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DAAT · LEVEL 2 — LAMDAN

Shulchan Arukh · Yoreh De'ah

The laws of stains and the woman's examination — study and pilpul
סימן ק״צ
Siman 190 — the stain is rabbinic, hargashah is biblical: the measure, the place, the attributions, colored garments
Study, pilpul, the shitos of the Rishonim and the Acharonim
⚡ For lamdanim and talmidei chachamim ⚡
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Pilpul and in-depth study

Sugyos, sources, the underlying chakirah, machlokos of Rishonim and Acharonim,
nafka minos for practice and analysis of the shitos

The subject:
Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh De'ah, siman 190 (ק״צ) — 54 se'ifim
with the nosei kelim: Shakh (Siftei Kohen), Taz (Turei Zahav), Pischei Teshuvah, and the great Acharonim on the laws of niddah

The foundation of the sugya in the Talmud:
Niddah 57b (the mishnah of stains, the place of the stain and the belt) · Niddah 58a (what does not receive impurity) · Niddah 58b–59a (the measure of ke-gris ve-od and louse blood) · Niddah 59b (the bench) · Niddah 61a (women lying interlocked) · Niddah 61b–62a (the dyed garment and the seven simanim)

Written and edited by:
Rav Yossef Haim Samama · DAAT

📑 Table of contents

  1. The basis of the decree — biblical hargashah and rabbinic stain; the young girl, the woman who flows, and the three onos (se'ifim 1–4)
  2. The measure of ke-gris ve-od — the logic of the louse and the bedbug, and why separate drops do not combine (se'ifim 5–8)
  3. The place of the stain and its shape — opposite the beis ha-turpah, the belt, the sleeve, the head-cloth, and two women (se'ifim 9, 11–15)
  4. An object that does not receive impurity — the ground and the privy (se'if 10)
  5. The external attributions — a wound, blood from outside, lice and bedbugs, handling stains (se'ifim 16–30)
  6. Testing the stain and the seven simanim — doubt between dye and blood, and passing the simanim over it (se'ifim 31–32)
  7. The examined ed and the lent garment — elongated and round, examined and unexamined ed, lending and attribution (se'ifim 33–47)
  8. Two and three women — garment, bench, interlocked bed, and attributing to the one who is fit (se'ifim 48–53)
  9. Stains do not establish a veses — and the stains of the examined ed (se'if 54)
  10. The heter of colored garments — the decree was made on white alone (se'if 10, closing clause)
  11. Chakirah and nafka mina for practice
  12. Summary tables

📜 The text of the Shulchan Arukh — se'if 1

↩ Detailed explanation (level 1)

« דבר תורה אין האשה מטמאה ולא אסורה לבעלה עד שתרגיש שיצא דם מבשרה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:א)

« וחכמים גזרו על כתם שנמצא בגופה או בבגדיה שהיא טמאה ואסורה לבעלה אפילו לא הרגישה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:א)

Translation: “By Torah law a woman does not become impure and is not forbidden to her husband until she feels that blood has left her flesh”; “and the Sages decreed concerning a stain found on her body or on her garments that she is impure and forbidden to her husband even if she felt nothing.”

1. The basis of the decree — biblical hargashah, rabbinic stain

↩ Detailed explanation (level 1)

The foundation — what the Sages decreed (se'ifim 1–4)

The bedrock of the siman: by Torah law a woman becomes impure only through hargashah — the sensation that blood has left her flesh (see siman 183 for the substance of that din). The rabbinic decree then adds something new: a stain found on her body or her garments renders her impure and forbidden to her husband even without hargashah. The prohibition of a stain is therefore, in itself, rabbinic — and the whole character of the siman follows from that: a doubt in a rabbinic matter is resolved leniently, which is why leniencies abound here — in the measure, in the place, in the attributions and in colored garments.
The underlying chakirah — what kind of impurity is a stain? Did the Sages decree that the stain testifies that she saw blood with hargashah and did not notice it (a factual concern), or did they institute a new decree that does not depend at all on whether a hargashah actually occurred? The nafka mina: if the stain merely “testifies,” then wherever it is impossible for blood to have come from the uterine source there is nothing to be concerned about; but if it is an independent decree, a specific reason would be needed to restrict it. The entire siman walks in the first direction — which is why every leniency in it (the place, the receiving of impurity, the attribution) reads as a demonstration that there is here no testimony to blood from the source.
Who is outside the decree (se'ifim 2–4): a young girl whose time to see has not arrived — under twelve years old, or over twelve if she was examined and had not produced two hairs — has no stain that renders impure, since she is not presumed to see.

