| 31b. שמשהין עצמן בבטן כדי שיזריעו נשותיהן תחלה שיהו בניהם זכרים מעלה עליהן הכתוב כאילו הם מרבים בנים ובני בנים והיינו דאמר רב קטינא יכולני לעשות כל בני זכרים אמר רבא הרוצה לעשות כל בניו זכרים יבעול וישנה,ואמר רבי יצחק אמר רבי אמי אין אשה מתעברת אלא סמוך לוסתה שנאמר (תהלים נא, ז) הן בעון חוללתי,ורבי יוחנן אמר סמוך לטבילה שנאמר (תהלים נא, ז) ובחטא יחמתני אמי,מאי משמע דהאי חטא לישנא דדכויי הוא דכתיב (ויקרא יד, מט) וחטא את הבית ומתרגמינן וידכי ית ביתא ואי בעית אימא מהכא (תהלים נא, ט) תחטאני באזוב ואטהר,ואמר רבי יצחק אמר רבי אמי כיון שבא זכר בעולם בא שלום בעולם שנאמר (ישעיהו טז, א) שלחו כר מושל ארץ זכר זה כר,ואמר ר' יצחק דבי רבי אמי בא זכר בעולם בא ככרו בידו זכר זה כר דכתיב (מלכים ב ו, כג) ויכרה להם כירה גדולה,נקבה אין עמה כלום נקבה נקייה באה עד דאמרה מזוני לא יהבי לה דכתיב (בראשית ל, כח) נקבה שכרך עלי ואתנה,שאלו תלמידיו את רבי שמעון בן יוחי מפני מה אמרה תורה יולדת מביאה קרבן אמר להן בשעה שכורעת לילד קופצת ונשבעת שלא תזקק לבעלה לפיכך אמרה תורה תביא קרבן,מתקיף לה רב יוסף והא מזידה היא ובחרטה תליא מילתא ועוד קרבן שבועה בעי איתויי,ומפני מה אמרה תורה זכר לשבעה ונקבה לארבעה עשר זכר שהכל שמחים בו מתחרטת לשבעה נקבה שהכל עצבים בה מתחרטת לארבעה עשר,ומפני מה אמרה תורה מילה לשמונה שלא יהו כולם שמחים ואביו ואמו עצבים,תניא היה ר"מ אומר מפני מה אמרה תורה נדה לשבעה מפני שרגיל בה וקץ בה אמרה תורה תהא טמאה שבעה ימים כדי שתהא חביבה על בעלה כשעת כניסתה לחופה,שאלו תלמידיו את רבי דוסתאי ברבי ינאי מפני מה איש מחזר על אשה ואין אשה מחזרת על איש משל לאדם שאבד לו אבידה מי מחזר על מי בעל אבידה מחזיר על אבידתו,ומפני מה איש פניו למטה ואשה פניה למעלה כלפי האיש זה ממקום שנברא וזו ממקום שנבראת,ומפני מה האיש מקבל פיוס ואין אשה מקבלת פיוס זה ממקום שנברא וזו ממקום שנבראת,מפני מה אשה קולה ערב ואין איש קולו ערב זה ממקום שנברא וזו ממקום שנבראת שנאמר {שיר השירים ב } כי קולך ערב ומראך נאוה, br br big strongהדרן עלך המפלת חתיכה /strong /big br br,מתני׳ big strongבנות /strong /big כותים נדות מעריסתן והכותים מטמאים משכב תחתון כעליון מפני שהן בועלי נדות,והן יושבות על כל דם ודם,ואין חייבין עליהן על ביאת מקדש ואין שורפין עליהם את התרומה מפני שטומאתן ספק, big strongגמ׳ /strong /big ה"ד אי דקא חזיין אפילו דידן נמי ואי דלא קחזיין דידהו נמי לא,אמר רבא בריה דרב אחא בר רב הונא אמר רב ששת הכא במאי עסקינן בסתמא דכיון דאיכא מיעוטא דחזיין חיישינן ומאן תנא דחייש למיעוטא | 31b. bthey delaywhile bintheir wives’ babdomen,initially refraining from emitting semen bso that their wives will emit seed first,in order bthat their children will be male, the verse ascribes themcredit bas though they have many sons and sons’ sons. And thisstatement bisthe same as that bwhich Rav Ketina said: I could have made all of my children males,by refraining from emitting seed until my wife emitted seed first. bRava saysanother method through which one can cause his children to be males: bOne who wishes to make all of his children males should engage in intercoursewith his wife band repeatthe act.,§ bAnd Rabbi Yitzḥak saysthat bRabbi Ami says: A woman becomes pregt onlyby engaging in intercourse bclose to the onset of hermenstrual bcycle, as it is stated: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity”(Psalms 51:7). This iniquity is referring to intercourse close to the woman’s menstrual cycle, when intercourse is prohibited. Accordingly, David is saying that his mother presumably conceived him at this time., bAnd Rabbi Yoḥa says:A woman becomes pregt only by engaging in intercourse bnearthe time of her bimmersionin a ritual bath, through which she is purified from her status as a menstruating woman, bas it is statedin the continuation of the same verse: b“And in sin [ iuvḥet /i] did my mother conceive me”(Psalms 51:7).,The Gemara explains this derivation: bFrom where mayit bbe inferred that this term “ iḥet /i” isa reference bto purity?The Gemara answers: bAs it is writtenwith regard to leprosy of houses: b“ iVeḥitteithe house”(Leviticus 14:52), band we translatethe verse into Aramaic as: bAnd he shall purify the house. And if you wish, saythat the interpretation is derived bfrom here: “Purge me [ iteḥatte’eni /i] with hyssop, and I shall be pure”(Psalms 51:9). Evidently, the root iḥet /i, itet /i, ialefrefers to purification.,§ bAnd Rabbi Yitzḥak saysthat bRabbi Ami says: When a male comes into the world,i.e., when a male baby is born, bpeace comes to the world, as it is stated: “Send the lambs [ ikhar /i] for