Niddah 71 – A Woman Who Died

If a woman died, and then a “reviit” (about 5 ounces) of blood oozed from her uterus, this is not blood of niddah, because the woman did not sense it leave. However, it carries the ritual impurity of a stain. It also has the ritual impurity of a corpse, and has the capacity to make people and items under the same roof ritually impure. Rabbi Yehudah disagrees: since it is not blood niddah, it does not have this ritual impurity. And, if there is less than a “reviit” of it, it has no ritual impurity of a dead either. The first teacher agrees that it is not blood niddah, and if so, why does he assign any impurity to it? He and Rabbi Yehudah disagree about “is vs. becomes”: is uterine blood ritually impure while in the uterus, or does it becomes so when it comes out.

A woman who has given birth and who is in her “pure” days, when even if she sees blood, this does not render her ritually impure (thirty-three days for a boy, and sixty-six for a girl) has the right to eat the second tithe, just like any "immersed today" person - who was impure, went to a mikveh this day, and is awaiting for sunset to become completely pure. This is considered her “extended day” of waiting for complete purity. Afterwards, she brings her childbirth sacrifice, goes to a mikveh, and then she resumes eating the sacrifices.

Art: Johann Georg Meyer von Bremen - Dressing the Baby

Niddah 70 – Men of Alexandria and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya

The men of Alexandria asked Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya twelve things: three matters of wisdom in law, three on moral lessons, three were just stupid questions, and three were about proper conduct.

They asked about a woman who was divorced, married someone else, and then remarried her first husband. Since that is prohibited by the Torah, what is the status of her daughter – can she marry a Kohen? Do we compare her to a widow who married a High Priest, which is prohibited, and whose daughter cannot marry a Kohen, and do we say that our case is surely worse? Or do we say that our case is better, since a widow married to a High Priest is herself disqualified to marry another Kohen, but our divorcee, although already prohibited to marry a Kohen, can still eat the Kohen's portion, if she is a daughter of a Kohen? He answered, from the Torah's use of the word, “She is abomination when remarried to her first husband” – only she, but not her daughter.

They asked him about a moral lesson. In Ezekiel it says that God "does not desire the death of a wicked man,” but about the sinful sons of Eli it says, “For God desired to kill them?!” He answered that in the first case they were open to repentance, but in the second they were not.

They asked him a stupid question, “Does the wife of Lot transmit ritual impurity of the dead?” He answered, “She is pure salt, and salt does not have any impurity.”

They asked, “What should a man do to become wise?” He answered, “Study more, and limit his business.” They asked, “Many have done that, and yet this has not helped them.” He answered, “They should also plead for mercy from Him to Whom wisdom belongs.”

Art: John La Farge - The Three Wise Men

Niddah 69 – A Zav Who Died

A zav (and also a zavah, a niddah, and a metzora – spiritual leper) who died, all convey ritual impurity through carrying. But – the Talmud asks – all dead bodies convey spiritual impurity through carrying!? – Well, here we are dealing with a case where a corpse lay on a massive, immobile stone. Since this stone is very heavy, then an object below the stone it does not really “carry” the corpse on top of it, and thus this object does not become ritually impure because of the corpse. However, if this corpse belongs to a zav, then the object under the stone does become ritually impure.

In truth, the corpse of a zav does not transmit ritual impurity either. It is the Sages, who decreed that it does, because this may be confused with a live zav, lying on the top of the stone. The concern was that if a dead zav does not carry ritual impurity, then people may confuse him with a live zav who fainted, who does carry impurity. To prevent this confusion, the Sages decrees that a dead zav should have the same impurity as the live one would.

Art: Theodore Gericault - Head of a Dead Young Man

Niddah 68 – When to Examine Oneself

A woman who became a niddah may purify herself seven days after her initial discharge, is she knows with certainty that the flow of blood has ceased prior to the conclusion of the seventh day. (That, of course, is the Torah law, but we mentioned that the modern law is more uniform, though more stingent). When does she need to perform this conclusive examination?

If she examined herself in the morning of the seventh day, and found herself to be pure from blood, then she is presumed to be so later. Even if she did not perform an additional examination at twilight, and after several days she examined herself and found blood, she is presumed to be pure in the interim, and the ritually pure foods that she handled after immersion are definitely pure. Rabbi Yehudah disagrees, and requires an examination right next to the end of the seventh day, because he suspects that the flow of blood may have resumed after morning examination. However, the Sages give a definite lenient ruling: even if she examined herself at the beginning of the second day, and found herself pure, she has the presumption of purity from then on.

Art: Frans van Mieris - Young woman in the morning

Niddah 67 – A Woman Immerses in a Mikveh

When a woman immerses in a mikveh, nothing must separate between her body and the water. This is derived from the immersion of a metzora, spiritual leper, about whom the Torah says, “and he will immerse his flesh in water.” Since the immersion is done in water as a matter of course, then the word “water” teaches exactly that law, that nothing should interpose between him and the water. Thus, there is a requirement to examine one's body and hair for interposition. In addition, the Sages established that a woman should also scrub, or shampoo, her hair before immersion.