« תינוקת שלא הגיע זמנה לראות » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ב)

And the Mechaber adds: « ואפילו אם ראתה כבר ב״פ אבל לאחר שראתה שלש פעמים חוששת לכתם » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ב)

Likewise, a woman who flows or drips without interruption counts as one sighting only, until she stops: « היתה שופעת כמה ימים או שהית׳ מזלפת טיף אחר טיף בלא הפסק אינו אלא כראיה אחת עד שתפסיק » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ג)

But if she stopped briefly and then saw three times, she is presumed to see blood: « אבל אם פסקה מעט וחזרה וראתה שלש פעמים אפילו ביום א׳ הרי זו מוחזקת בדמים וכתמה טמא » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ג)

And a young girl who saw three times and then stopped « שיעור שלש עונות שהם צ׳ יום חוזרת לקדמותה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ד) — that is, ninety days — returns to her earlier status, and her stain is pure until she sees three more times.

The great principle of the siman — it is rabbinic, therefore we are lenient:
The Mechaber himself states the rule in se'if 18:

« כיון שכתמים דרבנן מקילין בהם ותולה בכל דבר שיכולה לתלות » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:י״ח)

Translation: “Since stains are rabbinic, we are lenient with them, and she attributes the stain to anything she is able to attribute it to.” This is the key to the whole siman: the prohibition of a stain being rabbinic, and a doubt in a rabbinic matter being resolved leniently, every doubt — as to the measure, the place, the receiving of impurity, the attribution, the color — renders her pure. Learning this siman as a lamdan consists largely of mapping the leniencies and isolating the root of each one.

2. The measure of ke-gris ve-od — the logic of the louse

↩ Detailed explanation (level 1)

The text of the Mechaber (se'ifim 5–8)

« לא גזרו על הכתם אלא אם כן יש בו כגריס ועוד » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ה)

« ושיעור הגריס הוא כט׳ עדשים » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ה)

« ושיעור עדשה כ״ד שערות » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ה)

« וכל זמן שאין בו כזה השיעור אנו תולין לומר דם כנה הוא אף על פי שלא הרגה כנה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ה)

« אם הרגה פשפש או הריחה ריחו תולה בו עד כתורמוס » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ז)

« שאנו תולין כל טיפה וטיפה בכנה עד שיהא בו כגריס ועוד במקום אחד » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ח)

Translation: the Sages decreed concerning a stain only from the size of a gris and a little more; the measure of a gris is that of nine lentils (three by three), and the measure of a lentil is twenty-four hairs. As long as the stain has not reached that measure we attribute it to the blood of a louse, even if she crushed no louse. If she killed a bedbug or smelled its odor, she attributes the stain to it up to the size of a turmus (a lupine). And if the stain does not reach ke-gris ve-od in one place, even though there are many drops near one another which together would exceed a gris — she is pure, because we attribute each drop to a separate louse, until there is ke-gris ve-od in one place.

The foundation — why precisely “ke-gris ve-od”:
The reason for the measure is דם מאכולת — louse blood: a louse crushed on the skin yields blood up to the size of a gris, and therefore any stain not exceeding a gris is attributed to a louse and not to blood from the source. The “ve-od,” that slight addition beyond a gris, serves to remove the concern that two lice combined; once ke-gris ve-od has been exceeded, it can no longer be attributed to a single louse. The measure is thus in itself an attribution to the louse built into the decree: the body of the decree contains its own leniency. The Mechaber says so explicitly:

« אבל כשיש בו כזה השיעור אין תולין בכנה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ה)

Where is the measure required — on the garment or on her flesh (se'if 6)?
ShitahA stain found on her fleshSource
First opinion (anonymous) Ke-gris ve-od is required both on the garment and on the flesh Mechaber, se'if 6
“Some say” On the flesh alone, in the places that are of concern, there is no measure — even less than a gris renders her impure Mechaber, se'if 6

« וי״א שלא אמרו אלא בכתם הנמצא על חלוקה אבל כתם הנמצא על בשרה בלבד במקומות שחוששין להם אין לו שיעור » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ו)

Separate drops do not combine (se'ifim 7–8): even where several neighboring drops would together exceed a gris, we do not add them together, since each drop is attributed to a separate louse, until there is ke-gris ve-od in one place. For a bedbug, whose blood is more plentiful than a louse's, she attributes up to the size of a כתורמוס — a legume larger than a gris. And se'if 29 carries the logic one step further: once the bedbug has been killed, the measure itself is raised.

« הרגה פשפש שאנו תולין בו עד כתורמס חזר כתורמס לשיעור הגריס לכל הדינים שאמרנו » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:כ״ט)

One principle unites all of this: the measure is not mere metrology but the quantitative expression of an attribution to an external cause.