the ruler of the land”(Isaiah 16:1). This ikhar /i, or ikar /i, a gift one sends the ruler, contributes to the stability of the government and peace, and the word bmale [ izakhar /i]can be interpreted homiletically as an abbreviation of: bThis is a ikar[ izeh kar /i]. /b, bAnd Rabbi Yitzḥak from the school of Rabbi Ami says: When a male comes into the world, his loafof bread, i.e., his sustece, bcomes into his possession.In other words, a male can provide for himself. This is based on the aforementioned interpretation of the word bmale [ izakhar /i]as an abbreviation of: bThis is a ikar[ izeh kar /i],and the term ikarrefers to sustece, bas it is written: “And he prepared great provision [ ikera /i] for them”(II Kings 6:23).,By contrast, bwhen a female comes into the world, nothing,i.e., no sustece, comes bwith her.This is derived from the homiletic interpretation of the word bfemale [ inekeva /i]as an abbreviation of the phrase: bShe comes clean [ inekiya ba’a /i],i.e., empty. Furthermore, buntil she says:Give me bsustece,people bdo not give her, as it is writtenin Laban’s request of Jacob: b“Appoint me [ inokva /i] your wages, and I will give it”(Genesis 30:28). Laban used the word inokva /i, similar to inekeva /i, when he said that he would pay Jacob only if he explicitly demanded his wages., bThe students of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai asked him: For whatreason bdoes the Torah saythat ba woman after childbirth brings an offering? He said to them: At the time thata woman bcrouches to give birth,her pain is so great that bshe impulsively takes an oath that she will not engage in intercourse with her husbandever again, so that she will never again experience this pain. bTherefore, the Torah saysthat bshe must bring an offeringfor violating her oath and continuing to engage in intercourse with her husband., bRav Yosef objects to thisanswer: bBut isn’tthe woman ban intentional violatorof her oath? bAndif she wishes that her oath be dissolved, so that she may engage in intercourse with her husband, bthe matter depends onher bregretof her oath. One is obligated to bring an offering for violating an oath of an utterance only if his transgression is unwitting. bAnd furthermore,if the purpose of the offering that a woman brings after childbirth is to atone for violating an oath, then bsheshould be brequired to bringa female lamb or goat as ban offering,which is the requirement of one who violated ban oath,rather than the bird offering brought by a woman after childbirth., bAndthe students of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai further inquired of him: bFor whatreason bdoes the Torah saythat a woman who gives birth to ba maleis ritually impure bfor sevendays, bbuta woman who gives birth to ba femaleis impure bfor fourteendays? Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai answered them: When a woman gives birth to ba male, over which everyone is happy, she regretsher oath, that she will never again engage in intercourse with her husband, already bsevendays after giving birth. By contrast, after giving birth to ba female, over which everyone is unhappy, she regretsher oath only bfourteendays after giving birth., bAndthe students further asked him: bFor whatreason bdoes the Torah saythat bcircumcisionis performed only bon the eighthday of the baby’s life, and not beforehand? He answered them: It is bso thatthere bwill not bea situation where beveryoneis bhappyat the circumcision ceremony bbut the father and mother ofthe infant bare unhappy,as they are still prohibited from engaging in intercourse., bIt is taughtin a ibaraitathat bRabbi Meir would say: For whatreason bdoes the Torah saythat ba menstruating womanis prohibited from engaging in intercourse with her husband bfor sevendays? It is bbecauseif a woman were permitted to engage in intercourse with her husband all the time, her husband would be too baccustomed to her, andwould eventually be brepulsed by her.Therefore, bthe Torah saysthat a menstruating woman bshall be ritually impurefor bseven days,during which she is prohibited from engaging in intercourse with her husband, bso thatwhen she becomes pure again bshe will be dear to her husband asat bthe time when she entered the wedding canopywith him.,§ bThe students of Rabbi Dostai, son