Pesachim 81 a,

We begin with a lovely conversation regarding women's menstrual discharge.  If the discharge starts and then stops and then starts again over a two-three day span, the rabbis want to know when her status as 'ritually impure' begins and ends and begins again.  They put some degree of energy into this calculation, as her ritual purity determines whether or not her offering of the Paschal lamb is acceptable -- and whether or not she is obliged to perform that ritual at the second Pesach.

Steinsaltz shares a note that is helpful regarding men who are zavim.  If he sees "white, pus-like discharge on his penis" on one occasion only, he is considered impure for the day and must immerse himself like a man who discharges semen.**  If that discharge is prolonged, or if he witnesses discharge again that same day or the following day, he is considered a zav and must immerse after being ritually impure for seven days. If he witnesses discharge for a third day, he also must bring an offering to become ritually pure again.

In both of these cases, the rabbis are concerned about their state of ritual purity retroactively.  Both of these individuals are limited in what they can reasonably do when ritually impure.  They must be careful of where they sit and what they touch.  If they believe that they are now ritually pure but in fact learn that the discharge continued, they are understood as being retroactively impure.  

The rabbis are clear that women who are zavot must have a continuous flow of blood for three days rather than days of spotting.  They are specific about when a woman must check for blood to determine that the flow has been continuous from one day to the next. 

In daf (b) the rabbis discuss, among other items, the power of the frontplate worn by the High Priest.  Apparently this frontplate, worn on the forehead of the High Priest, had the power to annul certain sins of the Kohanim.  In particular, the frontplate can excuse sins that were not known at the time and were discovered later, like contact with an impurity of the deep, tumat hat-hom.  Tumat hat-hom is the state of ritual impurity that derives from contact with a source of impurity that is not known of by anyone.***  For much of daf (b) the rabbis debate about who might know about impurities; how these sources of impurity affect different groups of people.

A mishna at the end of today's daf introduces the idea of a Paschal lamb that is partially impure.  Those with such an offering are told to burn it with their own wood at home.  It tells us that only miserly people would choose to use the wood from the Temple to burn such an offering.  The Gemara begins with a discussion of why we would be told to burn the offering at home.  To embarrass people?  Perhaps, the rabbis argue, in this case, we would want to embarrass people to discourage similar offerings in the future.

On the issue of the zav and zavah -- many women must have been considered zavot much of the time.  How derogatory was this designation?  How much did it affect their daily functioning?  Was it experienced as a 'break', as introduced by Anita Diamond in the Red Tent, or were people shunned when ritually impure?  Or both?

And were people actually cured of gonorrhea? Or were they zavim for the remainder of their lives?  I picture zavim as men in sacks, wandering without homes or food, without family or even a place to sit. Could this be the case, or is this my imagination as informed by what I have learned about laws regarding zavim thus far?  I assume that I will be learning much more about this state of being in years to come when I study that masechet.

** Does this imply that any discharge of semen results in a change in status and requires immersion?  Even the discharge of semen through sanctioned intercourse?

***Steinsaltz explains in a note that the buried corpse of someone who was murdered cannot impart tumat hat-home because the murderer knows where the corpse lies.