Talmud su Levitico 15:25

“Even if she was married,⁸²This refers to the Mishnah which enumerates the women whose impurity is not retroactive, in particular the girl having a baby without ever having menstruated.” even if pregnant, even if nursing, and even if she was bleeding all seven [days] for a boy or all fourteen for a girl⁸³Lev. 15:25 creates a special category, zavah, for a woman whose discharge of blood is prolonged “many days after her menstrual period”, who is subject to more complicated rules of cleansing. Since “days” must mean a minimum of two days, “many days” must mean at least three days (by the hermeneutic principle of definiteness, cf. H. Guggenheimer, Logical Problems in Jewish Tradition, in: Confrontations with Judaism, Ph. Longworth, ed., Blond, London 1966, pp. 174–175). Now it is stated here that bleeding after childbirth cannot induce a status of zavah since (1) the time span of 7 days after the birth of a boy and 14 after that of a girl are defined as “menstrual impurity” and (2) this is followed by a period of purity of 33 days (for a boy) or 66 (for a girl) in which no discharge has any implication for impurity (Lev.12:4–5). Therefore, the only way a birth is followed by a status of zavah would be if the bloody discharges persist all through the period of purity.. Does she have a charm in her hand⁸⁴This is a little pedantic about the formulation of the text, from which one might infer that the pregnancy already determines the length of the period of impurity. The text is then elaborated to indicate that this period is determined only at the time of delivery.? After [the birth of] a boy seven [days], after a girl fourteen, but only if she stopped during her period of purity. As it was stated: If she stopped during her period of purity and had no discharge, but later she had a discharge; this case came before the Sages who said that her timing was exact⁸⁵The status of the “blood virgin” is not changed by pregnancy and all the bleeding necessarily connected with giving birth.. In Rav’s opinion, who says that all is one source but the Torah purified it, it is understandable⁸⁶Here starts the discussion of the condition that the discharges stop sometime during the period of purity. Rav holds that the blood lost during childbirth and the menstrual blood are of equal character, the period of purity is a biblical decree whose reason is unknown but a continuation of the discharge beyond this period shows that menstrual blood is flowing for “many days”. (Everybody agrees that prolonged flow before the actual delivery creates a status of zavah.) Therefore, a retention of the status of “blood virgin” necessitates the cessation of discharge during the period of purity (or even earlier). Rav’s opinion is detailed in the Babli, 1 la, 35b.. In Rebbi Yannai’s opinion, who says that all is one source but it changes, it is in order⁸⁷This opinion is not reported in the Babli. The only difference to Rav’s opinion is theoretical, that the biblical decree of the period of purity has a biological explanation.. In Levi’s opinion, who says that there are two sources, should not her timing be exact even if she does not stop during her period of purity⁸⁸His opinion is also discussed in the Babli, 11a and 35b. He holds that the blood lost in childbirth is different in nature from menstrual blood. Then it is difficult to see why menstrual virginity should depend on a cessation of childbirth discharges during the period of purity.? Rebbi Mana said, the reason of Levi is that since she became used to pure blood, she might become used to impure blood⁸⁹Levi also subscribes to the cessation rule, but only as one of purely rabbinic character. Since she is used to discharges, she does not react to a menstrual discharge with the speed necessary to avoid retroactive contamination.. Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Abun said, Levi can explain what we have stated⁹⁰Mishnah 1:5.: “Rebbi Yose said, the timing of a pregnant or a nursing woman who had stopped for three periods is exact.” On that it was stated⁹¹Tosephta 1:10: “R. Yose and R. Simeon say that the timing of a pregnant or a nursing woman is not exact unless there passed three periods (without menstruation); the days of her pregnancy and those of her nursing are added together.” It is clear that pregnancy and nursing cannot be counted together if the blood lost in childbirth is of menstrual character. Therefore, the Tosephta and the similar baraita quoted in the text are intelligible for Levi, not for Rav.: The days of her pregnancy and her nursing add up to three periods. Can he think that there is only one source?

