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מפלת. אם יש עמה דם טמאה – [impure blood] of a menstruant woman.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

כמין שערה – hair.

If a woman miscarried an object that was like a rind, like a hair, like earth, like red flies, let her put it in water: If it dissolves she is unclean, But if it does not she is clean. None of these objects count as a miscarried birth, therefore she is not impure as if she had given birth. The only issue is whether or not it is considered to be blood. The test is to put that which she miscarried in water and see if it dissolves. If it does, then it counts as blood and she must consider herself to be impure.

יבחושין (looking like a mass of red insects) – mosquitos or gnats.

If she miscarried an object in the shape of fishes, locusts, or any forbidden things or creeping things: If there was blood with them she is unclean, If not, she is clean. These shapes also don't count as births (see Bekhorot 8:1, Keritot 1:5). Therefore, the only question is again whether she is a menstruant. If there is blood, then she is. If not, she is clean.

תטיל למים – [let her place them into water] – that is tepid, and have them remain in that tepid water for twenty-four hours.

If she miscarried an object in the shape of a beast, a wild animal or a bird, whether clean or unclean: If it was a male she sits in uncleanness as she would for a male; And if it was a female she sits in uncleanness as she would for a female. But if the sex is unknown she sits in uncleanness for both male and female, the words of Rabbi Meir. According to Rabbi Meir, these animal shapes do count as human births. If the object seems to have been male, then she must be unclean as she would be had she given birth to a male. This means that she is unclean for seven days and then the following 33 days any blood she discharges is pure (see Leviticus 12: 2, 4). If female, she is impure for 14 days and then the following 66 days any blood is pure (v. 5). If it is unclear whether it is a boy or girl, then the rule is stringent. She is impure for two weeks, as if she had given birth to a girl, but subsequent blood is pure for only 33 days, as if she had given birth to a boy.

אם נמוחו טמאה (if they dissolve [into blood] – because she is a menstruant woman, that it is blood.

The sages say: anything that has not the shape of a human being cannot be regarded as a human child. The other rabbis disagree with Rabbi Meir. If the miscarriage doesn't have the shape of a human being, it doesn't count as a human being and she does not count as having given birth.

אם יש עמהן דם טמאה – our Mishnah is like the Sages who argue with Rabbi Yehuda above (i.e., in Mishnah 1) that it is possible for the opening of the uterus without blood.

וחכמים אומרים כל שאין בו מצורת אדם אינו ולד – everyone agrees that when it’s body is born in the form of a wild animal, and its face is that of a human, it considered a [human] fetus; its body like that of a human but its face like that face of wild animal, it is a wild animal and this is not a [human] fetus, for we go after the form of the face. They didn’t disagree other than with one for whom part of the face was like that of a human and part of like the face of an animal, and even if most of the face is like that of a human, but one eye that is in his head alone is like that of an animal, Rabbi Meir states that one requires the entire form of a human being, for since it has the eye like an animal, this is not a [human] fetus. But the Rabbis hold, that which lacks the form of a human being at all and even doesn’t have part of a human form, is not a [human] fetus, but if he has part of a [human] form, it is a [human] fetus. But the Halakha is according to the Sages.

שפיר (sac of a fetus) – a piece of flesh. If it has the form of a human being, it is called a fetus having an articulated shape. But I heard that it is like an egg-shell, therefore it is called a sac.

If a woman aborted a sac full of water, full of blood, or full of pieces of flesh, she need not be concerned that it was a birth. These sacs do not count as births (see Bekhorot 8:1). We don't assume that there was a fetus in them.

מלא גנינים ( see Tractate Niddah 24b) – [an abortion consisting of] a bag full of many-colored substance. Another explanation: גנינים are worms, that the piece of flesh is cut into many thin pieces similar worms.

But if its limbs were fashioned she must sit for both male and female. If limbs are noticeable in the shape within the sac, then we must be concerned that this was actually a fetus. Assuming that the gender is unknown, the woman must act stringently in both directions, as we explained in yesterday's mishnah.

אינה חוששת לולד – she is not defiled by giving birth. But if there is no blood with them, she should not worry even because of being a menstruating woman.

תשב לזכר ונקבה impure for two weeks like a woman who gives birth to a female. But she doesn’t have blood of purity (i.e., vaginal bleeding experienced by a woman from eight to forty days after giving birth to a boy and from fifteen to eighty days after giving birth to a girl), other than thirty-three days like a woman who gives birth to a male, for since it is not known/recognized if it is a male or a female, we place upon her the stringencies of the male and the stringencies of a female.

