Commentary for Niddah 77:44

נחזי אנן היתה למודה להיות רואה ליום ט"ו ושינתה ליום כ' זה וזה אסורין

to the twentieth day,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' After undergoing ritual immersion, as will be explained infra. ');">³⁷</span> marital intercourse is forbidden<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In the next two months. ');">³⁹</span> on both dates.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' It is forbidden on the fifteenth which is the date of her regular period, and it is also forbidden on the twentieth since it is possible that henceforth that day would become her regular period. If in the third month also she experiences the discharge on the twentieth, she establishes thereby a new regular period and henceforth only the twentieth is forbidden while the fifteenth becomes permitted. ');">⁴⁰</span> If this was changed twice to the twentieth day,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. p. 271, n. 14. ');">⁴¹</span> marital intercourse is again forbidden on both dates. And in connection with this you have told us: Rab Judah citing Samuel explained. This<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That the fifteenth day is regarded as a regular period that cannot be altered unless the discharge appeared three times in three consecutive months respectively on a different date. ');">⁴²</span> was learnt only [when she was accustomed to observe a flow] on the fifteenth day after her ritual immersion<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which is performed at the conclusion of the seven days' period of menstruation. ');">⁴³</span> which is the twenty-second day<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The seven days of menstruation (cf. prev. n.) plus the fifteen days. ');">⁴⁴</span> after her observation of her discharge, since on such a day<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'for there'. ');">⁴⁵</span> she is already within the days of her menstruation period,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which begins after eighteen days (i.e., the seven days of menstruation plus the eleven, the days of the zibah period) have passed since the first day of the discharge, and continues for seven days. ');">⁴⁶</span> but the fifteenth day after her observation, on which she is still within the days of her <i>zibah</i> period,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Cf. prev. n. ');">⁴⁷</span> cannot be established as a regular period. R. Papa stated: I recited this tradition before R. Judah of Diskarta [and asked:] Granted that she cannot establish thereby<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' By observing a discharge for three months on the same date during zibah. ');">⁴⁸</span> a regular period,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That could not be abolished by less than three observations on a different date in three consecutive months respectively. ');">⁴⁹</span> must we take into consideration the possibility of such a regular period?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So that where a woman observed a discharge on the fifteenth day in each of three consecutive months intercourse on that day should be forbidden in the fourth months on the ground that, despite the zibah period in which the fifteenth day occurs, a regular period may have been established and the discharge would again appear on that date. ');">⁵⁰</span> The latter remained silent and said nothing at all. Said R. Papa: Let us look into the matter ourselves. [It has been laid down that] if she was accustomed to observe a flow of menstrual blood on the fifteenth day and this was changed to the twentieth day, marital intercourse is forbidden on both days.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Supra q.v. notes. ');">⁵¹</span>

Explore commentary for Niddah 77:44. In-depth commentary and analysis from classical Jewish sources.