In regards to this, Rava taught six specific laws, such as that while scrubbing the hair, she should not use anything that makes hairs stick together; that only warm water should be used, since cold water stiffens the hair and makes it more difficult to clean; and that she should wash the folds of her body, such as armpits, to remove any interposition. But we learned in the laws of mikveh that water does not need to enter folded areas! – True, but just as with flour offering, where blending is not critical, if it can be accomplished, but critical if it cannot, so here too, water does not have to enter there, but it must be able to, otherwise, the immersion does not work.

Art: Theo van Rysselberghe - Young Woman on the Banks of the Greve River

Niddah 66 – Modern Law

Rav and Shmuel both said regarding the law of a newlywed virgin bride that her husband performs only one cohabitation, which is a mitzvah, and then abstains. Rav Chisda objected, “But it once happened that Rabbi Yehudah the Prince gave a newlywed virgin bride four nights, and these were spread out over twelve month!” The Talmud interjects – Rav Chisda should have asked from the ruling that we just learned, which makes the distinction of age! Rav Chisda preferred to base his question on a practical case, which is more authoritative, rather then on a theoretical ruling. But in any case, there is a contradiction!?

The answer is that Rav and Shmuel were talking about the law as it was established later, and the one that is active today. Since not everybody is familiar with all the laws of a virgin bride, and since there is also a concern that the husband's desire for his wife might overwhelm him, the Sages decided to give all virgin brides the law of the most stringent case of those discussed above. Thus, all virgin brides are given only the first mitzvah-cohabitation.

Another stringency that arose in later generations: Rabbi Zeira said, “Jewish women have accepted upon themselves the stringency that even if they see a drop of uterine blood the size of a mustard seed, they wait seven clean days because of it.”

Art: Abbott Handerson Thayer - A Bride

Niddah 65 – The First Night

When a virgin marries, it is to be expected that the rupturing of her hymen will cause her to bleed. This blood, of course, is not menstrual blood, and it does not render her either ritually impure or prohibited to her husband. Moreover, since the wound may take some time to heal, quite often a newlywed virgin may continue to experience bleeding for some time. How long can the blood be attributed to this, and after what time must one suspect that this is blood of a menstrual cycle, is discussed in the following rulings.

If a young girl whose time to discharge blood has not yet arrives (before twelve) gets married, then Beit Shammai give her the four nights during which all blood is deemed to be hymen blood, but Beit Hillel extend this until the wound heals. If her time to discharge blood arrived, but she has not seen blood yet (between twelve and twelve-and-a-half), and she got married, then Beit Shammai give her the first night, but Beit Hillel give her four nights, until Shabbat (as marriages usually happened on Wednesday). Finally, if she already experienced menstrual cycles before she got married, then Beit Shammai give her only the first cohabitation – which is a mitzvah – but Beil Hillel give her the entire first night.

Art: Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot - Jewish Algerian Woman

Niddah 64 – Beginning of a Fixed Period

If a woman's period is accompanied by physical conditions as described earlier, the blood may still come at the beginning or at the end of this condition. If it usually comes at the beginning, and she discovered blood at a later time, it is presumed that it really came at the onset of the symptoms, and therefore all ritually pure foods that she handled since then are declared impure retroactively. However, if the blood usually appears at the end of the symptoms, all the foods that she handled prior are still ritually pure.

Rabbi Yose says that even hours count, and if, for example, she is used for her period to come at six hours on a certain day, it can be assumed every next time the blood also comes at the sixth hour. This has relevance to ritually pure food, but also to the couple's marital relations. For example, if she is accustomed to experience a discharge at sunrise, she is permitted to cohabit until sunrise. However, Rabbi Yehudah disagrees and says that only complete days count, so in our example, she is permitted to cohabit the entire day prior to her fixed period, but is forbidden with the coming of the night.

Art: Martin Johnson Heade - Sunrise

Niddah 63 – Fixed Period

The laws that we learned at the beginning of the Tractate refer to women who do not have a fixed period. However, for those women who do have a fixed period, some laws will be different. What is a fixed period? The typical fixed period is when a woman begins her discharge at the same time repeatedly. For example, if for three consecutive months the woman begins her period on the fifth day of the month, she has established a fixed period. Alternatively, if she begins her period twenty one day after the previous, she has established a pattern.

But we did learn about fixed periods also, at the beginning of the Tractate!? True, but here we are learning not only about time-based, but also about periods based on physical condition.

A different form of a fixed period is one accompanied by certain physical conditions, such as continuous stretching, yawning, or belching, sneezing, feeling pain in the area of her navel or in her lower abdomen, fever or shivers, heaviness of the head or of the body. If she feels any of these, and they are accompanied by a period, and this happens three times in a row – she has established a fixed period dependent on physical factors.