סנדל – a piece of flesh made like the shape of the tongue of a bull. And because it has the form of a sandal, we call it a sandal. And it customarily comes with the fetus. But there are those who explain, "סנדל" that it is becoming [as] a fetus [one must say, and poor}.

If she aborted a sandal or a placenta she sits in uncleanness for both male and female.
If a placenta is in a house, the house is unclean, not because a placenta is a fetus but because generally there can be no placenta without a fetus.
Rabbi Shimon says: the child might have been mashed before it came out.
Section one: A "sandal" is a fetus whose face has not yet been formed. This counts as a human miscarriage and if the sex cannot be determined, then she must observe the impurity rituals for having both a male and a female (see mishnah two).
While a placenta is not a fetus, it is a sign that there was a fetus. Therefore, since we can't determine the sex of the fetus, she must act as if she had both a boy and a girl.
Section two: If a placenta is found in a house, we can assume that a dead fetus was in the house as well. This makes the house into an "ohel" (a tent) which conveys impurity to all of the contents of the house. (We learned plenty about this in Tractate Ohalot).
Rabbi Shimon notes that the presence of a placenta is not a certain sign that she gave birth to a fetus. It is possible that the fetus could have been dissolved or mashed up (I realize that this is not pleasant) before it came out of the woman. In such a case, the fetus does not have the status of a dead body and doesn't defile as does a dead body. The house and its contents will remain pure.

שליא – like a skin/membrane that was fetus is lying within it. And its beginning is like the thread of woof [which is thicker than that of the warp – see Tractate Niddah 35a] (i.e., the latitudinal direction), but when it expands wider like a lupine and hollowed like a trumpet. But the placenta is not less than a handbreadth.

הבית טמא – because of the tent of the deceased, for a [human] fetus was in it and died.

נימוק הולד (the fetus was mashed) – and the it became blood and was combined with the blood of birth and was nullified in the majority. But the house is not impure. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Shimon.

תשב לזכר ונקבה – she is [ritually] impure for two weeks like [the birth of] a female, and her days of purity are only thirty-three like [the birth of] a male.

If a woman aborted a tumtum or an androginos, she must sit for a male and a female. A tumtum is one who has no recognizable signs of gender. An androginos has both male and female signs. If a woman gives birth to either of these, she must act stringently and be impure for both a male and female (see mishnah two). Again, what this means is that she is impure for as long as she would be if she gave birth to a female and pure only for as long as she would be had she given birth to a female.

טומטום וזכר – as for example that she gave birth, one whose sexual organs are concealed or a hermaphrodite, and the other is a definite male.

[If she gave birth] to a tumtum and a male, or to an androginos and a male, she must sit for a male and a female. In this case, she gave birth to a child of doubtful status and a certain male. Therefore, she must sit for both a male and female (in case the tumtum or andrigonos is female).

תשב לזכר ולנקבה – but we don’t say that from this definite male [child], this other one is also a male.

[If she gave birth] to a tumtum and a female or an androginos and a female, she must sit only for a female. Here we know she gave birth to a female. Therefore, she is impure for the longer period (14 days). And as far as the days of purity, she certainly is pure for the 66 day period, even if the tumtum or andrigonos was a male.

תשב לנקבה בלבד – and even if it is one whose sexual organs are concealed is a male, we follow after the females, for all the days of a male, whether for [ritual] impurity or whether for purity they are absorbed within that of the female.

If the embryo came out in pieces or in a reversed position it is deemed born as soon as its greater part come out. The final two sections deal with the question of when a birth has been determined to have taken place. Some of the ramifications of this include when it is allowed to abort the pregnancy to save the woman's life and at what point does she become impure. If it comes out in pieces or legs first, the birth is determined as occurring once most of the body has come out.

מחותך – limb by limb.

If it came out in the normal way [it is not deemed born] until the greater part of its head came out. And what is meant by the "greater part of its head"? Once the forehead comes out. If the birth occurs in a normal way, head first, then the birth is considered to have taken place once the forehead is out. This is the definition of "most of the head."

מסורס – the language of opposite, like [Tractate Bava Batra 119b]: “invert the order in which the persons are mentioned in that verse (in reference to Numbers 27:2) and interpret it.

משיצא רובו הרי הוא כילוד – and his head is like the majority. Therefore, when the head of someone who is cut up by limbs comes out, even though all the rest of the body is inside, it is like it is born.

פחדתו – his forehead.

ואין ידוע מה הוא – if it is a male or a female.

If a woman miscarried and it is unknown what it was, she sits for both a male child and a female child. This is the same rule we have learned in previous mishnayot.

