BACKGROUND TO THE DAF

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BACKGROUND TO THE DAILY DAF

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Rosh Kollel: Rabbi Mordecai Kornfeld

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NIDAH 30

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Kollel

[30a - 39 lines; 30b - 52 lines]

*********************GIRSA SECTION*********************

We recommend using the textual changes suggested by the Bach and the marginal notes of the Vilna Shas. This section is devoted to any other important corrections that Acharonim have pointed out in the Gemara and Rashi.

[1] Rashi 30a DH Tevilah Yeseirta : ד"ה טבילה יתירתא

The words "v'Arba Esrei b'Yamim Shel Shnei Shavu'os ha'Rishonos" וארבע עשרה בימים של שני שבועות הראשונות

should be "v'Arba Esrei b'Yamim Shel Shnei Shavu'os mi'Sheloshah Shavu'os ha'Rishonos" וארבע עשרה בימים של שני שבועות משלשה שבועות הראשונות

Apparently, Rashi's intent is to refer to the second and third week, as he writes at the end of the Dibur (ARUCH LA'NER)

[2] Gemara 30b [line 29]:

"Yachid v'Rabim, Halachah ka'Rabim, Peshita" יחיד ורבים הלכה כרבים פשיטא

Our Girsa follows the emendation of Rashi in the Gemara. Rashi's original Girsa was the same as that of Tosfos:

"Peshita, Yachid v'Rabim, Halachah ka'Rabim" פשיטא יחיד ורבים הלכה כרבים

[3] Torah Or [line 40]:

The source "Mishlei 14"

should be "Mishlei 4" (this has already been corrected in the Wagshal edition)

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1) [line 2] פשו להו שתין נכי חדא PASHU LEHU SHITIN NAKI CHADA - fifty-nine days remain (lit. there remain sixty minus one)

2) [line 12] איידי דתנא שבוע טמא ... AIDI D'TANA SHAVU'A TAMEI ... - that is, we are counting alternating weeks during which the woman first experienced bleeding daily and then did not bleed. Since during the 12th week (3+9) the woman experienced bleeding daily, we mention the 13th week as well, during which the woman experiences no bleeding, to complete another "set" of Tamei and Tahor weeks.

3) [line 14] לאחר תשמיש לא קחשיב LE'ACHAR TASHMISH LO KACHASHIV - Beis Hillel do not count Tevilos that are required after the day that Tashmish is permitted, i.e. day 35, even though Beis Shamai do count them (see Chart to Nidah 29)

4) [line 21] ספורים בפנינו SEFURIM BEFANEINU - (lit. counted before us) days that were proven to be bloodless, and not days upon which she is not certain if she experienced bleeding (RASHI to Daf 29b DH Eima Yoledes Zachar b'Zov Hi)

5) [line 24] שומרת יום כנגד יום/זבה קטנה/זבה גדולה SHOMERES YOM K'NEGED YOM / ZAVAH KETANAH / ZAVAH GEDOLAH

(a) The eleven days that follow the seven days of Nidah are "days of Zivah." If a woman experiences bleeding during these days for one or two consecutive days, whether the bleeding is b'Ones (due to an external cause, see Background to Kerisus 8:4:b) or not, she becomes a Zavah Ketanah and is Teme'ah. She is prohibited to her husband and has the status of an Av Ha'Tum'ah (see Background to Nidah 5:8).

(b) If she does not experience bleeding the following night and day, she may immerse in a Mikvah during the day to become Tehorah. She may even immerse on the morning immediately following the day on which she experienced bleeding, but her Tum'ah and Taharah are contingent upon whether or not she experiences bleeding afterwards on that day. She is called a Shomeres Yom k'Neged Yom, because she must watch the following day to confirm whether or not she experiences bleeding.

