Talmud for Mikvaot 8:3

HALAKHAH: 3. ⁸⁸Here starts discussion of Mishnah 3, although the reference is not to the statement of R. Aqiba in that Mishnah but to Mishnah Miqwaot 8:3, quoted in the next paragraph, to which the present is an introduction. Rebbi Joḥanan said, they learned from Sinai⁸⁹The rules of impurity of semen lost by a woman days after intercourse are derived from Ex. 19.. Moses came down on the third day of the week⁹⁰Tuesday. In this interpretation there were three days of preparation and the revelation on Sinai took place on the Sabbath. If one deletes “of the week”, the reference is to the day of the Month. and told them, be prepared for three days, do not approach a woman⁹¹Ex. 19:15.. For any one who separated on the third day, there is (the third)⁹²This word was written by the scribe, then (wrongly) deleted by the corrector, and therefore missing in the printed editions., the night of the fourth, and the fourth, the night of the fifth, and the fifth. On the sixth, if she ejected in the night she was impure, during the day pure⁹³The times elapsed in the matter of women’s purity are always counted in “terms” of 12 hours each. If a woman had sex in the night from Monday to Tuesday, then six terms have elapsed by Friday, and she can purify herself in a miqweh without problems.. For any one who separated on the fourth day, there is the fourth, the night of the fifth, and the fifth. On the sixth, if she ejected in the night she was impure, during the day pure⁹⁴In this case, four terms have elapsed, as stated as possibility by R. Ismael in Mishnah Miqwaot 8:3.. Rebbi Joḥanan said, this was on Sinai. But for future generations either four or six⁹⁵Mishnah Miqwaot 8:3.; Rebbi Aqiba says, forever there are five, also for future generations.

There⁹⁶Mishnah Miqwaot 8:3., we have stated: “One who loses semen⁸Human semen is impure (Lev. 15:16–17 and sexual intercourse makes impure, v. 18. Semen which no longer can fertilize is not impure. The question is how long after intercourse must one suspect that semen released by the female still produces impurity? The answer which is given here states that semen may stay alive inside the woman’s body for three days. on the third day is pure, the words of Rebbi Eleazar ben Azariah⁹⁷As explained later in the Halakhah, he strictly goes by the count of days, not measuring the time elapsed.. Rebbi Ismael says, sometimes they are four terms, sometimes they are five, sometimes they are six⁹⁸He essentially accepts R. Eleazar ben Azariah’s interpretation; only he quantifies it in “terms”. A term is either a night, from sundown to sunrise, or a day, from sunrise to sundown. Six terms are required if the woman had intercourse at sundown or sunrise, when it is not clear whether ejaculation occurred before or after the start of a new term.. Rebbi Aqiba says, always they are five⁹⁹In fact he always requires 60 hours elapsed after ejaculation.. If part of the first term had elapsed, one completes it by the sixth term¹⁰⁰This sentence is not in the Mishnah mss., but since it also is quoted in the Babli 86a as appendix to this Mishnah and clarifies the statement of R. Aqiba, it should be considered part of the Mishnah..” Therefore Rebbi Ismael makes the day one term and the night one term; Rebbi Aqiba makes the day one term and the night one term. In what do they differ? They differ in complete terms. Rebbi Ismael treats part of a term like the whole, but Rebbi Aqiba does not treat part of a term like the whole. It was stated so about Rebbi Aqiba: “Therefore if part of the first term had elapsed, one completes it by the sixth term”¹⁰¹In order to complete the 60 hrs. required by R. Aqiba. The computation of R. Ismael is the same as that of R. Eleazar ben Azariah explained in the sequel.. It was stated: Rebbi Eleazar ben Azariah says, day and night each are a term, and part of a term is like the whole. It was stated so about Rebbi Eleazar ben Azariah: Sometimes after slightly more than a day she is pure; sometimes after slightly less than two days she is impure. How does it happen that after slightly more than a day she is pure? She had intercourse Friday afternoon before sundown and lost Saturday night after nightfall; there is slightly more than a day she is pure¹⁰²For R. Eleazar ben Azariah the day of intercourse is day 1; she is pure if she loses some semen on day 3. The day starts at sundown. Let ε be a small fraction. If she had intercourse ε hours before sundown and then lost semen the next evening ε hours after sundown it already is the third day and she is pure after 24+2 ε hours.. How does it happen that after slightly less than two days she is impure? She had intercourse Friday night after sundown and lost Sunday night before nightfall; there is slightly less than two days she is impure¹⁰³If she had intercourse ε hours after sundown then the next 24 - ε still are day 1; if she loses semen ε hours before the end of day 2 she still is impure even though 48 – 2ε hrs. have elapsed.. Rebbi Joḥanan said, from the words of all of them, Israel received the Torah as immersed on the same day¹⁰⁴Babli 86b. For profane matters, a person either is pure or impure. But for sancta, the purification occurs in two stages. Impurity is removed by immersion in a miqweh but purity is acquired only at sundown (Lev. 22:6–7). In the meantime, the ṭevul yom person does not contaminate anything by his touch but is not permitted any sanctified food (cf. Berakhot 1:1 Note 3).. That is, the women; but the men already were purified. What is the reason? Sanctify them today and tomorrow and let them wash their garments¹⁰⁵Ex. 19:10. A man may immerse himself immediately after intercourse and become completely pure after the next sundown.. Rebbi Joḥanan said, these are the words of Rebbi Eleazar ben Azariah, and Rebbi Ismael, and Rebbi Aqiba. But the word of the Sages is, up to three days; after that it decayed. This parallels what Rebbi Zeˋira said in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: This are the instructions for the sufferer from gonorrhea and from whom semen is ejaculated¹⁰⁶Lev. 15:32.. Since the instructions of the sufferer from gonorrhea are based on three days¹⁰⁷A sufferer from gonorrhea is impure, but he becomes severely impure requiring purification in flowing water only if he had three emissions within a three-day period (Mishnah Zavim 1:1)., also the instructions for semen are up to three days¹⁰⁸Babli 86b. While the day of intercourse is counted as day 1, the woman does not become impure by losing semen only on day 4. The derivation of these laws from Sinai is rejected since before the theophany at Sinai the people were not obligated to follow the rules promulgated there.
Here starts a Genizah fragment edited by L. Ginzberg (p. 87–88), G..