## Niddah Daf 66b

###### Niddah 66b:1
[Niddah 66b:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Niddah/r/66b:1)

לָא תִּחוֹף לֹא בְּנֶתֶר וְלֹא בַּחוֹל; בְּנֶתֶר מִשּׁוּם דְּמִקְּטָף, וּבַחוֹל מִשּׁוּם דִּמְסָרֵיךְ.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**may not wash** her hair **with natron or with sand.** The reason she may not wash her hair **with natron** is **because** natron **pulls out** hair, and that hair may remain sitting on her head and serve as an interposition between her and the water of the ritual bath. **And** similarly, she may not wash her hair **with sand, because it sticks** to her hair and it also serves as an interposition.


###### Niddah 66b:2
[Niddah 66b:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Niddah/r/66b:2)

וְאָמַר אַמֵּימָר מִשְּׁמֵיהּ דְּרָבָא: אִשָּׁה לֹא תִּחוֹף אֶלָּא בְּחַמִּין, אֲבָל לֹא בְּצוֹנֵן, וַאֲפִילּוּ בְּחַמֵּי חַמָּה. צוֹנֵן מַאי טַעְמָא לָא? מִשּׁוּם דְּקָרִירֵי וּמְשָׁרוּ מַזְּיָיא.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**And Ameimar said in the name of Rava: A woman washes** her hair **only with hot** water, **but not with cold** water. **But** she may wash her hair **even with hot** water that was heated in the **sun. What is the reason** that she may **not** wash her hair with **cold** water? **Because it is cold and** causes the **hair to harden,** and the dirt will remain in the hair.


###### Niddah 66b:3
[Niddah 66b:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Niddah/r/66b:3)

וְאָמַר רָבָא: לְעוֹלָם יִלְמַד אָדָם בְּתוֹךְ בֵּיתוֹ שֶׁתְּהֵא אִשָּׁה מְדִיחָה בֵּית קַמְטֵיהּ בְּמַיִם. מֵיתִיבִי: בֵּית הַקְּמָטִים וּבֵית הַסְּתָרִים אֵינָן צְרִיכִין לְבִיאַת מַיִם!

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**And Rava says: A man should always teach in his house that a woman should rinse any place with creases,** e.g., her armpits, **in water** before she immerses in a ritual bath, to ensure that they are clean. The Gemara **raises an objection** from a *baraita*: **Places with creases and** any **concealed part** of the body **do not require immersion in water.** In other words, the immersion is valid even if the water does not touch those parts of the body. If so, why must she rinse them before immersing?


###### Niddah 66b:4
[Niddah 66b:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Niddah/r/66b:4)

נְהִי דְּבִיאַת מַיִם לָא בָּעֵינַן, מְקוֹם הָרָאוּי לְבִיאַת מַיִם בָּעֵינַן, כִּדְרַבִּי זֵירָא, דְּאָמַר רַבִּי זֵירָא: כׇּל הָרָאוּי לְבִילָּה — אֵין בִּילָּה מְעַכֶּבֶת בּוֹ, וְשֶׁאֵין רָאוּי לְבִילָּה — בִּילָּה מְעַכֶּבֶת בּוֹ.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara answers: **Granted that they do not require immersion in water,** but **we require** that they must be **a place that is suitable for immersion in water.** This is **in accordance with** the opinion **of Rabbi Zeira, as Rabbi Zeira says:** For **any** amount of flour **suitable for mingling** with oil in a meal offering, **mingling is not indispensable for it,** i.e., it is valid even if it is not mixed. **But** for **any** amount of flour **not suitable for mingling,** e.g., if the quantity of flour is so great that the ingredients cannot be properly mixed, **mingling is indispensable for it,** and such a meal offering is invalid. This teaches a halakhic principle: There are certain actions that prevent the fulfillment of a mitzva if they are impossible, even if the actual performance of those actions are not indispensable to the mitzva.


###### Niddah 66b:5
[Niddah 66b:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Niddah/r/66b:5)

אָמַר רָבִין בַּר רַב אַדָּא, אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק: מַעֲשֶׂה בְּשִׁפְחָתוֹ שֶׁל רַבִּי שֶׁטָּבְלָה, וְעָלְתָה, וְנִמְצָא לָהּ עֶצֶם חוֹצֵץ בֵּין שִׁינֶּיהָ, וְהִצְרִיכָהּ רַבִּי טְבִילָה אַחֶרֶת.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Ravin bar Rav Adda says** that **Rabbi Yitzḥak says:** There was **an incident involving a maidservant of Rabbi** Yehuda HaNasi **who immersed** herself, **and she ascended** from her immersion **and a bone was found interposed between her teeth, and Rabbi** Yehuda HaNasi **required her** to perform **another immersion.** This demonstrates that according to Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi one may not have a foreign object even inside one’s mouth.