In all of these cases where a woman has a fixed period, her law actually has a leniency: if she was preparing ritually pure foods and saw blood, she does not have to suspect that this blood was actually there from before, but she is ritually impure only from now on. There is no retroactive twenty-four hour period of impurity.

Art: Mihaly Munkacsy - Yawning Apprentice

Niddah 62 – Seven Cleansing Agents

When a garment has the blood of niddah on it, it becomes ritually impure. If it may come in contact with ritually pure foods, it requires immersion in a mikveh. Prior to this immersion, however, one must nullify the blood by rubbing it with seven cleansing agents. If it was indeed blood, it will be removed or it will fade out, and if it was some kind of a dye, it will stay, but dye is not a source of ritual impurity and thus is not a problem. If he does not nullify the blood, immersing it in the mikveh does not help, since the impurity of a stain remains.

The seven agents are saliva (spit before one ate anything in the morning), split bean water, urine (left for three days), alum (sodium carbonate), aloe, detergent (possibly, saltwort), and ashlag. What is ashlag? Shmuel said, “I asked all seafarers, and that said that it is found in the crevices of pearls, and is removed with an iron nail.”

All cleansing agents have to be applied in the order listed, or else the test is inconclusive. If he applied them out of sequence, or all seven simultaneously, he has not accomplished anything.

Art: Pierre Auguste Renoir - Aloe in Algiers Landscape

Niddah 61 – Women Sleeping in Bed

If three women were sleeping in one bed, and blood was found beneath one of them, all three are ritually impure. Since the blood could have come from any one of them, we have no reason to attribute it to one rather than to another. However, if one examined herself and found blood, then only she is impure, but the other ones are pure, since they both attribute it to this one. If one was pregnant and not normally menstruating, the other two are impure, but if all three were pregnant, then again, each one is ritually impure.

If three women were sleeping in a bed – but we just had such a case! – there, they were pressed against each other, but here there is some distance – and blood was found under the middle one (the bed is against the wall), then all three are ritually impure. However, if it was found under the one farthest from the wall, then two are impure, but the one next to the wall is pure.

There was a vast area in Beit Choron where the land was like rock, and people knew that someone was buried there, but could not locate the source of impurity. One Sage told them to bring sheets, spread them out, and places where a corpse was buried became wet. Incidentally, these were people killed by Gedaliah, which led to the Exile. But Gedaliah was righeous, he could not have killed them! True, but since he refused to listen to a warning of a plot, it is as if he killed them. But Gedaliah had a reason: one should not believe bad talk!? – Yes, but one is allowed to suspect that it is true, and needs to check it out.

Art: John Singer Sargent - Two Women Asleep In A Punt Under The Willows

Niddah 60 – Woman Borrows a Tunic

If a Jewish woman lent her tunic to a gentile woman, or if she lent it to a Jewess who was a niddah  at this time, and when she got the tunic back and wore it herself, she afterwards discovered a bloodstain on it, she may attribute this stain to that other woman she lent it to. The other woman does not loose anything thereby: if she already was a niddah, this does not change her status, and if she was a gentile, who does not observe these laws, the Sages presumed that she is a niddah at all times.

However, if three women who were ritually pure wore a single tunic one after another, and afterwards blood was found on it, none of them can blame the other with certainty, and not being able to shift the possible responsibility, they all three becomes ritually impure.

If they sat on a stone bench, though, they are all ritually pure, because, as we saw earlier, any object that does not accept ritual impurity, does not affect the stains either. Rabbi Nechemyah formulated a rule: “Anything that is not susceptible to ritual impurity is not susceptible to stains.” His general rule includes even such cases as sitting on the outside of a clay vessels, since clay vessels do not receive their ritual impurity by contact with their outside surface.

Art: By (after) Dyck, Sir Anthony van - Portrait of two sisters, one in a blue dress, the other in a brown dress holding a bouquet of flowers

Niddah 59 – Attending to One's Needs

If a woman was attending to her needs (urinating) and saw blood, then Rabbi Meir resolves it as follows: if she was urinating while standing, she is ritually impure, but if while sitting, she is pure. However, Rabbi Yose says that in either case she is pure.

What is the logic of Rabbi Meir? He says that a woman who is urinating while standing does it out of a pressing need. In her desire to hold the urine back, she might have caused some of it to backwash into the uterus and bring some uterine blood with it. When she was sitting, however, this is not a concern. And Rabbi Yose? He says that the backwashing scenario has a very small probability, and most likely the blood is from a wound in the urinary tract, which does not render her  ritually impure.

If a man and a woman urinated into the same basin, and later blood was found in the urine, then Rabbi Yose says that she is ritually pure. If in the case above, where the blood came from a woman, but the source of it was not certain, Rabbi Yose declared her pure, then all the more so here, where it might possibly come from a man, he should declare her pure. That ruling we could have deduced on our own. However, Rabbi Shimon declares her impure, since it is more common for blood to come from a woman.

