ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS
prepared by Rabbi Eliezer Chrysler
Kollel Iyun Hadaf, Jerusalem
Previous dafNidah 19
(a) 'ke'Keren Karkom' means: either like a corner of the field where Safran
grows, or like the shine (sheen) of Safran.
(b) 'Meimei Tilsan' is the water in which fenugreek has been soaked.
(c) 'Adom' is as red as the blood of a wound (which will be explained later
in the Sugya).
And 'Shachor' is as black as one of the ingredients of black ink called
(d) A darker black is also Tamei, a paler black is not.
(a) The earth from Beis Kerem is that which is used to gauge the color of
(b) One adds sufficient water for there to be a thin layer of water
floating on top of the earth.
(c) They are not mixed together.
(d) The wine of 'Mazug' should be diluted two parts water to one part wine.
(a) We know that there is such a thing as Tahor blood by a woman from the
Pasuk of "Ki Yipalei Mimcha Davar Bein *Dam le'Dam*" - which the Gemara
explains to mean 'Bein Dam Tamei la'Dam Tahor'.
(b) If "Bein Dam le'Dam" means the difference between blood that is Tamei
and blood that is Tahor, what does "bein Nega la'Nega" mean, since there is
no such thing as a Tahor Nega - a Nega which is Tahor is called 'a Bohak'
(and not 'a Nega').
(c) The Pasuk is speaking about a 'Zakein Mamrei', who rules one way,
whilst his colleagues rule the other.
By Nig'ei Adam their dispute is whether the Halachah is like the Rabbanan,
who declare Tamei a Metzora, if we are not sure whether the white hairs
came before the Baheres (when it would be Tahor) or vice-versa (in which
case, it would be Tamei) or like Rebbi Yehoshua, who declares him Tahor.
By Nig'ei Batim, they argue over the corner-stone of a wall which has the
mark of Tzara'as, and measures one ki'Gris; According to the Chachamim, it
will be Tamei, whereas according to Rebbi Elazar b'Rebbi Shimon, it remains
Tahor as long as it does not measure two Grisin in length, one Gris on one
wall, and the other on the other wall (since the Torah writes "*be'Kiyros*
And by Nig'ei Begadim, they argue over the Machlokes between Rebbi Yonasan
ben Avtulmus, who holds that if the Nega spreads to the entire garment,
then it is Tahor, just like by Nig'ei Adam, whereas the Rabbanan maintain
that the garment is Tamei.
(d) It is not possible to explain "Bein Dam le'Dam" to mean between the
blood of Nidus and that of Zivus, and between the Nega of Adam, Batim and
Begadim, because, what does that have to do with the two opinions of the
Zakein Mamrei and his colleagues, to which the Pasuk is referring?
(a) "va'Yir'u Mo'av es ha'Mayim Adumim ke'Dam" teaches us that blood must
be red, otherwise, it is Tahor.
(b) We know that there are four different shades of red which are Tamei by
the blood of Nidus, from the two words "Dameha, Dameha".
(c) Our Mishnah lists five shades, because black is really one of the
shades of red but it has turned color.
(d) The Tena'im who add 'ke'Meimei Tilsan', 'ke'Meimei Basar Tzeli', and
'Yarok' either don't agree with the Derashah of "Dameha", "Dameha", or they
hold that those colors, like we explained by black, are really red, but
they have turned color.
(a) The Tana Kama who says that 'ke'Meimei Tilsan' and 'ke'Basar Tzeli' is
not Tamei, does not mean that they are Tahor, but that they are not Vaday
Tamei; in other words, they are Safek Tamei - and one will not burn Terumah
on account of them. Beis Hillel come to add that, in his opinion, they are
(b) By 'Yarok' too, there are three opinions: According to Akavya ben
Mahalalel, Dam Yarok is Tamei Vaday, according to the Chachamim, it is
Tahor Vaday, and according to the Tana Kama, it is a Safek.
