Commentary for Eduyot 5:4
רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, שְׁנֵי דְבָרִים מִקֻּלֵּי בֵית שַׁמַּאי וּמֵחֻמְרֵי בֵית הִלֵּל. דַּם יוֹלֶדֶת שֶׁלֹּא טָבְלָה, בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים, כְּרֻקָּהּ וּכְמֵימֵי רַגְלֶיהָ. וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים, מְטַמֵּא לַח וְיָבֵשׁ. וּמוֹדִים בְּיוֹלֶדֶת בְּזוֹב שֶׁהוּא מְטַמֵּא לַח וְיָבֵשׁ:
R. Eliezer adduces two instances of the leniencies of Beth Shammai and the stringencies of Beth Hillel: The blood of a woman who gave birth [and waited in her blood of uncleanliness (one week for a male and two weeks for a female)] but did not (yet) immerse — Beth Shammai say: [Her blood is] like her spittle and her urine, [which cause tumah when they are wet but not when they are dry. Her blood, too, causes tumah when wet, but not when dry, unlike the blood of a niddah, which causes tumah both (when it is) wet or dry.] And Beth Hillel say: It causes tumah whether wet or dry. [So long as she did not immerse, it is considered like niddah blood, even in the days of cleanliness.] And they concede that if she had a zav discharge while giving birth, [(in which instance she must count seven clean days, as do all other zavoth) that if she did not count and did not immerse and saw blood in her days of cleanliness,] that it causes tumah whether wet or dry, [it being considered zivah blood so long as she has not counted and not immersed.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Eduyot
English Explanation of Mishnah Eduyot
Bartenura on Mishnah Eduyot
English Explanation of Mishnah Eduyot
The blood of a woman after childbirth who has not immersed herself, Beth Shammai says: [it is] like her spittle and her urine. But Beth Hillel says: it causes impurity whether wet or dry. However, they agree in the case of the blood of a woman who gave birth when she had non-menstrual discharge, that it causes defilement whether wet or dry. According to Leviticus, chapter 12, after a woman gives birth to a male she is impure for seven days and after giving birth to a female she is impure 14 days. After this time she is supposed to go to the mikveh (ritual bath) and she will be pure. Any blood that flows after this time is pure (up to 33 days for a boy and 66 days for a girl). Our mishnah discusses a woman who had not gone to the mikveh after the initial seven or 14 day period. According to Beth Shammai the blood of this woman is not totally impure. Rather it is impure only when it is wet, like her spittle and urine. When dry the blood is pure. Beth Hillel disagrees and holds that it is impure whether wet or dry. The two Houses agree that if the woman was a “zavah”, a woman with an unnatural discharge (such as gonorrhea) at the time of childbirth, that her blood remains impure both when wet and when dry. A “zavah” must count seven clean days (free from any blood) for her to be able to go to the mikveh and become pure. Since she has not been able to do so, her blood remains impure, both wet and dry, as blood normally is.
Bartenura on Mishnah Eduyot
English Explanation of Mishnah Eduyot
• Now that we have learned the last list of disputes between Beth Shammai and Beth Hillel, can you discern any order to their appearance in the mishnah?