תשב לזכר ולנקבה – the days of purity of a male, and the days of [ritual] impurity of a female.

If it is unknown whether it was a child or not, she sits for both a male and a female and as a menstruant. In this case, she isn't even sure if she miscarried or whether she menstruated. The rule is a bit more complicated here because she must also observe the laws of menstrual purity. This means that there will be no days of pure blood, as there would be if she had given birth to either a male or female. The first 14 days after the event, she will be impure as if she had given birth to a female. If she sees blood immediately after that, it is considered menstrual blood, because this is more than 11 days after her previous blood. If she sees blood on the 34th day, the rule is a bit complicated, for in this case we must be concerned that she had given birth to a male. If she sees blood on the 34th day and then again on the 41st day, if we considered her as a niddah at the outset, then at the time of the blood on the 41st she would not be in niddah, because it is within 11 days of the previous blood (on the 34th day), and she would observe only one day of impurity for every day she sees blood (up to three days). If she had given birth to a girl, then she would pure throughout the whole period (she would be pure from days 15-80). However, if she gave birth to a male, then the blood on the 34th day would be pure because it was within the 33 days of purity after the week of impurity. The blood on the 41st day would be menstrual blood because it was more than 11 days after he previous menstrual blood. Therefore, in this case she must be concerned that the blood is menstrual and she would have to observe the rules of menstrual impurity.

לזכר ונקבה ולנדה – meaning to say, that when you see that she is a menstruant woman, that she doesn’t have the days of purity, for perhaps it is not a fetus. And she immerses [in a Mikveh] at the conclusion of forty days like when she gives birth to a male [child] according to the one who states that ritual immersion at its appropriate time is a Mitzvah. And she immerses a long day, she needs another ritual -immersion at the end of the fortieth [day], and this is needed for immersion at the conclusion of forty days like one who gives birth to a male [child], even though this immersion does not have any effect upon her whatsoever, for she is not pure for Holy Things and for the Temple until her fulfillment of eighty days like giving birth to a female [child],

המפלת ליום ארבעים – of her ritual immersion.

If a woman miscarried on the fortieth day, she need not be concerned that it was a valid childbirth. The rabbis believed that it took forty days for a fetus to form. We should note that this was a common belief in the ancient world, one that I believe was shared by Aristotle as well. [It also had implications for the laws concerning abortion. For instance Philo, an early Jewish philosopher, stated that abortion was permitted up till the fortieth day, because that is when the fetus is formed.] If she miscarries before the fortieth day, the rabbis believe that it could not be a fetus.

אינה חוששת לולד – that she did not cause his formation until the completion of all forty days.

On the forty-first day, she sits as for both a male and a female and as for a menstruant. If she miscarries on the 41st day, and it is not clear if it was a miscarriage or blood, she must be concerned lest it was a male, lest it was a female and lest it was menstruation. This situation was explained in yesterday's mishnah.

ולנדה - when she sees [blood], she will be a menstruant woman, for perhaps there isn’t a [human] fetus [after all], and there aren’t the days of purity.

Rabbi Ishmael says: [if she miscarried on] the forty-first day she sits as for a male and as for a menstruant, But if on the eighty-first day she sits as for a male and a female and a menstruant, because a male is fully fashioned on the forty-first day and a female on the eighty-first day. Rabbi Ishmael seems to believe that males are formed on the 41st day after conception and females on the 81st day. Therefore, if she miscarries between the 41st and 80th days, she need not be concerned lest it was female. [What he is saying is that females begin as males and only turn into females on day 81. Interesting, although obviously incorrect]. This means that she will be impure for seven days. If blood appears after this time, she is again a niddah. The blood is not pure because we are not sure if she gave birth.

יום ארבעים ואחד תשב לזכר – seven days of impurity. Even with her giving birth dried up/withered she is not a menstruant woman. But two weeks [after giving birth to] a female [child], she does not sit, as the reason is taught that the formation of a female is [after] eighty-one days. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yishmael.

But the sages say: the fashioning of the male and the fashioning of the female both take forty-one days. The sages espouse a more egalitarian view both males and females are formed on the 41st day. If she miscarries after this, she must be concerned lest it was a male, female or menstruation, as we explained above.

וחכמים אומרים כו' – The Sages are the first Tanna/teacher, but because that the reason of Rabbi Ishmael makes more sense than the first Tanna/teacher, Rabbi [Judah the Prince] retracted and taught it in the language of the Sages, to teach us that the Halakha is according to the first anonymous teaching, and even though there is the dispute of Rabbi Yishmael at its side.