3. The place of the stain and its shape — opposite the beis ha-turpah

↩ Detailed explanation (level 1)

The text of the Mechaber (se'ifim 9, 11–15)

« הואיל והוא כנגד בית תורפה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ט)

« ואין אומרים אילו נטף מן הגוף לא היה כזה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ט)

« לא בכ״מ שימצא שם כתם טמאה אלא במקום שאפשר שבא שם מן המקור » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:י״א)

« נמצא הכתם על חלוקה למטה מהחגור או במקום החגור עצמו טמאה אפי׳ נמצא לצד חוץ » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:י״ב)

« ואם נמצא על חלוקה בלבד מהחגור ולמעלה טהורה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:י״ב)

« נמצא על בית יד של חלוקה אם המקום שנמצא בו הדם בבית יד מגיע עד בית תורפה טמאה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:י״ג)

« ואם אינה יכולה ליגע שם כלל טהורה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:י״ג)

« שתי נשים שכיסו ראשן בחלוק א׳ שתיהן טמאות » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ט״ו)

Translation: a stain found on her flesh — long like a strap, round, in separate drops, or lying across the width of her thigh — since it is opposite the beis ha-turpah, she is impure, and we do not say “had it dripped from the body it would not have had this shape.” But she is not impure wherever a stain is found: only in a place where it is possible that the blood came there from the source. A stain on her garment, below the belt or at the belt itself, renders her impure even on the outer side; on the garment alone above the belt she is pure. On the sleeve: if the stained spot can reach the beis ha-turpah she is impure; if it cannot reach there at all she is pure. And two women who covered their heads with one garment are both impure.

The foundation — “a place where it is possible that it came from the source”:
This is the full answer to the chakirah with which we opened: a stain renders impure only as possible testimony to blood from the source. Hence —
• opposite the beis ha-turpah (the whole length of her leg and her heel on the inside, the places that press against one another when she stands) — impure, since the blood could have come from there;
• below the belt — impure even on the outer side, since the garment turns about and touches the relevant place;
• sleeve and head-cloth — it depends on whether the cloth can reach the beis ha-turpah.
Where it is impossible for the blood to have come from the source, there is no testimony and therefore no impurity. The mishnah in Niddah already frames the alternative:

« הָרוֹאָה כֶּתֶם עַל בְּשָׂרָה כְּנֶגֶד בֵּית הַתּוּרְפָּה — טְמֵאָה, וְשֶׁלֹּא כְּנֶגֶד בֵּית הַתּוּרְפָּה — טְהוֹרָה » (נדה נ״ז ע״ב)

The garment she covers herself with at night (se'if 14): a garment she covers herself with at night renders her impure wherever the stain is found on it, because it moves this way and that and comes back to touch her whole body.

« היתה פושטתו ומתכסה בו בלילה בכל מקום שימצא בו טמאה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:י״ד)

The same applies to a head-cloth she girds herself with; but « ואם קשרה בו ראשה היטב » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:י״ד) — if she tied it firmly around her head and found it still firmly tied when she awoke, she need not be concerned, and we return to judging by the place. Everything turns on the same question: is it possible that the blood came from the source?

4. An object that does not receive impurity — the ground and the privy

↩ Detailed explanation (level 1)

The text of the Mechaber and the gloss of the Rama (se'if 10)

« כתם שנמצא על דבר שאינו מקבל טומאה לא גזרו » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:י)

« או בית הכסא שאינו מקבל טומאה » (רמ״א יו״ד ק״צ:י)

« וכן כתם שנמצא על בגד צבוע טהורה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:י)

Translation: “A stain found on something that does not receive impurity — they did not decree. How so? She examined the bare ground — or a privy seat that does not receive impurity (the Rama's addition, from the Mordechai in the name of the Semag and the Semak) — or anything that does not receive impurity, and sat on it and found a stain on it… and likewise a stain found on a dyed garment: she is pure.”

⚠️ Two points of attribution that must not be conflated. What Sefaria renders in small type inside a se'if belongs to the Rama, not to the Mechaber: that is the case of the privy seat. The closing clause of the se'if, however — “and likewise a stain found on a dyed garment: she is pure” — belongs to the Mechaber himself. That is where the heter of colored garments discussed in section 10 below actually lives: se'if 10 is the se'if of the siman in which a dyed garment is named.

Chakirah — why did they tie the decree of stains to the laws of impurity? At first glance a stain found on the ground testifies to blood exactly as a stain found on a garment does. But the Sages bounded their decree by the laws of tum'ah: they decreed only concerning something that מקבל טומאה — a garment, flesh — whereas bare ground, a privy seat attached to the ground and the like cannot receive impurity, and concerning them they did not decree at all. The scope of the decree is therefore governed not only by factual likelihood but by the formal category of “a vessel capable of receiving tum'ah” — a sign that it is a decree with formal boundaries, and hence a broad leniency in practice. The talmudic source is the position of Rabbi Nechemyah:

« כׇּל דָּבָר שֶׁאֵינוֹ מְקַבֵּל טוּמְאָה — אֵינוֹ מְקַבֵּל כְּתָמִים » (נדה נ״ח ע״א)

Practical import: the Rama's addition — the privy seat — comes from the Mordechai in the laws of niddah, in the name of the Semag and the Semak. In practice: a woman who finds blood on a toilet seat or on the floor (neither of which receives impurity) has no din of a stain there; but the distinction between a vessel that receives impurity and one that does not is a fine one, and in practice — ask your Rav.