###### Niddah 66b:6
[Niddah 66b:6](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Niddah/r/66b:6)

וְאָמַר רָבָא: טָבְלָה וְעָלְתָה, וְנִמְצָא עָלֶיהָ דָּבָר חוֹצֵץ — אִם סָמוּךְ לַחֲפִיפָה טָבְלָה, אֵינָהּ צְרִיכָה לְחוֹף וְלִטְבּוֹל, וְאִם לָאו — צְרִיכָה לְחוֹף וְלִטְבּוֹל.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**And Rava says:** If a woman **immersed** in a ritual bath **and ascended** from the water, **and** she then **found on her** hair **an item that interposes** between her and the water, what is the *halakha*? **If she immersed soon** after **washing** her hair, **she does not need to wash** her hair **and immerse** in the ritual bath a second time, as it can be assumed that this item was not there when she immersed, since her hair had been cleaned. **But if** she did **not** wash her hair immediately before immersing, **she must wash** her hair **and immerse** in the ritual bath a second time.


###### Niddah 66b:7
[Niddah 66b:7](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Niddah/r/66b:7)

אִיכָּא דְאָמְרִי, אִם בְּאוֹתוֹ יוֹם שֶׁחָפְפָה טָבְלָה — אֵינָהּ צְרִיכָה לְחוֹף וְלִטְבּוֹל, וְאִם לָאו — צְרִיכָה לְחוֹף וְלִטְבּוֹל.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**There are** those **who state** a slightly different version of Rava’s statement: **If she immersed on the same day that she washed** her hair, **she does not need to wash** her hair **and to immerse** in a ritual bath a second time. **But if** she did **not** wash her hair on the same day that she immersed, **she must wash** her hair **and immerse** in the ritual bath a second time.


###### Niddah 66b:8
[Niddah 66b:8](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Niddah/r/66b:8)

מַאי בֵּינַיְיהוּ? אִיכָּא בֵּינַיְיהוּ לְמִסְמַךְ לַחֲפִיפָה טְבִילָה, לְמִיחַף בִּימָמָא וּלְמִטְבָּל בְּלֵילְיָא.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara asks: **What** is the practical difference **between** these two versions of Rava’s statement? The Gemara answers: The practical difference **between them** is **with regard to washing** her hair **close to immersion.** According to the first version of Rava’s statement, she must wash her hair immediately before immersing, whereas according to the second version she has more time. Another difference between the two versions is **with regard to washing** her hair **during the day and immersing at night** immediately afterward. According to the first version of Rava’s statement, provided that she washed her hair immediately before immersing, it makes no difference whether or not she washed and immersed on the same day. Conversely, according to the second version she must wash her hair on the same day or night as her immersion.


###### Niddah 66b:9
[Niddah 66b:9](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Niddah/r/66b:9)

אָמַר רָבָא: אִשָּׁה לֹא תַּעֲמוֹד עַל גַּבֵּי כְּלִי חֶרֶס וְתִטְבּוֹל. סָבַר רַב כָּהֲנָא לְמֵימַר: טַעְמָא מַאי? מִשּׁוּם גְּזֵירַת מֶרְחֲצָאוֹת, הָא עַל גַּבֵּי סִילְתָּא — שַׁפִּיר דָּמֵי.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
§ **Rava says: A woman may not stand on top of earthenware utensils** that are submerged in the ritual bath **and immerse. Rav Kahana thought to say: What is the reason** for this? It is **because** the Sages issued **a decree** against immersing in this manner, as it appears like immersing in **bathhouses,** i.e., the purpose of the decree is to prevent women from thinking that it is permitted to immerse in a bathhouse, which contains drawn water and is not valid as a ritual bath. It can be inferred from this reasoning that it is **permitted** for a woman to stand **on top of a plank of wood** that is in the ritual bath.


###### Niddah 66b:10
[Niddah 66b:10](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Niddah/r/66b:10)

אֲמַר לֵיהּ רַב חָנָן מִנְּהַרְדְּעָא: הָתָם טַעְמָא מַאי — מִשּׁוּם דְּבָעֵית, סִילְתָּא נָמֵי בְּעֵיתָא.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Rav Ḥanan from Neharde’a said to** Rav Kahana that this is not the reason for Rava’s statement. Rather, **there,** in the case of submerged earthenware utensils, **what is the reason** that she may not immerse? She may not immerse **because she** will be **afraid** that she might fall off, and consequently she will not immerse herself properly. By the same logic, **she** will **also** be **afraid** when she is standing on top of **a plank of wood,** and therefore this is also prohibited.


###### Niddah 66b:11
[Niddah 66b:11](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Niddah/r/66b:11)

אָמַר רַב שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר רַב יִצְחָק: אִשָּׁה לֹא תִּטְבּוֹל

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Rav Shmuel bar Rav Yitzḥak says: A woman may not immerse** herself