Yoma 88a — the Talmud in English

And it is proven not in accordance with Rav’s words, but one must pray the evening prayer after Ne’ilah!

And we answer: It is a dispute

among tannaim.

For it was taught in a beraita: All those obligated in immersions immerse in their usual manner on Yom Kippur.

And likewise

a menstruant and a woman who has given birth immerse

for their purification

in their usual manner on the nights of Yom Kippur.

One who experienced a seminal emission,

whom the Sages instituted that he should not pray until he immerses —

immerses and continues until the afternoon prayer.

But once he has prayed the afternoon prayer, he may not immerse; rather, he waits until night, and then immerses and prays Ne’ilah at night. For the Sages hold that the time of the Ne’ilah prayer is at night, and it exempts one from the evening prayer, in accordance with Rav’s words.

Rabbi Yosei says:

one who experienced a seminal emission

the entire day,

even after he has prayed the afternoon prayer, so that he can pray Ne’ilah while it is still day; and according to his words, Ne’ilah does not exempt one from the evening prayer.

And we raise a contradiction

from a beraita, which is taught in the opposite form:

For it was taught:

The man with a flux and the woman with a flux, the man with leprosy and the woman with leprosy, one who has intercourse with a menstruant, and one defiled by a corpse —

immerse in their usual manner on Yom Kippur.

A menstruant and a woman who has given birth immerse in their usual manner on the nights of Yom Kippur.

One who experienced a seminal emission immerses and continues throughout the entire day.

Rabbi Yosei says: From the afternoon prayer onward, he is unable to immerse.

And we answer:

It is not difficult.

This

the second beraita speaks of a case

in which he prayed,

he has already prayed

the Ne’ilah prayer.

This

the first beraita speaks of a case

in which he

has still

not prayed

Ne’ilah.

And the Gemara explains:

If he prayed —

what is the reason of the Sages

who permit him to immerse even though he has already prayed?

The Sages hold: Immersion in its proper time,

even when it is not for the purpose of prayer,

is a mitzva.

And the Gemara wonders:

From this

you infer

that Rabbi Yosei,

who disagrees and did not permit him to immerse,

holds

that immersion in its proper time

is not a mitzva

?

But was it not taught: If there was

the letter

Heh written on his flesh —

he may neither wash nor anoint himself,

lest he erase it.

And he may not stand in a place of filth

because of the honor of the Name.

If an immersion for a mitzva presents itself —

he wraps a reed around himself, descends, and immerses.

Rabbi Yosei says: He descends and immerses in his usual manner, provided that he does not scrub.

And it is established that

Rabbi Yosei and the Sages

regarding immersion in its proper time,

whether it

is a mitzva, disagree!

And Rabbi Yosei is the one who holds that it is a mitzva to immerse in its proper time.

And we answer:

That one,

beraita —

it is Rabbi Yosei son of

Judah,

and not Rabbi Yosei.

For it was taught: Rabbi Yosei son of Judah says:

A woman concerning whom there is uncertainty as to when the time of her purification is —

her immersion is sufficient

for her purification

to be at the latest,

at the end of the period of uncertainty, and she need not immerse on the days of uncertainty in order to fulfill the mitzva of immersion in its proper time out of doubt.

The Sages taught: One who sees a seminal emission on Yom Kippur —

he descends and immerses

without cleaning his body of dirt that constitutes an interposition in the immersion.

And toward evening he scrubs

his body of dirt, because of interposition.

And we ask:

Toward evening,

what benefit is there from the scrubbing, for he has already immersed,

and what was

was!

And if there was an interposition upon him, his immersion was not effective for him, and what benefit will his scrubbing now provide?

Rather, say: From the evening,

before Yom Kippur,

he should scrub

his flesh so that it will be clean, so that if he must immerse on Yom Kippur because he saw a seminal emission, there will not be an interposition upon his flesh.

A tanna taught before Rav Nahman: One who sees a seminal emission on Yom Kippur —

it is a sign for him that

his sins are forgiven,

for he will see seed and live long.

And we refute this:

But was it not taught: His sins are arranged,

implying that they are not forgiven, but rather they exist and are arranged for him to be judged for them?

And we answer:

What does “arranged” mean? —

Arranged to be forgiven.

The tanna of the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: One who sees a seminal emission on Yom Kippur —

he should worry throughout the entire year,

lest his fast was not accepted; and corresponding to his abstention from intercourse, they enacted upon him the parable of a slave who poured a cup for his master, and his master poured it over him.

And if his year passes —

it is assured to him that he is a son of the World to Come.

For his good deeds protected him so that he would not die in that year.

Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak said: Know that the entire world is hungry

from intercourse

and he is satiated,

and that with which they satiated him from Heaven, they satiated him without his knowledge; and if he was acquitted in judgment without having fasted, this is a sign that he is completely righteous.

When Rav Dimi came, he said:

For one who saw a seminal emission on Yom Kippur, it is a good sign for him:

he increases life,

he lives long,

he multiplies and continues to multiply,

and he will see sons and sons of sons.

We have returned to you, chapter “Yom Kippur,” and the tractate Yoma is concluded