A zav (one suffering from a genital flow) who discharged semen, a niddah who emitted semen, and a woman who had intercourse and became a niddah must undergo ritual immersion. [A zav who discharged semen: Though he is unclean seven days because of zav uncleanliness, and this immersion does not render him clean, still, he must undergo this immersion for words of Torah because of the semen discharge, as instituted by Ezra. Likewise, a niddah who wishes to pray and emits semen (from a prior intercourse) is regarded as one discharging semen. And such an emission of semen renders a woman unclean for three days after intercourse. After that time it putrefies in her body and is no longer viable. And it is to be understood thus: "A niddah who emitted, now, semen from an intercourse prior to her becoming a niddah, and a woman who had intercourse — one who, after intercourse, became a niddah — must undergo ritual immersion.] And R. Yehudah does not require it. [R. Yehudah does not require it even in the instance of a woman who after intercourse became a niddah, even though ab initio she must undergo ritual immersion and it can be contended that the immersion obligation does not leave her. And we have already written above that this immersion ordinance was rescinded, being "an ordinance by which the majority of the congregation cannot abide."]
Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
זב שראה קרי – Even though that he [who is afflicted with gonorrhea] has made himself impure for seven days because of his gonorrhea, and his immersion [in the Mikveh/ritual bath] does not purify him, nevertheless, he requires immersion according to the words of the Torah, according to the enactment of Ezra , since one who has a nocturnal emission and a menstruant woman , if she came to pray and discharged her seed, she considered to be like one who had a nocturnal emission, as a woman who releases her seed is defiled through her emission for three days after sexual intercourse. And from then onwards, her seed has decayed in her body and its not appropriate of having a fetus created from it. And this is the explanation concerning a menstruant woman who emits her seed during the time of intercourse which she engaged in the previous night before she saw it and when she engages in sex and finds that she is a menstruant woman; after she had engaged in intercourse, she requires ritual immersion.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
Introduction
This mishnah deals with people who are already impure who then have contact with semen, either a man through his own semen or a woman through intercourse with a man.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
ורבי יהודה פוטר – Even a woman who engaged in sexual intercourse and saw that she had become a menstruant woman, Rabbi Yehuda exempts, even though ab initio, she should immerse herself, and one can say that her obligation of immersion was prevented. And we have already written above that she did not have to engage in ritual immersion because it was a decree that most of the community could not could not follow.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
A zav who has had a seminal emission and a niddah from whom semen escapes and a woman who becomes niddah during intercourse require a mikveh. Rabbi Judah exempts them. A zav is a man who has had an abnormal genital discharge. He is impure for seven days (Leviticus 15:13). Similary, a niddah, a menstruating woman, is impure for seven days. The mishnah says that if either of these people have contact with semen, the man through an ejaculation or the woman by discharging semen some time after intercourse, or through intercourse itself, they must go to the mikveh due to the contact with semen even though they will still be impure after the mikveh. Ezra had decreed that anyone who had a seminal emission had to immerse in order to be allowed to study Torah and to pray. This immersion is mandatory even if the person will continue to be impure afterwards. Furthermore, Ezra prohibited only people who were impure because of semen to study Torah and to pray. The zav and the niddah are not prohibited even though they too are impure. Rabbi Judah says that since the immersion will not make them pure, there is no reason for them to immerse.