Art: Daniel Ridgway Knight - Women Washing Clothes By A Stream

Niddah 58 – Attribution

Shmuel made the following statement, “If a woman examined the ground of the earth and, finding it clean, sat on it, and then stood up and found blood on the ground, she is still ritually pure, since the Torah said 'Blood flowing in her flesh' – and not on the ground.” The Talmud challenges Shmuel from many angles, because indeed, how is ground different from a garment? However, in the end it answers for Shmuel that the Sages, who established the laws in regard to stains, formulated it similar to other laws of ritual purity, and ground does not ever become impure.

If a woman finds a stain but can attribute it to any other possible source, she should; for example, if she slaughtered an animal or a bird, if she handled garments with bloodstains on them, or if she sat next to people who handed such garments. She may attribute it to her son or her husband, if they were bloodstained or handled blood.

There was an incident with a certain woman who came before Rabbi Akiva and said, “I found a stain.” He asked her, “Perhaps you had a wound?” She replied, “Yes, but it healed.” He then said, “Perhaps if you moisten it, it will bring forth blood?” She answered, “Yes,” in he declared her ritually pure. He saw that his students were looking at each other and told them, “Why is this difficult in your eyes? The Sages who enacted the laws of stains did it with the provision to be treated leniently.”

Art: Harry Watson - Young woman sitting upon rocks

Niddah 57 – Bloodstain on the Flesh

If a woman finds a bloodstain on her body, then if it is directly opposite her genitals, she is ritually impure. These areas would include her heel or the big toe, because they can either potentially come close to the genitals or be right across. However, if the stain is on an area of her flesh that is not directly opposite the genitals, she is ritually pure. If it is on her leg or her foot, then if it on the inside (facing the other leg), she is ritually impure, otherwise, she is pure.

If she finds it on her tunic, then if it is from the belt down – she is ritually impure, and from the belt up – she is pure. If it is on the sleeve, and that sleeve reaches opposite the genitals – she is ritually impure, if not, she is pure. If she is accustomed to take off her tunic and cover herself with it at night when sleeping, then no matter where the stain is found, she would be ritually impure, because the tunic moves around during the night (unless she tied it to her head).

Art: Jean Baptiste Greuze - Young Girl in a Lilac Tunic

Niddah 56 – Creepy-crawly in an Alley

The Torah lists eight crawling animals that convey ritual impurity when they are dead. If such a dead crawler was found in an alley, then ritually pure objects in this alley are declared retroactively impure: perhaps the crawler that is  found now could have been there for several days, and could have touched the pure object. However, if someone can make a statement, “I checked this alley on that day, and it was free of such crawling animals,” then the retroactive impurity stops and does not go beyond this day. Also, if someone swept the alley, then there is no suspicion that the animal was there before: we have to assume that he swept away all impurities, and it could only appear there after sweeping.

In a similar vein, a bloodstain on a tunic renders ritually pure objects impure back in time, but only till the moment that one says, “I checked this tunic, and it did not have a bloodstain on it,” or until the last time it was laundered.

Art: Kauffmann, Angelica - Julia, wife of Pompey, faints at the sight of his bloodstain...

Niddah 55 – Substances

Some substances convey ritual impurity while they are moist, but not after they dry up. These include the emission of a zav (a special white discharge from a male member), his phlegm and saliva, creepy crawly animals (such as rats), an animal carcass, and human semen. Others, however, convey impurity both while moist and also when dry, and this includes the blood of a niddah, and the flesh of a corpse.

Even those substances about which we said that they loose their capacity to convey impurity when dry (such a spit of a zav), if they can be soaked and regain their nature, in such instances they continue to convey impurity even when dry. How long should they be soaked for this test? – In warm water, for a full day.

How are these laws derived? From extra words or letters in the Torah. For example, when the Torah said, “Zav and his emission,” or literally “emission of his,” the extra words “of his” teach that his emission is compared to him in the degree of impurity that it conveys.

Art: Santiago Rusinol i Prats - Convalescent

Niddah 54 – Twilight

We have mentioned multiple times the two different counts, each with its own set of laws, that a woman has: the seven-day niddah count, and the eleven-day zivah count. We have also seen an example of a confusion that may arise when we don't know, in which of the two periods an event has occurred.

Another example of such confusion leading to a messed up count is the case of a woman who experienced a discharge during the twilight of the eleventh day of her zivah period. Twilight is that period when the day ends and the night begins, and a twilight moment might belong to the previous day, or already to the next day, since night is the beginning of the day. If her discharge occurred during the day, then it would belong to the last, eleventh day of her zivah cycle, when she only needs to wait one day after a discharge. However, if her discharge occurred at night, it would belong to the next, seven-day cycle of possible niddah. In that case, she will have to wait seven days before going to the mikveh. Since it is impossible to determine the nature of twilight, she will have not choice but to wait out seven days.