5. The external attributions — a wound, blood from outside, lice, handling

↩ Detailed explanation (level 1)

Here the siman becomes most operative in practice: the ways in which a stain is attributed to an external cause rather than to blood from the source (se'ifim 16–30).

The text of the Mechaber (se'if 18 — the root of the attributions)

« כיון שכתמים דרבנן מקילין בהם ותולה בכל דבר שיכולה לתלות » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:י״ח)

« שחטה בהמה חיה או עוף או נתעסקה בכתמים או ישבה בצד המתעסקים בהם או שעברה בשוק של טבחים » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:י״ח)

« ונמצא דם בבגדיה תולה בה וטהורה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:י״ח)

Translation: “Since stains are rabbinic, we are lenient with them, and she attributes the stain to anything she is able to attribute it to. How so? She slaughtered a domestic animal, a wild animal or a bird, or handled stains, or sat beside those who handle them, or passed through the butchers' market — and blood was found on her garments: she attributes it to that and she is pure.”

The foundation — “she attributes the stain to anything she is able to attribute it to”:
Since stains are rabbinic, no certain attribution is required, only a reasonable possibility that the blood came from an external cause. Hence the order of the attributions:
• a wound (se'ifim 16 and 21) — if she has a wound that tends to bleed, she attributes the stain to it, “for I say it turned about and came there”;
• blood from outside (se'if 18) — the butchers' market, handling stains, sitting beside those who handle them;
• lice and bedbugs (se'ifim 7, 8 and 28) — louse blood, as above regarding the measure;
• attribution to her son and her husband (se'if 19) — if they handled stains or have a wound, since they regularly touch her.

« תולה במכתה שאני אומר נתהפך ובא לו שם » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ט״ז)

« כשם שתולה בה כך תולה בבנה ובבעל׳ אם נתעסקו בכתמים או אם יש בהם מכה לפי שדרכם ליגע בה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:י״ט)

The boundaries of attribution — when do we attribute and when not?
The caseThe dinSource
A man subject to bleeding, and blood found on the ed at the time of relations She attributes it to her husband (see also siman 187 on blood coming from the husband) Mechaber, se'if 20
Doubt whether she passed through the butchers' market or sat beside those handling stains In a city where they sit in a known place she does not attribute; where they are accustomed to work here and there she attributes even on a doubt Mechaber, se'if 22
She handled something red and a black stain was found (or the reverse) We do not attribute; but red on red and black on black she does attribute, even where the resemblance is not exact Mechaber, se'if 23
She handled a hen She attributes red, black and saffron-colored to it (the blood of shechitah is red, that of the limbs black, that of the entrails saffron) Mechaber, se'if 24

« מי שרגיל לצאת ממנו דם דרך פי האמה ובשעת תשמיש נמצא בעד האשה דם תולה בבעלה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:כ)

« ספק אם עברה בשוק של טבחים או אם ישבה בצד המתעסקים בכתמים אינה תולה בהם » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:כ״ב)

« נתעסקה בדבר אדום ונמצא עליה כתם שחור או איפכא אין תולין בו » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:כ״ג)

« נתעסקה בתרנגולת תולה בו אדום ושחור וכרכומי » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:כ״ד)

Combining handling and louse blood (se'ifim 26–28): she handled blood from which no more than a gris could have come, and two gris were found on her: she attributes one gris to the handling and one gris to a louse.

« הרי זה תולה כגריס בדם שנתעסקה בו וכגריס במאכולת » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:כ״ו)

And if she handled less than a gris and ke-gris ve-od was found: « נתעסקה בפחות מכגריס ונמצא עליה כגריס ועוד טהורה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:כ״ז) — for I say the stain comes from the handling, and louse blood was already there and joined it.

And where a crushed louse is found in the stain: « שהגריס הא׳ ודאי מכינה המעוכה בו » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:כ״ח) — the gris beneath it certainly comes from that louse, and the second gris is attributed to another louse.

The attributions therefore combine with one another, provided that no ke-gris ve-od remains with nothing to attribute it to. On this very point the Rama cites the stringent view and does not adopt it: « ויש מחמירין ומטמאין בכל זה » (רמ״א יו״ד ק״צ:כ״ו), concluding: « ומכל מקום נראה דיש לסמוך אמקילין דבכתמים שומעין להקל » (רמ״א יו״ד ק״צ:כ״ו) — “nevertheless it appears that one may rely on those who are lenient, for in the matter of stains we follow the lenient view.”
She need not match the colors (se'if 30): she is not required to compare the stain with the thing she attributes it to (hakafah, that is, an exact matching of shades) — she attributes it as a matter of course, since stains are rabbinic, unless she knows for certain that one is black and the other red.

