Nazir 64: Tahor in the Water; Miscarriage

Yesterday's daf discussed the ritual impurity that might result from finding a corpse in the water.  Today's daf begins with further arguments about that point.  If a corpse is found floating in the water, does it transmit tuman?  What about a creeping animal?  What about a creeping animal sitting on a corpse, or a creeping animal lying on another creeping animal?   What about a creeping animal in a vessel in the water?  Ostensibly this will help the rabbis understand when and why a nazirite is permitted to approach the Temple in purity with his/her offering, thus ending his/her nazirut.

The rabbis consider the differences between solid and liquid sources of tumah. Believe it or not, they question when the tumah of semen might be considered to be a solid due to its viscosity.

Amud (b) introduces a few novel ideas.  First, the rabbis wonder about whether or not a nazirite has completed his/her purification if the sun has not yet set on their day of immersion (the last day of and the last step in purification).  When is a person considered to be "lacking" when it comes to purification? 

The example used to illustrate this difficulty is a woman who is bringing an offering after having given birth to a girl.  She then miscarries on the 81st day.  Is she fully tamei, ritually pure?  Does she bring an offering for the miscarried fetus and for the birth of a girl?  A baraita teaches that if she miscarries before the fulfilment of her purification, she brings only one offering: the offering for the birth of her baby.   But what if she has two miscarriages after her childbirth but before the fulfilment of her ritual purity?  

The rabbis share different opinions about what should be done if a woman miscarries during her tumah following childbirth.  One says that she should bring only an offering for the childbirth - unless the miscarriage occurs on the very last day of her purification.  Rav Kahana suggests that she cannot bring an offering in this case because she is "lacking" when it comes to purification.

I take a number of points from this commentary:

• offerings could be brought to the Temple for miscarriage
• women miscarried frequently, sometimes twice immediately following the birth of a child (though I'm not clear on how one would become pregnant while tahor)
• men were interpreting when women could bring offerings following miscarriage

Miscarriage may not be the same thing as losing another loved one, but it can be a very significant event.  It is comforting to think that the experience of miscarriage was given its own ritual.  Had I possessed a ritual to use when I was suffering after a miscarriage, I believe that my next pregnancy would have been much more smooth.

A new Mishna teaches that if a corpse is found on its own, it can be dislodged along with at least three fingerbreadths of earth surrounding it and reburied elsewhere.  If two bodies are found, the same halacha applied.  If three bodies are found near each other in rows, though, the site is assumed to be a ceremony and the builders must search for other bodies within a 20 cubit radius.