However, even after that, there is still a possible confusion. If she discharges blood on the eighth day, this might be the first day of the zivah, and then she has only to wait one day, or it could be a beginning of the new niddah period, if the previous wait was really unnecessary. Because of all these factors, she has to wait for seventeen days. However, there is never a need to wait for longer, as we mentioned in the Tractate Arachin.

Art: William-Adolphe Bouguereau - Waiting

Niddah 53 – Stain

There are two periods in the woman's cycle, the seven days of niddah, and the following eleven days of zivah. The characteristics of these cycles are summarized for reference here. If a woman finds a blood stain on her clothing, and she does not know when it happened, then her count is messed up.

Since she is unaware on which day the blood was discharged from her uterus, she does not know when her seven-day niddah period begins, and consequently, cannot know when her eleven-day zivah period will start. She would have to wait out seven days after she finds a stain, and then begin her eleven-day count, but if more discharges happen during this time, there are multiple possible counting scenarios, and it is not known which one is true. Therefore, she will have to wait for enough pure days to be out of all doubts.

The idea of a stain impurity was established by the Sages. From the Torah, the woman is only ritually impure as a niddah and forbidden to her husband if she felt the sensation. Thus, if she finds a stain and does not know when it happened, obviously she did not feel it, and thus the Torah would not consider her a niddah. The Sages, who established this law, also limited it to stains larger than a lentil, because smaller sizes can be attributed to other sources.

Art: Jan Miense Molenaer - A couple making music in an interior

Niddah 52 – Two Hairs

We already mentioned that a sign of physical maturity and becoming legally adult, for a bat- and bar-mitzvah are two hairs. There are multiple opinions on where these hairs must be, but the accepted view is that they must be in the pubic area. At this time, the girl can perform the ritual of yibum or halitzah, and the boy becomes eligible for the punishment of a rebellious son. He stops being punishable as a rebellious son when his beard grows around. This really means the bottom (pubic) beard, and only a first ring of hair there, but the Sages employed a euphemism.

Two hairs are also found in the laws of red heifer, where the cow must have no more than two non-red hairs, and in the laws of spiritual leprosy, where two hairs in the affected area turning white indicate the affliction. How long do the hairs have to be? Enough to bend their top to the root – these are the words of Rabbi Ishmael. Rabbi Elazar says, long enough to be grabbed by a fingernail. Rabbi Akiva says, long enough to be removed with a scissors. And the law? It follows all views for stringency. This means that once the shortest length is reached, the child is not a child anymore, but to become full adult, they wait till the hairs are of the largest size of those mentioned above.

Art: Adrian Scott Stokes - Portrait of a young boy and girl, three-quarter lengths

Niddah 51 – One but Not the Other – Wool and Plants

Any time that one has to give a present of wool (the first of the fleece) to the Kohen, one also has to give other gifts, that is, foreleg, jaws, and abomasum to the Kohen. However, when one slaughters a cow, he has to give the gifts but there is no fleece.

Every seven year in Israel there is Shmita – no plowing or harvesting (there are different opinions as to whether it applies nowadays). One can collect fruit and vegetables for his own use though, but when there is no more of that species available in the fields, he has to take his supply into the street also, and declare it ownerless, free for all to take. Any species that one is obligated to make ownerless (this is called “removal”), he is also obligated to observe other Shmita laws with, such as not using it for commerce and treating them in a special way. However, mint root, for instance, is always available, because it is underground, so although there are Shmita laws for it, there is no “removal” requirement.

Any fish that has scales certainly has fins, however, there are fish with fins but no scales. Any animal that has horns has split hooves (these are kosher animals), but there are some that have split hooves but not horns – such as a pig.

Art: Antony Troncet - Plowing

Niddah 50 – One but Not the Other – Judges and Charity

Everyone who is fit to judge capital cases is certainly fit to judge monetary cases, but there are some who are fit to judge monetary cases, but not cases of life and death – and who is this? – a "mamzer", child born from an adulterous relationship.

Everyone who is qualified to judge is qualified to testify, but there are some who are qualified to testify but not to judge. Who is they? – One who is blind in one eye – he cannot be a judge. However, this is only the opinion of Rabbi Meir, who derived it from the Torah's use of the word, “on the day” talking about the laws of money judgments and of spiritual leprosy: just as the leper must be examined with “the entire sight of the Kohen,” so too the judge must have complete vision.

Anything that is subject to tithing (that is, food), can also convey ritual impurity of food. However, there are types of food that convey impurity, but they are not subject to tithing, namely, meat, fish, and eggs – because they don't grow from the ground.

Anything that is subject to pe'ah (leaving over the corners of a field for the poor) is also subject to tithing, but there are things that are subject to pe'ah but not to tithing, that is, figs and vegetables. Why not these? Because pe'ah is only left from food that is collected in one harvest (not figs) and that does not spoil when stored (not vegetables).