« אלא תולה מן הסתם עד שתדע שזה שחור וזה אדום » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ל)

This is the very expression of the rule “she attributes it to anything she is able to attribute it to.”

6. Testing the stain and the seven simanim — doubt between dye and blood

↩ Detailed explanation (level 1)

The text of the Mechaber (se'ifim 31–32)

« מצאה כתם ואין לה במה לתלות והדבר מסופק אם הוא דם או צבע מעברת עליו ז׳ סמנים » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ל״א)

« אם עמד בעיניו הרי זה צבע וטהורה ואם אינה מעברת עליו טמאה מספק » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ל״א)

« ועכשיו אין לנו העברת ז׳ סמנים מפני שאין אנו בקיאים בקצת משמותם » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ל״א)

Translation: “She found a stain and has nothing to attribute it to, and it is doubtful whether it is blood or dye: the seven simanim are passed over it. If it remained as it was, it is dye and she is pure; and if she does not pass them over it she is impure out of doubt. But nowadays we no longer have the passing of the seven simanim, because we are no longer expert in some of their names.”

Chakirah — blood or dye, and the examination of the mar'os: the test of the seven simanim was meant to move the stain out of the presumption of blood and into the presumption of dye. In our time the expertise in those simanim has been lost — the Mechaber says so himself at the close of se'if 31. In practice, therefore, a doubt about a stain is brought before a competent talmid chacham, together with the din of the mar'os in siman 188 (is the stain among the impure colors or the pure ones?). The two simanim meet here: siman 188 deals with the color of impure blood, and our siman with the prior question — is this blood at all, or merely dye? This page decides nothing: in practice, ask your Rav.
An examined place where blood was found (se'if 32): a woman engaged in her work, and blood was found in a place she passed, on an object that had been examined beforehand — and the Rama adds: and that receives impurity. The Mechaber does not send her here to a chacham but to a reconstruction:

« תחזור להתעסק כמו שעשתה אם יזדמן שתעבור על המקום שנמצא בו הדם טמאה ואם לאו טהורה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ל״ב)

Translation: she resumes doing what she had been doing; if it turns out that she passes over the place where the blood was found, she is impure; if not, she is pure. All of this rests on the same foundation: does the stain testify to blood from the source, or to an external cause?

7. The examined ed and the lent garment — elongated and round

↩ Detailed explanation (level 1)

The text of the Mechaber (se'ifim 33–47)

« ונמצא עליו אפי׳ טיפה כחרדל בין עגול בין משוך טמאה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ל״ג)

« בדקה עצמה בעד הבדוק לה והניחתו תחת הכר או תחת הכסת ולמחר נמצא עליו דם » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ל״ד)

« אם משוך טמאה שחזקתו מהקינוח ואם עגול ואין בו כגריס ועוד טהורה שאין זה אלא דם מאכולת » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ל״ד)

« בדקה עצמה בעד שאינו בדוק לה אפילו הניחתו שמור בתיבתה ומצאה עליו דם » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ל״ו)

« איזהו עד הבדוק כל שבדקתו בין היא בין חברתה ולא נודע שנכנס בו כתם » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ל״ח)

« אין האשה טמאה משום כתם שמצאה בחלוקה אלא אם כן היה בדוק לה קודם שלבשתו » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ל״ט)

Translation: a woman who examined herself with an ed that had been examined for her, and on which even a drop the size of a mustard seed was found, whether round or elongated — she is impure. She examined herself with an examined ed and placed it under the pillow or the bolster, and the next day blood was found on it: if elongated she is impure, since it presumably comes from the wiping; if round and not ke-gris ve-od, she is pure, since it is only the blood of a louse crushed under the pillow. With an ed that had not been examined, even if kept in her chest, she is impure only if there is ke-gris ve-od. What is an examined ed? Any ed that she or another woman examined, and about which it is not known that a stain entered it. And a woman is not impure on account of a stain found on her garment unless it had been examined before she put it on.

