Commentary for Niddah 3:1
הַמַּפֶּלֶת חֲתִיכָה, אִם יֵשׁ עִמָּהּ דָּם, טְמֵאָה. וְאִם לָאו, טְהוֹרָה. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, בֵּין כָּךְ וּבֵין כָּךְ, טְמֵאָה:
Regarding a woman who miscarries a piece [of flesh], if there was blood with it, she is impure; it not, she is pure. Rabbi Yehudah says: either way she is impure.
Bartenura on Mishnah Niddah
מפלת. אם יש עמה דם טמאה – [impure blood] of a menstruant woman.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Niddah
Introduction
Chapter three deals with a woman who had a miscarriage. There are two issues here: 1) Is she impure due to having given birth? This is a subject we covered a long time ago in Bekhorot chapter 8 and Keritot chapter 1. 2) Is she impure due to menstrual blood?
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Bartenura on Mishnah Niddah
ואם לאו טהורה – for the first Tanna/teacher holds, that is possible for the opening of the uterus (to pass the embryo) without discharging blood (see Talmud Niddah 21a). And even if blood is found with in the piece (of a shapeless object), it is pure, for it is the blood of the piece and not the blood of a menstruant woman.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Niddah
A woman who aborted a shapeless object: If there was blood with it, she is unclean, If not, she is clean. A shapeless object does not count as a miscarried birth. Therefore, she is impure only if blood accompanies the miscarriage. Such blood counts as menstrual blood.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Niddah
רבי יהודה אומר בין כך ובין כך טמאה – for Rabbi Yehuda holds that it is impossible for the opening of the uterus without blood. And since she aborted a piece (i.e., a shapeless object) – it is definitely blood that was there but that it was lost in its limitation, and was not seen. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Niddah
Rabbi Judah says: in either case she is unclean. Rabbi Judah agrees that the shapeless object does not count as a miscarriage. However, he considers the object to be congealed blood. Therefore, even if there is not any other blood, she is impure as a menstruant.
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