HALAKHAH: They shall arrange¹³⁷Lev. 1:7. The theme of the Halakhah is to find a biblical source for the number of Cohanim used to bring the parts of the daily sacrifices to the altar.. I could think, a hundred; I could think, a thousand. ¹³⁸The remainder of the Paragraph also is Sifra MesoraˋParashah 5(5–9). Its topic is the interpretation of prescriptive biblical verses in the absence of numerical data. The theory expounded here is what the author has called the axiom of definiteness: Biblical language in legal contexts is definite (H. Guggenheimer, Logical Problems in Jewish Tradition, in: Confrontations with Judaism, Ph. Longworth ed., London 1966., pp. 171–196, in particular pp. 174–175.) In the situation considered here it is noted that the set of numbers >1 has a smallest element, 2, but no largest one. Therefore an indefinite plural used in a biblical law must mean 2, otherwise the meaning would not be definite. This is applied to the laws of zava, a woman impure by non-menstrual blood flow for many days. By the principle of definiteness this means that days are 2, the number of many days is the smallest number >2, or 3. Rebbi Aqiba said, anywhere you could understand many or you could understand few, if you took the many you took nothing, if you took few you took¹³⁹Babli Megillah 17a, Sanhedrin 5a.. It was stated: Rebbi Jehudah ben Bathyra said, two measures; one finite, the other infinite. Everybody measures with the finite measure, but nobody measures with the infinite measure. Rebbi Nehemiah said, does the verse come to open or to lock in? It does not come to lock in but to open¹⁴⁰In Babylonian sources, this statement is credited to R. Yose; Seder Olam Chapter 1 (in the author’s edition, Northvale 1998, p. 3, Note 5, pp. 5–8.). If you are saying days¹⁴¹Lev. 15:25. are ten, they could be 100 or 200 or 1’000 or 10’000. But if you say days are two, you did unlock. Rebbi Muna¹⁴²The Tanna. said in the name of Rebbi Jehudah. Days are two. I could think that days are many. If they are many, why is it said, many? Therefore the verse only spoke of few days. How much are they? It means two; many are three. I could think that many (days) means ten. It says days and it says many. Since the minimum of days are two, so for many, the minimum of many are three. I could think that two and three make five. But is it said, days [and many]? It only is said, many days. How is this? These many should be more than two. How many are they? It implies three.

MISHNAH: Even though they said that their timing was exact¹⁴¹The women enumerated in Mishnaiot 2 and 3., she has to check herself¹⁴²If she prepares food in ritual purity., except for the menstruating¹⁴³The menstruating woman for seven days cannot prepare pure food. In the period of purity, a woman cannot become impure by any genital discharge. and one in her period of purity⁸³Lev. 15:25 creates a special category, zavah, for a woman whose discharge of blood is prolonged “many days after her menstrual period”, who is subject to more complicated rules of cleansing. Since “days” must mean a minimum of two days, “many days” must mean at least three days (by the hermeneutic principle of definiteness, cf. H. Guggenheimer, Logical Problems in Jewish Tradition, in: Confrontations with Judaism, Ph. Longworth, ed., Blond, London 1966, pp. 174–175). Now it is stated here that bleeding after childbirth cannot induce a status of zavah since (1) the time span of 7 days after the birth of a boy and 14 after that of a girl are defined as “menstrual impurity” and (2) this is followed by a period of purity of 33 days (for a boy) or 66 (for a girl) in which no discharge has any implication for impurity (Lev.12:4–5). Therefore, the only way a birth is followed by a status of zavah would be if the bloody discharges persist all through the period of purity.; even one who has intercourse with cloths^5,After intercourse (according to Rashi: before and after intercourse) she wipes herself with a clean cloth which can be inspected the next morning. The connection of the word עדים to the biblical hapax in Is. 64:5 is due to Qimhi; according to Rashi (Is. 64:5), the biblical word is an Aramaism and means “to be discarded”. In Niddah, Rashi seems to to read עֵד “a witness”.¹⁴⁴She is pure for her husband and if she checks herself in the evening and finds herself pure she can be certain that the food she prepared during the preceding day is pure; but for the next morning she still needs to check herself. except one in her period of purity and a virgin¹⁴⁵A “blood virgin” who can be married and even have children. whose blood is pure. Twice she has to check herself, morning¹⁴⁶If she prepared pure food during the preceding night. and evening¹⁴⁷To justify the food she prepared during the preceding day., and when she goes to have intercourse¹⁴⁸This is necessary only if she regularly prepares pure food.. In addition, wives of Cohanim when they go to eat heave¹⁴⁹They have to be sure that they are pure when they eat sanctified food.. Rebbi Jehudah says, also when they stop eating heave¹⁵⁰If there is any leftover food, they have to check themselves to be sure that it remained pure and usable..