The foundation — two kinds of “stain”:
Two entirely different regimes must be distinguished:
• an ordinary stain (on a garment, on the flesh) — the rabbinic din of stains, with all its leniencies: the measure of ke-gris, the place, the attributions;
• the stain on an עד הבדוק — the cloth with which she examined herself: this is no longer a stain, it is a full sighting, which renders her impure in any amount whatsoever (even less than a gris) and admits of no attribution.
That is the dividing line running through se'ifim 33–38: with an examined ed we are stringent, with an unexamined ed we are lenient as with a stain.
Elongated and round on an ed smeared on the thigh (se'if 35):
ShitahA round stain on an examined ed smeared on the thighSource
The Mechaber's first position Elongated — impure in any amount; round — pure if it is not ke-gris ve-od Mechaber, se'if 35
“Some say,” cited by the Mechaber himself Even round, it is impure in any amount whatsoever Mechaber, se'if 35
The Rama (gloss) Rules like the second view: “and so is the main ruling” Rama, se'if 35

« בדקה עצמה בעד הבדוק לה וטחתו בירכה ולמחר נמצא עליו דם אם משוך טמאה אפילו בכל שהוא » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ל״ה)

« ואם עגול טהורה אם אין בו כגריס ועוד » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ל״ה)

« ויש אומרים שאף עגול טמא בכל שהוא » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:ל״ה)

« וכן עיקר » (רמ״א יו״ד ק״צ:ל״ה)

⚠️ Note the attribution carefully. The phrase “some say that even a round stain is impure in any amount” stands in the Mechaber's own text; of the Rama there are only the two words “and so is the main ruling,” which follow the hagah marker. The machlokes is therefore not Mechaber against Rama: it is internal to the Mechaber, and the Rama takes a side in it.

Lending the garment and attribution (se'ifim 40–47): she examined her garment, took it off and lent it to another woman, and a stain was found on it:

« הראשונה טהורה והשניה טמאה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:מ) — the first is pure and the second impure.

If she lent it to a niddah or to a non-Jewish woman whose time to see had arrived: « והשאילתו לישראלית נדה או לעובדת כוכבים שהגיע זמנה לראות » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:מ״א), and the din is: « תולה בהן וטהורה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:מ״א) — she attributes the stain to them and she is pure.

And where she washed it and then lent it, the shape of the stain decides: « אם מגליד בידוע שמהשניה היא והיא טמאה והראשונה טהורה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:מ״ז)

« ואם הוא מקדיר בידוע שמהראשונה היא והיא טמאה והשניה טהורה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:מ״ז)

⚠️ The precise sense, and it runs against intuition: if the stain is maglid — a crust sitting on the surface — it comes from the second woman, and the second is impure; if it is makdir — soaked into the fabric — it comes from the first, and the first is impure. The criterion is the laundering: a stain that penetrated the cloth predates the wash and therefore belongs to the earlier wearer (the Mechaber spells this out in se'if 46).

And likewise she attributes to herself: to the days of her niddah, to the days before she was pregnant, and — says the Rama — to the days when she was not yet old.

« לבשה חלוק בימי נדתה ולא בדקתו ולבשתו בימי טהרתה ונמצא בו כתם תולה שמימי נדותה הוא » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:מ״ד)

« וכן המניקה תולה בעצמה כמו שתולה בחברתה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:מ״ה)

« וכן זקנה תולה בעצמה בימים שלא היתה זקנה » (רמ״א יו״ד ק״צ:מ״ה)

All of this is one branch: attribution to another wearer or to another time, one that carried no obligation to examine.

8. Two and three women — garment, bench and interlocked bed

↩ Detailed explanation (level 1)

The text of the Mechaber (se'ifim 48–53)

« ב׳ נשים שלבשו חלוק אחד בדוק ונמצא בו כתם » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:מ״ח)

« אם הוא מהחגור ולמטה לשתיהן שתיהן טמאות ואם הוא למעלה מהחגור לשתיהן שתיהן טהורות » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:מ״ח)

« שלש נשים שלבשו חלוק אחד או שישבו על ספסל אחד זו אחר זו ואח״כ נמצא עליו כתם כולן טמאות » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:מ״ט)

« והוא שיהא הספסל מדבר המקבל טומאה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:מ״ט)

« אותה שאינה ראויה לראות תולה בראויה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:מ״ט)

« אם נתעסקה אחת בכתמים כולן טהורות שכולן תולות בה והיא תולה בכתמים » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:נ״ג)

Translation: two women who wore one examined garment in which a stain was found: if it is below the belt for both, both are impure; if above the belt for both, both are pure. Three women who wore one garment, or who sat one after another on one bench, and a stain was later found on it: all are impure — provided the bench is of a material that receives impurity. And if one of them is more fit to see than another, the one who is not fit attributes the stain to the one who is. And if one of them handled stains, all are pure, for all attribute to her and she attributes to the stains.

The foundation — dividing the suspicion and carrying the attributions along:
Two principles already established continue to operate throughout these se'ifim:
• the place of the stain (below or above the belt) determines first of all whether there is any concern at all;
• attribution to the one fit to see — since stains are rabbinic, the whole is placed on the account of the one who is fit, which is a reasonable attribution.
And the condition of receiving impurity returns here too: a bench that does not receive impurity carries no din of a stain, exactly as in se'if 10.