Art: Vasily Perov - Blind

Niddah 49 – One but Not the Other – Vessels, Limbs, Purity

We just finished talking about upper and lower signs of maturity, where the first cannot be without the second, but the second can be without the first. By analogy, if a vessel lets water in, it surely lets water out, but there can be a vessel that lets water out but not in. What's the difference? If it lets water out, it is still a vessel, albeit a leaky one, and can be used to hold purification water of the ashes of red heifer, to remove the impurity of the dead body. However, if it lets water in, it is not a vessel anymore, and will not purify.

An extra finger, if it has a fingernail, surely has a bone, but there can be an extra finger with a bone but without a fingernail. To what law does this refer? If it has a fingernail, then even if it is very small, it is a full-fledged limb, and transmits the impurity of the dead body when under the same roof. However, if it does not have a fingernail, then it it only transmits impurity because of the bone in it, which is the impurity of touching and carrying it, but not of the roof.

Any vessel receptive of impurity from a man who had an emission (zav) sitting on it, is also receptive to the impurity of the dead body. However, the other way around is not true: if a vessel is so large that it is not designated for sitting, it does not become impure when a zav sits on it, since they can tell him “stand up, and let us do our work.”

Art: David The Younger Ryckaert - An old woman holding a stoneware vessel

Niddah 48 – A Minor That Never Grows Up

In some rare cases a male or a female never completely matures. This changes some marital laws for them, thus, if a female is twenty but has not sprouted two pubic hairs, she must bring a proof of her age, and will then be considered as forever immature (“aylonit”): yibum  (levirate marriage) cannot be done to her, and she does not require halitzah and can marry anyone if her husband dies. Similarly, a man who is twenty but has not sprouted two pubic hairs, must bring a proof of his age, and he then need not perform yibum or be the subject of halitzah.

The lower sign (two pubic hairs) always comes before the upper sign (breast development). When the lower sign is present, the girl can do either halitzah or yibum, and when the upper sign (small fig stage of development) is present, we can presume the same – these are the words of the Sages. However, Rabbi Meir disagrees on two counts. If the upper sign is present, according to Rabbi Meir it means nothing, so she cannot halitzah, which only adults can do. And although minor can do yibum, Rabbi Meir does not allow it for a different reason: a minority of people never mature, and Rabbi Meir, who always takes a statistical minority into account, is apprehensive that the girl or a boy will never mature, and their yibum would retroactively violate a serious prohibition, so according to Rabbi Meir they must wait till they fully mature.

When an examination of a girl was required, it was done by a woman.

Art: Rembrandt Van Rijn - A youth in a cap and gorget

Niddah 47 – Metaphor of a Fig

The Sages created a metaphor for each of the three development stages in the life of a woman, based on the three stages in the growth of a fig: a bud, small fig, and a ripe fig (“tzemel”). These are childhood (legal minor), girlhood (intermediate, quasi-adult stage, “naarut”), and full adulthood (“bagrut”). Childhood for a girl ends at twelve years and one day, and similarly for a boy it ends at thirteen and one day. Then, if she has the signs of maturity (two pubic hairs), the girl becomes semi-adult (“naarah”). Full adulthood begins six months after that. What are the sources for this metaphor? Bud is mentioned in the Song of Songs, “The fig tree has formed its buds.” Small fig – from a ruling on when one has to give tithes from figs. A ripe fig, “tzemel” is an abbreviation of “yatzata maleah” - she went out full.

Which are the signs of full legal adulthood? Rabbi Yose HaGlili says, “From when a fold forms under the breast.”Rabbi Akiva says, “When the breasts hang down.” Ben Azzai says, “When the areola darkens.” Rabbi Yose says, “When the breast is large enough so that if she puts her hand on the nipple, it sinks and delays return.”

The Talmud gives four more signs of maturity. They asked Rabbi Yehudah the Prince, which sign of maturity should be used to determine full adulthood? He answered, “All of them, to determine a stringency in the law.” For example, with any of these signs, father loses the right to annul his daughter's vows.

Art: Luca Forte - A vase with a crocus and a cyclamen, figs in a porcelain dish and crab apples on a stone ledge, with a butterfly

Niddah 46 – When Does One Become Bat- or Bar-Mitzvah

A boy becomes an adult (bar mitzvah - son of the mitzvah) at thirteen years and one day, while a girl becomes a bat mitzvah (daughter of the mitzvah) at twelve and one day – these are the words of Rabbi Yehudah the Prince. However, Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar holds just the opposite: a girl at thirteen, and a boy at twelve. What are their respective proofs?

The reason of Rabbi Yehudah, “God built the rib that he took from the man into a woman...” The word “built”, “vayiven” is connected to “binah” - understanding, to tell us that women are inherently more intelligent and reach the level of mental maturity earlier than men do. And Rabbi Shimon, how does he explain this word? He says, “built” means that God braided Eve's hair, and indeed in cities by the sea they called a braided coiffure a “building.”

