pressing season to the next and from one winepressing season to the next.

The Gemara raises a difficulty: Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel —

that is identical to the first tanna

— for the interval between one olive-pressing season and the next, and between one winepressing season and the next, is twelve months?!

The Gemara answers:

The difference between them is

early and late seasons: sometimes the seasons of olive pressing and wine pressing begin earlier or are delayed, in which case the interval is not twelve months.

, since at times the olive-pressing seasons and the periods of using the olive presses begin earlier or are delayed. In that case, the interval is not twelve months.

Rabbi Yosei says: One who wishes to purify them immediately

— without waiting twelve months —

scalds them with boiling water, or boils them in olive water

— he pours hot olive water over them.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says in the name of Rabbi Yosei: One places them beneath a gutter whose water flows continuously, or in a spring whose waters rush,

flowing rapidly.

And for how long

does one leave them there?

For an ona.

In the same manner as they stated

to render fit an olive press that had absorbed forbidden wine,

so they stated with regard to matters of ritual purity

concerning the purification of an olive press.

The Gemara explains:

Is this statement turned around?

Is it proper to say this? Surely

we are discussing matters of ritual purity!

The beraita is dealing with that subject.

Rather,

this is how the beraita must be read:

In the same manner as they stated with regard to matters of ritual purity, so they stated with regard to forbidden wine.

The amoraim explained:

And what is the ona

mentioned in this beraita?

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said that Rabbi Yohanan said: Either a day or a night.

Rabbi Hana Shauna—and some say Rabbi Hana bar Shauna—said that Rabba bar bar Hana said that Rabbi Yohanan said: Half a day and half a night.

And Rav Shmuel bar Rav Yitzhak said: They do not disagree

concerning the duration of the ona:

This

statement, that it is either a day or a night, applies

during the seasons of Nisan and Tishrei,

when the day and night are equal.

That

statement, that it is half a day and half a night, applies

during the seasons of Tammuz and Tevet,

when the day and night are not equal, and half a day plus half a night totals twelve equal hours. The Gemara concludes its difficulty: Why, in our discussion, did Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel say that the ona is a night and half a day?

The Gemara answers:

Here too,

in our discussion,

say

that with regard

to a menstruating woman: half a day and half a night!

The Gemara raises a difficulty:

But he said a night and half a day!

Rather,

this is the meaning of his statement:

If

it is

a night —

of Nisan and Tishrei,

when the day and night are equal —

or half a day and half a night —

of Tevet and Tammuz,

when the day and night are not equal and the duration of the ona is twelve hours.

And if you wish, say: It is different

the law of the first marital intercourse because of the

ketuba.

For it is common

for them to prolong

—to take longer

it,

as they are occupied with writing it that night,

much more

—

until they sign it.

The first marital intercourse is thereby delayed, and therefore the Sages gave her an additional half day, so that she would have twelve hours.

Rav and Shmuel both said: The halakha is:

even in the case of a young girl who has not yet reached the age at which she is expected to menstruate —

he engages in the first marital intercourse and withdraws.

Rav Hisda raised an objection: It once happened that Rabbi gave her four nights out of twelve months!

Rava said to him: Why do I need to search for a refutation

from the beraita?

I can raise

an objection

from the Mishna

itself!?

He

— Rav Hisda —

thought that

an act of a great sage

— Rabbi’s practical ruling —

is preferable

as the basis for a difficulty.

In any event, Rav and Shmuel face a difficulty.

The Gemara answers:

They acted

in accordance with our Sages.

As it was taught in a beraita: Our Sages reconsidered the matter and reached a consensus

and agreed:

He engages in the first marital intercourse and withdraws. 17.

Ulla said: When

Rabbi Yohanan and Reish Lakish

Rabbi Yohanan and Reish Lakish

were studying this Mishna, which is

in

the chapter

of the young girl, they could not derive

a practical halakha

from it

at all,

except as one derives

their discussion only like the raising of a

a fox

from

a plowed field

— like a fox that enters a plowed field but extracts nothing from it, leaving only with dust on its feet. So too, they did not issue any ruling on the basis of the Mishna in this chapter.

Rather, this is how they concluded it: He engages in the first marital intercourse and withdraws.

Rabbi Abba said to Rav Ashi: If that is so,

given that one must be so concerned

a conscientious person

who engages in intercourse with a virgin

should not complete the intercourse!

He said to him: If so,

if he should not complete the intercourse —

his heart will trouble him and he will withdraw

without engaging in intercourse at all.

The Sages taught: And all of them

— the virgins who had intercourse —

who were

continuing to

flow blood

without interruption after intercourse,

and who came within the four nights

[in the case of one who had not seen blood in her father’s home] and continued to flow blood

after the four nights.

Or, in the case of one who had seen blood in her father’s home, who had been flowing

from the night

of the first intercourse

after the night —

all of them must examine themselves

to determine whether the appearance of the blood has changed. If it has, one does not say that since she has been flowing without interruption throughout the four nights, there is a presumption that it is virgin’s blood.

And in all of these cases Rabbi Meir is stringent in accordance with the words of Beit Shammai

— that after four nights in the case of a minor, and after one night in the case of one who had reached the age at which she was expected to menstruate but had not menstruated, she is obligated to examine herself, even though she is flowing continuously.

And with regard to the other sightings,

in cases where she does not continue to flow, in which there are also distinctions

between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel —

Rabbi Meir holds with regard to them that one

follows the appearance of the blood,

in accordance with the words of Beit Hillel. According to Beit Shammai, they are impure even when the appearances of the blood have not changed, whereas Beit Hillel deem them pure when the appearance of the blood does not subsequently change.

For Rabbi Meir would say: The appearances of the blood are different from one another.

How so? Menstrual blood —

is red; virgin’s blood —

is not red.

Menstrual blood —

is murky,

a murky appearance;

virgin’s blood —

is not murky,

its appearance is clear.

Menstrual blood —

comes from the source; virgin’s blood —

comes from the sides.

Rabbi Yitzhak bar Rabbi Yosei said that Rabbi Yohanan said: This is the statement of Rabbi Meir, but the Sages say that all appearances of blood —

are one

and therefore, even if the blood changes, she is pure as long as she continues to flow.

The Sages taught: In the case of a woman who sees

blood due to intercourse, she may engage in intercourse once.

That is, if she had intercourse and saw blood once, she is permitted to engage in intercourse

a second time,

and a

third time. From that point onward —

she may not engage in intercourse

anymore

until she becomes divorced

from her husband. After she becomes divorced,