« זקנה שעברו עליה שלשה עונות ולא ראתה ואחת ילדה זקנה טהורה וילדה טמאה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:נ״ב)

Translation: “one old, over whom three onos have passed without her seeing, and one young: the old one is pure and the young one impure” — it is thus the young woman, fit to see, who bears the stain.
The interlocked bed (se'if 50): three women sleeping in one bed with their legs entangled in one another, and blood found beneath one of them:

« ונמצא דם תחת אחת מהן כולן טמאות » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:נ) — all are impure, since it is impossible to know from whom it came.

And if they are not interlocked: « ואם אינן משולבות זו בזו ונמצא דם תחת האמצעית כולן טמאות » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:נ) — found beneath the middle one, all three are impure; found beneath the inner one, she and the middle one are impure and the outer one is pure; found beneath the outer one, she and the middle one are impure and the inner one is pure.

And examination redistributes the suspicion: « אבל אם בדקה אחת או שתים ומצאו טהורות הן טהורות והאחרת שלא בדקה טמאה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:נ״א) — if one or two examined themselves and were found pure, they are pure and the one who did not examine herself is impure. All of this is an unfolding of the same division of suspicion according to proximity, place, and fitness to see.

9. Stains do not establish a veses — and the stains of the examined ed

↩ Detailed explanation (level 1)

The text of the Mechaber (se'if 54)

« אין בכתמים משום וסת » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:נ״ד)

« מצאה כתם בר״ח אפילו שלש פעמים לא קבעתו ולא עוקרתו » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:נ״ד)

« חוץ מכתמי עד הבדוק לה שהם מטמאים בכל שהן והרי הן כראיות לכל דבר » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:נ״ד)

Translation: “There is no veses through stains. How so? She found a stain on Rosh Chodesh, even three times: she has neither established a veses nor uprooted one — except for the stains of the ed examined for her, which render impure in any amount whatsoever and are in every respect like sightings.” (On establishing and uprooting a veses, see siman 189.)

Chakirah — why does a stain not establish a veses? A veses is established by a certain sighting of blood; and the stain, whose prohibition rests only on doubt and on rabbinic authority (perhaps it came from the source), is not certain testimony to a sighting, and therefore has nothing with which to establish or uproot a veses. But the stain of an examined ed — which, as we said, counts as a full sighting — is in every respect like a sighting, including for the veses. This is the final confirmation of the siman's underlying distinction: the ordinary stain (light) as against the stain of the examined ed (heavy, like a sighting). See the fuller treatment in siman 189.

10. The heter of colored garments — the decree was made on white alone

↩ Detailed explanation (level 1)

This is a leniency of considerable practical reach today, and its root runs from the gemara through the Rishonim into the Shulchan Arukh itself — in se'if 10.

The foundation — the decree was not made on a dyed garment:
The source is a beraisa in Niddah, of which the Shulchan Arukh adopts the position of Rabbi Nasan bar Yosef:

« בֶּגֶד צָבוּעַ מְטַמֵּא מִשּׁוּם כֶּתֶם. רַבִּי נָתָן בַּר יוֹסֵף אוֹמֵר: אֵינוֹ מְטַמֵּא מִשּׁוּם כֶּתֶם » (נדה ס״א ע״ב)

and the gemara gives the reason: « שֶׁלֹּא הוּתְּרוּ בִּגְדֵי צִבְעוֹנִין לְאִשָּׁה אֶלָּא לְהָקֵל עַל כִּתְמֵיהֶן » (נדה ס״א ע״ב) — colored garments were permitted to a woman only in order to ease her stains.

The Shulchan Arukh sets this down in the body of se'if 10: « וכן כתם שנמצא על בגד צבוע טהורה » (שו״ע יו״ד ק״צ:י) — “and likewise a stain found on a dyed garment: she is pure.”

And the Rama immediately draws the practical conduct from it: « לפיכך תלבש האשה בגדי צבעונין כדי להצילה מכתמים » (רמ״א יו״ד ק״צ:י) — “therefore a woman should wear colored garments, in order to save herself from stains.”

