משנה: הַמַּפֶּלֶת שְׁפִיר מָלֵא מַיִם מָלֵא דָם מָלֵא גְנִינִים אֵינָהּ חוֹשֶׁשֶׁת לַװְלָד. וְאִם הָיָה מְרוּקָם תֵּשֵׁב לַזָּכָר וְלַנְּקֵיבָה. MISHNAH: If a woman miscarried an amnion full of water, or blood, or flakes63It looks like flakes of flesh but no body is formed., she does not have to consider this as a child. But if it showed tissue64If inside the amnion a form is seen but it is not recognizable what it is. she has to observe for male and female birth1414 days of impurity as of a female followed by 26 days of purity (the 33 of a male minus 7 days assigned to the impurity of a female birth)..
הלכה: הַמַּפֶּלֶת שְׁפִיר מָלֵא מַיִם כול׳. תַּנֵּי. מָלֵא מַיִם טְמֵיאָה לֵידָה. מָלֵא דָם טְמֵיאָה נִידָּה. מָלֵא בָשָׂר טְמֵיאָה נִידָּה. וְהָא תַנִּינָן. הַמַּפֶּלֶת שְׁפִיר מָלֵא מַיִם מָלֵא דָם מָלֵא גְנִינִים אֵינָהּ חוֹשֶׁשֶׁת לַװְלָד. רִבִּי בֵּיבַי בְשֵׁם רִבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ. מַתְנִיתָא בִצְלוּלִין. בָּרְייָתָא בָּעֲכוּרִין. רִבִּי סִימוֹן בְּשֵׁם רִבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי. וַאֲפִילוּ צְלוּלִין. שֶׁאֵין שְׁפִיר אֶלָּא בָאָדָם בִלְבַד. הָדָא הִיא דִכְתִיב בְּשׂוּמִי עָנָן לְבוּשׁוֹ וַעֲרָפֶל חֲתוּלָתוֹ. לְבוּשׁוֹ זֶה הַשְּׂפִיר. וַעֲרָפֶל חֲתוּלָתוֹ זוֹ הַשִּׁילְיָא. HALAKHAH: “If a woman miscarried an amnion full of water,” etc. It was stated65A similar but different baraita is quoted in the Babli, 25a.: Full of water66This baraita holds that there is no amniotic fluid without a fetus., she is impure for a birth; full of blood, she is impure as menstruating; full of flesh67Since there is no shape, there can be no birth; pieces of flesh contain blood and make the woman impure., she is impure as menstruating. But did we not state: “If a woman miscarried an amnion full of water, or blood, or flakes, she does not have to consider this as a child”? Rebbi Bevai in the name of Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish: The Mishnah if [the contents are] clear; the baraita if [the contents are] turbid. Rebbi Simon in the name of R. Joshua ben Levi: Even if all was clear, since only humans have an amnion68In the Babli, 25a, these statements refer to another baraita, (close to Tosephta 4:12): “If a woman gives birth to an amnion which does not contain tissue, R. Joshua says it is a birth but the Sages say it is no birth”. R. Simeon ben Laqish said in the name of R. Oshaia (= Hoshaia): They quarrel if it is turbid, but if the contents are clear everybody says that it is no birth, but R. Joshua ben Levi said, their quarrel is if the contents are clear.
In the end, Samuel declares in the Babli that an amnion is not a sign of birth only if it is transparent. This might agree with the Yerushalmi.! That is what is written69Job 38:9. The verse, which describes the creation of the world, is interpreted as describing human birth.: “When I gave clouds as his garment and fog as his diapers.” “His garment” is the amnion, “and fog his diapers” that is the placenta.