of Rabbi Yannai, asked him: For whatreason is it the norm that ba man pursues a womanfor marriage, bbut a woman does not pursue a man?Rabbi Dostai answered them by citing ba parable of a person who lost an item. Who searches for what?Certainly bthe owner of the lost item searches for his item;the item does not search for its owner. Since the first woman was created from the body of the first man, the man seeks that which he has lost., bAndthe students of Rabbi Dostai further asked him: bFor whatreason does ba manengage in intercourse bfacing down, and a womanengage in intercourse bfacing up toward the man?Rabbi Dostai answered them: bThisman faces bthe place from which he was created,i.e., the earth, band thatwoman faces bthe place from which she was created,namely man., bAndthe students also inquired: bFor whatreason is ba manwho is angry likely to baccept appeasement, but a womanis bnotas likely to baccept appeasement?Rabbi Dostai answered them: It is bbecause thisman behaves like bthe place from which he was created,i.e., the earth, which yields to pressure, band thatwoman behaves like bthe place from which she was created,i.e., from bone, which cannot be molded easily.,The students continued to ask Rabbi Dostai: bFor whatreason bis a woman’s voice pleasant, but a man’s voice is not pleasant?He answered: bThisman is similar to bthe place from which he was created,the earth, which does not issue a sound when it is struck, band thatwoman is similar to bthe place from which she was created,a bone, which makes a sound when it is struck. The proof that a woman’s voice is pleasant is bthat it is statedin Song of Songs that the man says to his beloved: b“For sweet is your voice, and your countece is beautiful”(Song of Songs 2:14).,, strongMISHNA: /strong Samaritan bgirlsare considered bmenstruating women fromthe time they lie in btheir cradle. And the Samaritanmen bimpart ritual impurityto the blower bedding like the upperbedding, i.e., all layers of bedding beneath them are impure, and their status is like the bedding above a man who experiences a gonorrhea-like discharge [ izav /i]: The status of both levels of bedding is that of first-degree ritual impurity, which can impart impurity to food and drink. This is bdue tothe fact bthatSamaritan men are considered men who bengage in intercourse with menstruating women. /b, bAndthey are considered men who engage in intercourse with menstruating women because Samaritan women bobservethe seven-day menstrual period of ritual impurity bfor each and everyemission of bblood,even for blood that does not render them impure. Accordingly, if a Samaritan woman has an emission of impure blood during the seven-day period, she will nevertheless continue counting seven days from the first emission. It is therefore possible that the Samaritan men will engage in intercourse with their wives while they are still halakhically considered menstruating women, as the seven-day period of impurity should have been counted from the emission of the impure blood., bButone who enters the Temple while wearing bthosegarments upon which a Samaritan had lain bis not liableto bring an offering bfor entering the Templein a status of impurity, bnor does one burn iteruma /ithat came into contact with bthosegarments, bbecause their impurityis buncertain. /b, strongGEMARA: /strong The mishna teaches that Samaritan girls are considered menstruating women from the time they lie in their cradle. The Gemara asks: bWhat are the circumstancesof this statement? bIfthe mishna is referring to girls bwhoalready bseemenstrual blood, then beven our own,i.e., Jewish girls, are balsoconsidered menstruating women under such circumstances. bAnd ifit is referring to girls bwho do notyet bseemenstrual blood, then btheirgirls, i.e., those of the Samaritans, should balso nothave the status of menstruating women., bRava, son of Rav Aḥa bar Rav Huna, saysthat bRav Sheshet says: Here we are dealing with an unspecifiedcase, i.e., it is unknown whether these girls have experienced their first menstrual period. bSince there is a minorityof girls bwho seemenstrual blood, bwe are concernedwith regard to each Samaritan girl that she might be from this minority. The Gemara asks: bAnd whois the itannawho btaught that one must be concerned for the minority? /b |