The reason lies in the nature of the decree itself: it is a rabbinic institution laid down within defined boundaries — like that of an object that receives impurity, above — and white is one of those boundaries.
Its practical reach — wearing colored garments: from this heter comes the practice among Jewish women of wearing colored undergarments, so as not to be exposed to a multiplication of concerns about stains, since a stain on a dyed garment does not render impure. The practice is widespread and solidly grounded: the Rama himself frames it as conduct to be followed. That said, during the seven clean days and for the bedikos themselves the examination is made on a white cloth, precisely because one must be able to see; and the details of what does and does not fall within the heter of colors are many. The gemara itself notes that the status of these garments was debated: « בִּקְּשׁוּ לִגְזוֹר עַל בִּגְדֵי צִבְעוֹנִין » (נדה ס״א ע״ב) — they considered forbidding them and refrained, in order to ease the matter of stains. And in practice — ask your Rav, and in matters of taharas ha-mishpachah a certified halachic advisor as well.
The boundaries of the heter: the heter concerns the stain found on the dyed garment itself, which does not render impure; it does not cover a stain found on the flesh, nor that of an examined ed (which falls under the regime of a sighting). There is also room to consider a garment of a very light shade, or one that is half white. The Acharonim (Sidrei Taharah, Chochmas Adam, Arukh HaShulchan, Pischei Teshuvah, and among contemporary poskim Taharas HaBayis and Shevet HaLevi) have treated the boundaries of this heter and its practice at length.

11. Chakirah and nafka mina for practice

↩ Detailed explanation (level 1)
The overall chakirah of the siman: the whole siman descends from a single question — what is the nature of the decree of stains, and why did it generate so many leniencies?
Nafka mina for practice (following the rules of the siman):
  1. A stain smaller than ke-gris ve-od (about three lentils by three) on a garment — pure; on an examined ed — impure in any amount whatsoever.
  2. The attributions — a wound, the butchers' market or handling stains, lice — render her pure, provided no ke-gris ve-od remains with nothing to attribute it to.
  3. A stain on an object that does not receive impurity (the ground, a privy seat) carries no din of a stain.
  4. A stain on a colored garment does not render impure (se'if 10); hence the practice of wearing colored garments — not during the seven clean days nor for the bedikos, which require white.
  5. Doubt between blood and dye — the stain is shown to a talmid chacham, together with the din of the mar'os (siman 188); and stains do not establish a veses (siman 189).
And in practice — ask your Rav, and in matters of taharas ha-mishpachah a certified halachic advisor as well.

12. Summary tables

↩ Detailed explanation (level 1)

Table — the principal leniencies in the laws of stains

The leniency The result Source
Less than ke-gris ve-od Pure (we attribute it to louse blood) Mechaber, se'if 5
Separate drops do not combine Each drop is attributed to a separate louse Mechaber, se'if 8
A bedbug killed or its odor smelled She attributes up to the size of a turmus Mechaber, se'ifim 7 and 29
Not opposite the beis ha-turpah Pure (the blood could not have come from the source) Mechaber, se'ifim 9, 11, 12 and 13
An object that does not receive impurity Bare ground — they did not decree; a privy seat — the Rama's addition, from the Mordechai in the name of the Semag and the Semak Mechaber and Rama, se'if 10
Attribution to a wound, to blood from outside, to handling Pure — “she attributes to anything she is able to attribute to” Mechaber, se'ifim 16 and 18–24
A dyed garment Does not render impure — the decree was not made on it Mechaber, se'if 10; Niddah 61b

Table — the central stringencies and distinctions

Subject Regime of the ordinary stain (light) Regime of the examined ed (heavy)
Measure Ke-gris ve-od is required Any amount whatsoever, even a mustard seed
Attributions She attributes to anything possible Like a sighting: no attribution
Veses There is no veses through stains Like sightings in every respect, including for the veses
A round stain (ed smeared on the thigh, se'if 35) The Mechaber's first position — pure below a gris “Some say” within the Mechaber — impure in any amount; the Rama: “and so is the main ruling”
Flesh and garment (se'if 6) Garment — the measure is required “Some say” on the flesh — there is no measure

Table — the sources of the sugya

Gemara: Niddah 57b (the mishnah of stains, the place and the belt) · Niddah 58a (what does not receive impurity does not receive stains) · Niddah 58b and 59a (ke-gris ve-od and louse blood) · Niddah 59b (the bench) · Niddah 61a (women lying interlocked) · Niddah 61b (the dyed garment and colored garments) · Niddah 61b and 62a (the seven simanim)
Rishonim: Rashi · Tosafos · Rambam (Hilchos Issurei Bi'ah, chapter 9) · Rosh · Rashba (Toras HaBayis) · Ran · Ramban · Mordechai (Hilchos Niddah) · Semag · Semak · Tur · Beis Yosef
Acharonim: Rama · Shakh · Taz · Sidrei Taharah · Chochmas Adam / Binas Adam · Arukh HaShulchan · Pischei Teshuvah · Noda BiYehudah · Chasam Sofer · Shevet HaLevi · Taharas HaBayis

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DAAT · Rav Yossef Haim Samama
Talmid chacham · teaches shiurim in halachah and chassidus
Pilpul and study of the laws of stains · siman 190 · ⚡ Level 2 — Lamdan
⚠️ This content is written for study and analysis only. The laws of stains are many and intricate; for any practical ruling (le-ma'aseh) — ask your Rav, and in matters of taharas ha-mishpachah a certified halachic advisor as well.

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