שְׁפִיר שֶׁנִּתְקַלְקְלָה צוּרָתוֹ מָהוּ. רִבִּי יוֹחָנָן אָמַר. װְלָד. רִבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ אָמַר. אֵינוֹ װְלָד. מְתִיב רִבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ קוֹמֵי רִבִּי יוֹחָנָן. מַה בֵינוֹ לְבֵין הַמֵּת שֶׁנִּסְרַח וְאֵין שִׁלְדּוֹ קַייֶמֶת. אָמַר לֵיהּ. תַּמָּן בְּדִין הָיָה אֲפִילוּ שִׁלְדּוֹ קַייֶמֶת יְהֵא טָהוֹר. וְלָמָּה אָֽמְרוּ. טָמֵא. מִפְּנֵי כְבוֹדוֹ. בְּרַם הָכָא װְלָד הוּא. 70Tosaphot Niddah 27b, s. v. מת has a different text: שְׁפִיר שֶׁנִּתְבַּלְבְּלָה צוּרָתוֹ מָהוּ. רִבִּי יוֹחָנָן אָמַר. טָמֵא. רִבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ אָמַר. טָהוֹר. איתיבי רִבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ לְרִבִּי יוֹחָנָן מֵרִבִּי יִצחָק מִגְּדָּלָאה וּמְשַׁנֵּה. דְּבַר תּוֹרָה אֲפִילוּ שִׁלְדּוֹ קַייֶמֶת טְהוֹרָה. מִפְּנֵי מָה אָֽמְרוּ. טָמֵא. מִפְּנֵי כְבוֹדוֹ. “If an amnion’s shape was mixed up, what is the rule? Rebbi Joḥanan said, it is impure; Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish said, it is pure. Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish objecteda before Rebbi Joḥanan from the statement of R. Isaac from Magdalab. He said to him, biblical law even requires that he be pure even with his spine intact; why did they say, he is impure? That he should be treated with honor.
a A Babylonian expression.
b A statement in the Babli, 27b: “The corpse of a person who was burned is impure if the spine exists.”
The quote of Tosaphot from “Yerushalmi” is probably from the Ashkenazic “Book Yerushalmi”, containing Yerushalmi rules adapted to the Babli. If an amnion’s shape was spoiled, what is the rule? Rebbi Joḥanan said, it is a child; Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish said, it is not a child. Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish objected before Rebbi Joḥanan: What is the difference between this and a rotting corpse without a spine71If the skeletal remains of a corpse are found and the spine is not complete, one does not have to worry that the earth below and around it is really decomposed flesh and should be impure. If the remains of the amnion are not recognizable as such, there seems to be no reason to treat it as impure.? He said to him, in the latter case it would have been correct that he should be pure even with his spine intact; why did they say, he is impure? That he should be treated with honor72The impurity of the dead is a sign that the corpse needs burial.. But in our case it is a birth.
אֵי זֶהוּ שְׁפִיר מְרוּקָם שֶׁאָֽמְרוּ. כָּל־שֶׁתְּחִילַּת בִּרְייָתוֹ דוֹמֶה לְרָשׁוֹן. אֵין בּוֹדְקִין אוֹתוֹ בַּמַּיִם מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהֵן עַזִּין וְעוֹכְרִין אוֹתוֹ. אֶלָּא בַשֶׁמֶן מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהוּא מָתוּן וּמְזַגְזֵג. וְאֵין בּוֹדְקִין אוֹתוֹ אֶלָּא בַחַמָּה. What is the amnion containing tissue which they referred to? Any which initially looks like a rāšôn73In the Babli, Ḥulin 65a, rāšôn is identified as biblicalסָלְעָם , a locust (Lev. 11:22). In the Tosephta (4:10)רושם ; in the Babli Niddah 25a editio princeps, ראשו, reading of ‘Arukhרשון .. 74Tosephta 4:11 (there מזכזך for מזגזג); Babli 25a/b (מצחצח). One does not check it in water, for water is a solvent and destroys it, but only in oil which is neutral and clears up; also one checks only in sunlight.