In addition to being thirteen, the boy, to be considered a bar mitzvah, must have grown two pubic hairs. If he grows them before he is thirteen, they are not considered as anything, and are presumed to have grown from a mole in his skin. If he grows them after he is thirteen, then he is a full-fledged adult. If it is not known when the hairs grew, then – if we don't use the view that if he grew them before thirteen, they count even now – his real status is in doubt. However, since a majority of boys do grow two hairs after they become thirteen and one day, we can presume that the boy in question is the same. This majority-determined status is sufficient for most laws, save for the some exceptional cases.

Art: Albert Anker - Portrait of a Young Boy

Niddah 45 – Ages of Legal Responsibility

A father has the authority to betroth his daughter when she is a minor. The preferred way is for the girl to grow up and decide on her own, but this legal right gives her father a way to arrange the marriage early, which in view of persecutions and short lifespan was often beneficial. Thus, a minor girl may be legally considered a married woman, even while she continues to live with her family until she grows up.

At the age of three, she creates a legal responsibility for anyone who cohabits with her – he is liable for adultery, although she is not, until she reaches the bat mitzvah age. In the same vein, if her prospective husband dies, his brother has an obligation to take her as a wife, effected as yibum (levirate marriage), and that can happen even when she is a minor. If she does not want him, she can give him a release (halitzah), but only when she is a bat mitzvah.

A boy can effect yibum from the age of nine: if his adult brother, who has the legal capacity to marry a woman, does so, but then dies, then this woman is connected to him because of his older brother, and this connection is what allows him to marry her. However, to receive a halitzah, or to give a Get (divorce), he needs to be a bar mitzvah.

The vows of a girls are binding one year prior to her bat mitzvah, if it is clear that she understands the consequences of her words. For the boy this age starts at one year before bar mitzvah.

Art: Jan Hermansz. van Biljert- The Betrothal - The Groom

Niddah 44 – When Do Laws of Purity Start

The laws of niddah can potentially start on day one: if a newborn girl discharges uterine blood, she is ritually impure as an adult woman who has a menstrual flow. She remains in that state for seven days, after which immersion in a mikveh renders her pure. The earliest she can become a zavah is on the tenth day: she enters the potential zivah days on day number eight, and three days of discharge then would render her a zavah.

A boy can become ritually impure as a zav also on his first day: a male becomes a zav through two or more discharges of special sort of gonorrheal emission. Both male and female infants can become a metzora (spiritual leper), or receive ritual impurity of a corpse on the first day of their lives.

A child of one day releases his mother from yibum (levirate marriage): if a man dies childless, his brother should marry his wife, now a widow, or release her with a formal procedure of removing a show and spitting, known as chalitzah. A child, even if it was born after his father's death, and even if it lived for a short time, makes his father not childless, and makes his mother free to marry anyone she wants. Conversely, if the child's brother died, that child binds his brother's widow with the yibum obligation, and she will have to wait till he becomes thirteen, to give her a halitzah. It is enough for them to co-exist in life for even one day.

Art: By Thomas Couture - A Widow

Niddah 43 – Seed That Shoots Like Arrow

As we mentioned earlier, one who emits seed, as well as one who has a “zivah” type of emission, is only impure once the emission leaves his body. What is the source for this law? The Torah said about him, “Any man who will have a discharge from his flesh...” – from his flesh and not in his flesh, to tell us that it has to be out “from his flesh.”

Thus, if a Kohen was eating his holy portion (terumah), and he felt his limbs trembling, he grasps the male organ, to prevent semen from exiting his body, and quickly swallows the terumah food. But how could he do it? We learned that one should not touch his member!? Abaye answered, “He grasps it with a thick cloth, as it does not cause additional arousal.” Rava said, “Even thin cloth, since no additional semen will be emitted on account of it,” and those with whom it will are anyway a minority.

On the subject of “trembling of the limbs,” Shmuel said: “Any semen that is emitted without being felt throughout one's body does not convey ritual impurity.” Another version of what Shmuel said, “Any seed that does not shoot forth like an arrow cannot fertilize.” According to the second version, semen that exits without a feeling cannot fertilize but still produces impurity.

Art: German School - A seated Peasant eating a Meal

Niddah 42 – Meat in the Mouth

If a woman emits the man's semen in the next three days after cohabitation, she is ritually impure, just as he was. However, while his impurity comes when the semen leaves his body, her impurity comes while the semen is on its way out, even before it leaves her body. Why? About the blood the Torah said, “in her flesh” - that is, already in her flesh, before it leaves the body, and about semen it said, “it will be,” giving it the same law. However, Rabbi Shimon says that her law should be just like his, that is, she does not become ritually impure until his semen actually leaves her body.

