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Niddah
70 Dapim
Niddah examines the laws regarding ritual purity and impurity related to menstruation. It discusses the status of women during and after menstruation, the procedures for attaining purity, and the implications for family life and Temple participation.
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Beyond the Daf related shiurim for
Niddah
Expand your understanding of the topics in this masechet with classes and podcasts from top women Talmud scholars.
Filter easily by daf here
Extempore Effusions on the Completion of Masechet Niddah, Prakim Bet and Gimel
Rabbinic Authority and Personal Autonomy in Early Rabbinic Law, Part 2 of 3: The Law of Niddah
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Glossary
Here you’ll find definitions and explanations for some of the key terms in this masechet. See more here.
Daya She’ata U’Me’et L’et
The terms daya she’atah (“her time is sufficient”) and me’et le’et (“from time to time”) reflect a tannaitic debate about when impurity begins for a woman who sees menstrual blood. Shammai rules that impurity starts at the moment she sees it (daya she’atah), while Hillel holds that anything she handled since her last examination is impure (mepekidah lepekidah). The rabbis take a middle view, saying that anything she handled in the previous 24 hours (me’et le’et) is impure, unless she had a clean examination earlier that same day.
Yoledet
Any woman who gives birth or miscarries, whether naturally or via cesarean section, whether there was bleeding or not. A yoledet is impure as a nida for one week if she gives birth to a male, and two weeks if to a female. After immersing from this impurity, any bleeding she sees in the following 33 days for a male, or 66 days for a female, does not render her impure. During these days, Torah law permits her to her husband. (Today we follow Rabbi Zeira who forbids her until the bleeding stops.) She is impure only regarding entering the Beit Mikdash and eating sacred food.
Zava
A woman who sees blood outside her menstrual period is classified based on the duration of her bleeding. If she bleeds for one or two days, she is a minor zava and must wait an equal number of days before immersing. If she bleeds for three or more consecutive days, she is a major zava and must wait seven clean days after the bleeding stops before immersing. After immersion, she must offer two birds (one as a sin-offering and one as a burnt-offering) to complete her purification, allowing her to enter the Beit Mikdash and eat sacred food (kodshim).
Nida
A woman who has seen blood that emerged from her cervix. She is impure and transmits impurity through maga (contact), masa (carrying – items she carries or if others carry her), and midras (treading – utensils she touches/sits on/lies on become impure). She is forbidden to her husband until she immerses in a mikva, which, by Torah law, she may do seven days after the start of her bleeding.