תַּנֵּי. אַבָּא שָׁאוּל אוֹמֵר. מִטִּיבּוּרוֹ אָדָם נוֹצַר וּמְשַׁלֵּחַ שָׁרָשִׁין מִיכָּן וּמִיכָּן. תַּנֵּי. רוֹאִין שְׁתֵּי עֵינָיו כְּמִין שְׁתֵּי טִיפִּין שֶׁלַּזְּבוּב. שְׁנֵי נְקוֹבֵי חוֹטְמוֹ כְּמִין שְׁתֵּי טִיפִּין שֶׁל זְּבוּב. פִּיו פָתוּחַ כִּשְׂעוֹרָה. רוֹאִין שְׁתֵּי יָדָיו כְּמִין שְׁתֵּי טִיפִּין שֶׁלַּזְּבוּב. טִיבּוּרוֹ כְּמִין טִיפָּה שֶׁל זְבוּב. גְּוִייָתוֹ כְּטִיפָּה שֶׁלַּזְּבוּב. וְאִם הָֽיְתָה נְקֵיבָה גְּוִייָתָהּ מָתוּחַ כִּשְׂעָרָה. תַּנֵי. רִבִּי יוֹנָתָן אוֹמֵר. רוֹאִין שְׁתֵּי זְרוֹעוֹתָיו כְּמִין שְׁנֵי חוּטִּין שֶׁל זְהוֹרִית וּשְׁאָר כָּל־אֵיבָרָיו כְּמִין גּוֹלֶם מְצוּמָּתִים. וּפִיתּוּחַ יָדַיִם וְרַגְלַיִם אֵין לֹו אֲדַיִין. וְעָלָיו הוּא מְפוֹרָשׁ בַּקַּבָלָה גּוֹלְמִי רָאוּ עֵינֶיךָ וְעַל סִפְרְךָ כּוּלָּם יִכָּתֵבוּ יָמִים יוּצָרוּ וְלֹא אֶחָד בָּהֶם. 75Tosephta 4:10; Babli 25a; also Soṭah 45b, Yoma 85a.It was stated: “Abba Shaul said, a human is created from his navel; from there is spreads its roots in all directions. It was stated: One sees his two eyes like two fly-blows, his two nose holes like two fly-blows, his mouth opened like a barley grain. One sees his two hands like two fly-blows, his navel like a fly-blow, his genital like a fly blow and if she is female, her genital spanned like a barley grain.” It was stated: Rebbi Jonathan says, one sees his two arms like two threads of crimson wool and his other limbs like compressed unformed material; he has not yet developed hands and feet. On that it is explained in the Bible76קַבָּלָה “that which was received” denotes all parts of the Hebrew Bible other than the Torah.: 77Ps. 139:16. That Psalm, while ascribed to David, is generally interpreted to describe the experiences of Adam. Cf. H. Guggenheimer, The Scholar’s Haggadah (Northvale 1995), p. 220.“My unformed body was seen by Your eyes, in Your ledger they are all written down, the days bundled before one of them was.”
רַב יְהוּדָה שָׁאַל לִשְׁמוּאֵל. בְּגִין דַאֲנָא חַכִּים מֵיחְמֵי סִימָנֵי שְׁפִיר. אָמַר לֵיהּ. רֵישֵׁיהּ דְּרֵישָׁךְ יְכַװֶה בְרוֹתְחִין. וְאַתָּה לֹא תִיכְוֶה אֲפִילוּ בְפוֹשְׁרִין. רִבִּי חִייָא בְשֵׁם רִבִּי יוֹחָנָן. אִילֵּין נַשַּׁייָא דְאָֽמְרָן. שִׁכְלוּלֵיהּ דָּכָר. שִׁכְלוּלָהּ נוּקְבָה. לֵית אֲנָן סָֽמְכִין עֲלֵיהוֹן. רִבִּי יַעֲקֹב בַּר זַבְדִּי רִבִּי אַבָּהוּ בְשֵׁם רִבִּי יוֹחָנָן. נֶאֱמֶנֶת אִשָּׁה לוֹמַר. יָלַדְתִּי וְלֹא יָלַדְתִּי. וְאֵינָהּ נֶאֱמֶנֶת לוֹמַר. דָּכָר הוּא. נוּקְבָה הִיא. Rav Jehudah asked Samuel: Since I am learned, can I judge the signs of an amnion? He said to him, your head’s head can be scalded by boiling water, you should not be scalded even by lukewarm water78I, the medical authority and your teacher, can investigate the most difficult situations; you, a rabbi, should not give an opinion even in obvious cases. In the Babli, 25b, Samuel is reported to have told Rav Jehudah not to decide in cases in which there was a fetus with no hair on his skull.. Rebbi Ḥiyya in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan, we do not rely on women who say, its completion79Editio princeps reads שבלוליה “its snail” for שכלוליה “its completion”. would have been male, its completion would have been female. Rebbi Jacon bar Zavdi, Rebbi Abbahu in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: A woman is trustworthy if she said, I gave birth or I did not give birth. But she is not trustworthy if she says, it was male or it was female80This is quoted in Or Zarua‘ #340 (vol. 1, col. 90b), where the author, R. Isaac ben Moses of Vienna, notes that he does not understand why women should not be trusted in the matter of impurities and purity. But it seems that the students of R. Joḥanan only confirm the interpretation given to R. Joḥanan’s position earlier, Note 58..