Previous daf

1)

(a) 'ke'Keren Karkom' means: either like a corner of the field where Safran grows, or like the shine (sheen) of Safran.

(b) 'Meimei Tilsan' is the water in which fenugreek has been soaked.

(c) 'Adom' is as red as the blood of a wound (which will be explained later in the Sugya).
And 'Shachor' is as black as one of the ingredients of black ink called 'Chares'.

(d) A darker black is also Tamei, a paler black is not.

(a) The earth from Beis Kerem is that which is used to gauge the color of 'Meimei Adamah'.

(b) One adds sufficient water for there to be a thin layer of water floating on top of the earth.

(c) They are not mixed together.

(d) The wine of 'Mazug' should be diluted two parts water to one part wine.

(a) We know that there is such a thing as Tahor blood by a woman from the Pasuk of "Ki Yipalei Mimcha Davar Bein *Dam le'Dam*" - which the Gemara explains to mean 'Bein Dam Tamei la'Dam Tahor'.

(b) If "Bein Dam le'Dam" means the difference between blood that is Tamei and blood that is Tahor, what does "bein Nega la'Nega" mean, since there is no such thing as a Tahor Nega - a Nega which is Tahor is called 'a Bohak' (and not 'a Nega').

(c) The Pasuk is speaking about a 'Zakein Mamrei', who rules one way, whilst his colleagues rule the other.

By Nig'ei Adam their dispute is whether the Halachah is like the Rabbanan, who declare Tamei a Metzora, if we are not sure whether the white hairs came before the Baheres (when it would be Tahor) or vice-versa (in which case, it would be Tamei) or like Rebbi Yehoshua, who declares him Tahor.
By Nig'ei Batim, they argue over the corner-stone of a wall which has the mark of Tzara'as, and measures one ki'Gris; According to the Chachamim, it will be Tamei, whereas according to Rebbi Elazar b'Rebbi Shimon, it remains Tahor as long as it does not measure two Grisin in length, one Gris on one wall, and the other on the other wall (since the Torah writes "*be'Kiyros* ha'Bayis".
And by Nig'ei Begadim, they argue over the Machlokes between Rebbi Yonasan ben Avtulmus, who holds that if the Nega spreads to the entire garment, then it is Tahor, just like by Nig'ei Adam, whereas the Rabbanan maintain that the garment is Tamei.

(d) It is not possible to explain "Bein Dam le'Dam" to mean between the blood of Nidus and that of Zivus, and between the Nega of Adam, Batim and Begadim, because, what does that have to do with the two opinions of the Zakein Mamrei and his colleagues, to which the Pasuk is referring?

(a) "va'Yir'u Mo'av es ha'Mayim Adumim ke'Dam" teaches us that blood must be red, otherwise, it is Tahor.

(b) We know that there are four different shades of red which are Tamei by the blood of Nidus, from the two words "Dameha, Dameha".

(c) Our Mishnah lists five shades, because black is really one of the shades of red but it has turned color.

(d) The Tena'im who add 'ke'Meimei Tilsan', 'ke'Meimei Basar Tzeli', and 'Yarok' either don't agree with the Derashah of "Dameha", "Dameha", or they hold that those colors, like we explained by black, are really red, but they have turned color.

5)

(a) The Tana Kama who says that 'ke'Meimei Tilsan' and 'ke'Basar Tzeli' is not Tamei, does not mean that they are Tahor, but that they are not Vaday Tamei; in other words, they are Safek Tamei - and one will not burn Terumah on account of them. Beis Hillel come to add that, in his opinion, they are Vaday Tahor.

(b) By 'Yarok' too, there are three opinions: According to Akavya ben Mahalalel, Dam Yarok is Tamei Vaday, according to the Chachamim, it is Tahor Vaday, and according to the Tana Kama, it is a Safek.

(a) According to the Gemara's first contention, Rebbi Meir is saying, that although he concedes that Yarok blood is not common, and that if she found a Yarok Kesem she would be Tahor - because we would assume that it must have come from somewhere else - nevertheless, if she actually saw Yarok blood he would agree with Akavya that she is Temei'ah, because we can no longer say that the blood came from somewhere else.

(b ) But in that case, the Gemara argues, Rebbi Meir should have concluded his words with: 'Metamei Mishum *Ro'ah*' rather than 'Metamei Mishum *Mashkeh*.

(c) The liquids of a Zav or a Nidah are Metamei only if they gather inside before leaving the body - such as spittle and urine. Blood, which drips out drop after drop, is therefore not Metamei because of liquids.

(d) The initial source of blood being a liquid is "Dam Chalalim Yishteh", from which Chazal derive that 'Dam she'ha'Nefesh Yotz'ei Bo' is called blood, into which category 'Dam Yarok' will not fall.
Nevertheless, Rebbi Meir learns a 'Gezeirah Shavah' - "Shelachayich" "Sholei'ach", to include the blood of Nidus in the Din of 'Hechsher Tum'ah'; The Rabbanan refute this 'Gezeirah Shavah', which was not taught be'Kabalah, because a 'Gezeirah Shavah', unlike a Kal va'Chomer, cannot be learnt without a tradition from one's Rebbe.

According to this final explanation, it appears that Rebbi Meir and the Rabbanan are arguing over whether, or not, any Dam Nidus is Machshir or not. (See Tosfos, d.h. Kesiv, who learns that here, like earlier, their dispute concerns Dam Yarok, and not Dam Adom, which everyone agrees *is* Metamei.)

8)

(a) According to Shmuel, Dam ha'Makeh means the first blood of Shechitah - which is very red.

(b) Had he said 'ke'Dam Shechitah (instead of 'ke'Dam Shor Shachut'), we would have thought that he is referring to any of the blood of Shechitah, which changes to different shades of red, during the various stages of Shechitah.

(c) 'ke'Dam Tzipor Chayah' might mean the blood of a live bird, to preclude that of a dead one; or it could mean the blood of a strong bird, to include the blood of a weak one.

(a) 'Hargah Ma'acholes' means that if a woman killed a louse, and later found a bloodstain, she can rely on the louse, and is Tehorah. According to Rebbi Chanina, it means that she killed specifically a head-louse, but not from any other part of the body, because Rebbi Chanina holds that 'Dam ha'Makeh' means like the blood of a head-louse. (This Beraisa goes like the Chachamim, who do not require more than a ki'Gris for a Kesem. According to Rebbi Chanina ben Antignos, who holds that one does, we can never ascribe a bloodstain to the blood of a louse, as we learnt earlier).

(b) The finger of the Bachur, whose blood we gauge for Dam Makeh, must have been wounded before, was cured and was then wounded again. We are talking about a young, unmarried man of under twenty.

(c) The Beraisa refers to the husband as unmarried (because it ascribes the bloodstain on the woman's garment to the blood of her husband), in a case where they have already made the Chupah, but not yet consummated their marriage.

(a) Rav Nachman explains Dam ha'Makeh to mean the blood of bloodletting.

(b) Rebbi Meir declared Tahor a woman who had dealt with a sort of red salve called 'Kiylur'(and with the sap of a Shikmah, in the case of Rebbi) when she later discovered a Kesem on her clothes. Now these are not as dark as 'Adom', yet the Tena'im relied on them to be Metaher. It therefore would seem that Adom has a wider range than the above Amora'im ascribed to it (in other words, even a paler shade will also be Tamei)?

(c) The Gemara replies that no-one said that the Kiylur and the sap of a Shikmah-tree are similar to 'Adom' of our Mishnah. Perhaps Rebbi Meir and Rebbi were Metaher because they are similar to one of the other shades of red, other than 'Adom'?