(a) According to the Gemara's first contention, Rebbi Meir is saying, that
although he concedes that Yarok blood is not common, and that if she found
a Yarok Kesem she would be Tahor - because we would assume that it must
have come from somewhere else - nevertheless, if she actually saw Yarok
blood he would agree with Akavya that she is Temei'ah, because we can no
longer say that the blood came from somewhere else.
The Mishnah quotes Rebbi Yossi, although he holds exactly like the Tana
Kama of Rebbi Meir, in order to teach us that he is the Tana Kama. This is
important, because Chazal have taught us that someone who quotes something
in the name of its author, brings the Ge'ulah to the world.
(b ) But in that case, the Gemara argues, Rebbi Meir should have concluded
his words with: 'Metamei Mishum *Ro'ah*' rather than 'Metamei Mishum
(c) The liquids of a Zav or a Nidah are Metamei only if they gather inside
before leaving the body - such as spittle and urine. Blood, which drips out
drop after drop, is therefore not Metamei because of liquids.
(d) The initial source of blood being a liquid is "Dam Chalalim Yishteh",
from which Chazal derive that 'Dam she'ha'Nefesh Yotz'ei Bo' is called
blood, into which category 'Dam Yarok' will not fall.
Nevertheless, Rebbi Meir learns a 'Gezeirah Shavah' - "Shelachayich"
"Sholei'ach", to include the blood of Nidus in the Din of 'Hechsher
Tum'ah'; The Rabbanan refute this 'Gezeirah Shavah', which was not taught
be'Kabalah, because a 'Gezeirah Shavah', unlike a Kal va'Chomer, cannot be
learnt without a tradition from one's Rebbe.
According to this final explanation, it appears that Rebbi Meir and the
Rabbanan are arguing over whether, or not, any Dam Nidus is Machshir or
not. (See Tosfos, d.h. Kesiv, who learns that here, like earlier, their
dispute concerns Dam Yarok, and not Dam Adom, which everyone agrees *is*
(a) According to Shmuel, Dam ha'Makeh means the first blood of Shechitah -
which is very red.
(b) Had he said 'ke'Dam Shechitah (instead of 'ke'Dam Shor Shachut'), we
would have thought that he is referring to any of the blood of Shechitah,
which changes to different shades of red, during the various stages of
(c) 'ke'Dam Tzipor Chayah' might mean the blood of a live bird, to preclude
that of a dead one; or it could mean the blood of a strong bird, to include
the blood of a weak one.
(a) 'Hargah Ma'acholes' means that if a woman killed a louse, and later
found a bloodstain, she can rely on the louse, and is Tehorah.
According to Rebbi Chanina, it means that she killed specifically a
head-louse, but not from any other part of the body, because Rebbi Chanina
holds that 'Dam ha'Makeh' means like the blood of a head-louse.
(This Beraisa goes like the Chachamim, who do not require more than a
ki'Gris for a Kesem. According to Rebbi Chanina ben Antignos, who holds
that one does, we can never ascribe a bloodstain to the blood of a louse,
as we learnt earlier).
(b) The finger of the Bachur, whose blood we gauge for Dam Makeh, must have
been wounded before, was cured and was then wounded again.
We are talking about a young, unmarried man of under twenty.
(c) The Beraisa refers to the husband as unmarried (because it ascribes the
bloodstain on the woman's garment to the blood of her husband), in a case
where they have already made the Chupah, but not yet consummated their
(a) Rav Nachman explains Dam ha'Makeh to mean the blood of bloodletting.
(b) Rebbi Meir declared Tahor a woman who had dealt with a sort of red
salve called 'Kiylur'(and with the sap of a Shikmah, in the case of Rebbi)
when she later discovered a Kesem on her clothes. Now these are not as dark
as 'Adom', yet the Tena'im relied on them to be Metaher. It therefore would
seem that Adom has a wider range than the above Amora'im ascribed to it (in
other words, even a paler shade will also be Tamei)?
(c) The Gemara replies that no-one said that the Kiylur and the sap of a
Shikmah-tree are similar to 'Adom' of our Mishnah. Perhaps Rebbi Meir and
Rebbi were Metaher because they are similar to one of the other shades of
red, other than 'Adom'?