“Swallowed-up impurity” is a ritually impure object enclosed in a hidden bodily cavity, such as the stomach. This impurity is considered non-existent. “Concealed place impurity” is a ritually impure object places in a partly concealed such as an ear, nostril, or armpit. What is the status of a ritually impure object in “that place” of a woman? The Talmud asks, what's the difference? And it answers, swallowed-up impurity has no effect at all, but concealed-place impurity makes one who carries it impure. So if her friend inserted a peace of nevelah meat there, her ritual purity status would depend on the answer to this question. Rava said, “It is swallowed up, and she is pure,” while Abaye said, “It is concealed, and she is impure when she moves.”

A similar question: if a person's friend inserted an olive's volume of nevelah meat in his mouth, is it swallowed-up or concealed? Here Abaye and Rava reverse their opinions.

Art: Jacob Foppens Van Es - A still life of green olives in a blue and white porcalein bowl

Niddah 41 – Caesarean of an Animal

Earlier we saw that Rabbi Shimon gives to children born by caesarean all the laws of ritual purity of the regular birth. However, as explained Rabbi Yochanan, Rabbi Shimon gives this law only to people. An animal born by caesarean is not considered normal birth, and such animal cannot be consecrated as sacrifice. Why not? Rabbi Shimon compared this to a firstborn animal: just as a firstborn “opens the womb,” so too a sacrificial animal should be born by “opening the womb.” And why does Rabbi Shimon compare the two laws at all? – Because in the description of both the term “birth” was used.

But Rabbi Shimon should rather compare the birth of animals to that of humans, because there also the term “birth” is used! The result would be that an animal born by caesarean will qualify as a sacrifice. No! Rabbi Shimon compares the sacrifices to first-born animals, because they are similar in that the term “mother” is used for both, and the laws of wrong thoughts, wrong time, and impurity apply. And still, he should compare to humans, since the words “male,” “consecrated,” and “gift” was used for both, and because their laws apply to regular, not consecrated beings. Comparison to animals wins by count of five-to-four.

Art: Juliette Peyrol Bonheur - A sheep and lambs resting in a moorland landscape

Niddah 40 – Caesarean

Caesarean (in Hebrew literally  “one that exits through the wall”) refers to a fetus removed through an incision in the mother's abdominal wall. Although women often did not survive these operations in ancient times, our ruling will discuss a case in which the mother was healed.

If a child was delivered by caesarean, the normal counts of the day of ritual impurity after birth, followed by a period of purity, do not apply, neither is the mother obligated to bring a sacrifice – that is the opinion of the Sages. However, Rabbi Shimon says that this child is like a child born in the normal manner, and its mother is subject to all the usual childbirth laws. What are their proofs?

The proof of the Sages is from the phrase, “When a woman conceives and gives birth to a boy...” This implies that the rules that follow will apply only to a case when she gives birth from the place where she conceived. Rabbi Shimon, however, bases his proof on the phrase that follows, “If she gives birth to a girl.” The words “gives birth” are extra, and they include caesarean.

Art: Jan Steen - Twin Birth Celebration

Niddah 39 – Presumptions of Purity

Throughout all of the eleven days of potential zivah that follow the seven days of niddah, a woman is presumed to be pure. Not only she is permitted to her husband, without checks or doubts, but even in the times of the Temple, when those women who handled ritually pure foods, had to check themselves, this requirement was suspended during those eleven days.

However, for a man who had a zivah discharge or for a woman who had the same, this presumption is not true, and they are assumed to be ritually impure, unless they checked themselves to ascertain purity.

Finally, if she did not check herself, she is still presumed to be pure. This last rule seems to imply that checks are needed, whereas the first rule told us that they are not!? – One explanation is that the last rules talks about the first seven days, not eleven days that follow. Talmud gives three more explanations of this difficulty, some of them ascribing this complete ruling to the stringent opinion of Rabbi Meir.

Art: Simone Pignone - A personification of Purity

Niddah 38 – The Term of Pregnancy

The pious ones of old would cohabit only on Wednesdays, so that their wives would not come to cause desecration of the Sabbath by giving birth on a Sabbath. The normal pregnancy term in either 271 days, 272, or 273, so the birth would occur on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday. But – asks the Talmud – cohabitation on Thursday, Friday, or the Sabbath also cannot lead to a birth on the Sabbath!? – True, understand “only on Wednesdays” as “from Wednesday onward.”

What was the reasoning of the pious ones of old? In the book of Ruth it says, “And God granted her pregnancy.” Pregnancy in Hebrew is “Herayon”, הריון, with the numerical value of 5+200+10+6+50=271, to allude that the term of pregnancy is 271 days.

After giving birth to a girl, and observing the fourteen days of labor-caused ritual impurity, the woman is pure for the next sixty-six days, even if she sees blood. What happens if she became pregnant at the beginning of these pure days, but then had a miscarriage before they were up? Is the blood of this second childbirth also pure? The Sages says that indeed all her blood during those eighty days is pure. Of course, when she actually delivers a fetus, she has a different ritual impurity – that of giving birth. However, Rabbi Eliezer says that only normal blood is excluded, because it is connected to the first birth, but not this blood, which is connected to the second birth.

Art: Alexander Johnston - Sabbath