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Nidah 52

1. WHY IS NO BERACHAH RECITED AFTER SMELLING A PLEASANT FRAGRANCE?
   • Question: The Gemara concludes that we do not make a Berachah Acharonah after having smelled a pleasant fragrance. Why not?

   • Answer:
     1. RASHI (DH Reichani) explains that no Berachah Acharonah is recited after smelling a pleasant fragrance since it is a relatively minimal pleasure.

     2. The KOL BO (quoted by the TAZ, Orach Chayim 216:1) suggests that we only make a Berachah Acharonah when the benefits of the pleasure endure at the time of the Berachah Acharonah. After eating, there is still a feeling of being satisfied, thus make a Berachah Achronah. Once we have smelled a pleasant fragrance, there no enduring pleasure remains. Therefore we do not recite a Berachah Achronah on sweet smells.

52b

2. HALACHAH: UNTIL WHEN MAY A GIRL BE MEMA'ENES?
   • Question:
     1. Rebbi Meir rules that a girl may be Mema'enes until she is 12 years old and grows two hairs that exhibit maturity. Rebbi Yehudah rules that she may be Me'ma'enes until she is 12 years old and the pubic region appears covered with hairs. What is the Halachic ruling?

        According to Rebbi Meir, the Gemara raises a few more issues:

     2. Is the growth of a hair-follicle without hair equivalent to the growth of a hair?
     3. Can we combine two hairs from different regions of the body?
     4. Can a girl be Me'ma'enes after this point if she has not had relations?

   • Answer:
     1. The SHULCHAN ARUCH (Even ha'Ezer 155:12) rules that a girl may be Mema'enes until she is twelve years and has grown two hairs on her body, like Rebbi Meir.
     2. As regards the location of these hairs, the Shulchan Aruch (155:17) mentions two opinions: (1) Some rule that specifically pubic hairs render her a Gedolah who can no longer be Mema'enes. (2) Others rule that even if one of the hairs is on her back and the other on her belly she may no longer be Mema'enes.
     3. The Shulchan Aruch (155:16) rules that since there cannot be a follicle without a hair, if we find two follicles even without hair, it is equivalent to finding two hairs.
     4. The Shulchan Aruch (155:21) rules that there is a Safek as to what the Din is if the girl did not have relations after she reached 12 years of age. Therefore, she cannot leave the domain of her husband with Mi'un alone, she requires a Get. If she accepted Kidushin from a second man after she was Mema'enes the first husband (but before she received a Get), she requires a Get from both of them.

3. "BEN SHLAKOS" "Ben Shlakos" ruled that a girl may perform Mi'un until the pubic area is "richly covered" with hair. Rav Reuven Margolios offers an original approach as to the source of the author of this statement's unusual name.

   We find precedents in the Gemara for naming various sages based on a particular statement they made (if they were only known to have made few Talmudic statements).

   The Mishnah in Ma'asros (1:5) rules that watermelons (Avatichim) become obligated in Ma'aser "mishe'Yishalek." The RAMBAM explains that mishe'Yishalek means, from the point that the watermelons "become covered hair-like growth." Thus, the root SH'L'K' means "to become covered with hair." If so, perhaps Ben Shlakos was so called in commemoration of his ruling that a girl may perform Mi'un until she is "covered with hair" in the pubic area!

4. IS A KORBAN BROUGHT FOR "KESAMIM?" OPINIONS: The Gemara tells us that if a woman wore three different checked gowns and found Kesamim on all of them, or if she saw blood for two days and found a Kesem on the third, she has to treat herself as a Zavah. The Gemara concludes that even though she treats herself as a Zavah, she does not bring a Korban and eat it.
   1. The RAMBAN explains that this does not mean that a Korban is brought but it is not eaten, since we only bring a Korban for a Safek mid'Oraisa. The entire Halachah of Kesamim is mid'Rabanan, so there are no grounds for bringing a Korban at all for Kesamim.

   2. RASHI (DH Mahu) explains that she brings a Korban, but it is not eaten. The RAMBAN implies that even according to Rashi, a Korban would only be brought in the event that a woman bled normally on two consecutive days and saw a Kesem on the third. If she saw three Kesamim on three different gowns, Rashi would agree that she would not bring a Korban. The logic behind this ruling is that if a Kesem was found after two days of having seen blood, her Tum'ah is no longer a Chumrah mid'Rabbanan but a Safek d'Oraisa, and would therefore be obligated in a Korban.

   3. The RA'AVAD (Ba'alei ha'Nefesh) maintains that in both cases (if a woman wore three different checked gowns and found Kesamim on all of them, or if she saw blood for two days and found a Kesem on the third ) the woman must bring a Korban.

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