(c) If a woman experiences bleeding for three consecutive days during her eleven days of Zivah, she becomes a Zavah Gedolah. In order for her to become Tehorah, she must count "Shiv'ah Neki'im," seven "clean days" during which she verifies that she experiences no other bleeding. On the morning of the seventh day she immerses in a Mikvah. If she does not experience bleeding during the rest of the day she is Tehorah and no longer a Zavah. A Zavah Gedolah must bring a Korban Zavah to permit her to enter the Beis ha'Mikdash or to eat Kodshim. The Korban is two Torim or two Bnei Yonah, one offered as an Olah and one as a Chatas (Vayikra 15:25-30).

6) [line 29] טבילה בזמנה מצוה/טבילה בזמנה לאו מצוה TEVILAH B'ZEMANAH MITZVAH / TEVILAH B'ZEMANAH LAV MITZVAH

(a) According to Torah law, most people who become Tamei must immerse themselves in a Mikvah in order to become Tahor.

(b) Each Tamei has a set time after which he may immerse himself and become Tahor. (For example, 1. Nidah - at night, after seven complete days have passed since the onset of the bleeding; 2. Zavah Ketanah - on the day after she stops bleeding; 3. Zavah Gedolah - on the seventh day after she stops bleeding; 4. Ba'al Keri - on the day that he has an emission of Keri).

(c) According to one opinion (Rebbi Yosi b'Rebbi Yehudah), Tevilah bi'Zemanah Lav Mitzvah, i.e. immersing oneself at the first opportunity is not a Torah commandment, but rather a recommended practice. Other Tana'im (Beis Shamai and Beis Hillel) disagree and maintain that it is a commandment, whose source is the verse in Devarim 23:12.

30b----------------------------------------30b

7) [line 11] קליאופטרא מלכת אלכסנדרוס KELIOPATRA MALKAS ALEKSANDERUS - Cleopatra VII (69-30 BCE), queen of Alexandria. Egyptian queen of Macedonian descent, last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt (see below, entry #9)

8) [line 21] סמא דנפצא אשקינהו SAMA D'NAFTZA ASHKINHU - they (the people performing the experiment) made them drink an abortifacient or spermicide

9) [line 22] קלפטרא מלכת יוונית KELIPATRA MALKAS YEVANIS - Cleopatra VII (69-30 BCE), Egyptian queen of Macedonian descent, last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt (since these two experiments were performed by the same people yet they yielded conflicting results, one of them must be mistaken. Each Tana claims that the experiment that concurs with his ruling is the correct one and the other is mistaken - RITVA. CHASDEI DAVID suggests that the Gemara should read "Lishna Acharina" before the words, "Amar Rebbi Yishmael Ma'aseh...," i.e. that only one experiment was performed; however, the Gemara has two conflicting sources as to which Tana brings the experiment as his proof)

10) [line 25] אייתרה ארבעין יומין AYASRA ARBE'IN YOMIN - she may have waited forty days

11) [line 26] אין אפוטרופוס לעריות EIN APOTROPUS L'ARAYOS - (lit. there is no overseer with regard to forbidden relations) with regard to forbidden relationships, we cannot rely on the best appointed official or guard to guarantee that no forbidden act was performed

12) [line 27] בסימניהון שוין B'SIMANEIHON SHAVIN - the limbs, hair and nails of the female fetus at eighty-one days were as developed as those of the male fetus at forty-one days

13) [line 28] מסתמא רישא כרבנן MISTEMA REISHA K'RABANAN - (a) according to Rashi's original Girsa (see Girsa section #2): the opinion of the Rabanan is stated anonymously at the beginning of the Mishnah to establish that the Halachic ruling is in accordance with their opinion; (b) according to Rashi's emendation, and the Girsa of our Gemara: the opinion of the Rabanan is stated explicitly at the end of the Mishnah in order to establish that the Reisha is expressing a majority opinion (rather than an individual "Tana Kama"), and the Halachic ruling is therefore in accordance with that opinion

14) [line 31] פנקס PINKAS - a folded-up slate (usually wax-covered, where notes could be etched)

15) [line 31] צדעיו TZEDA'AV - its temples

16) [line 31] אציליו ATZILAV - (a) (O.F. aisseles) its armpits (RASHI); (b) its elbows (TOSFOS)

17) [line 32] ארכובותיו ARKEVOSAV - its knees