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Nidah 72

72b

1. THE ELEVENTH DAY OF THE DAYS OF ZIVAH
   • Question: Rebbi Elazar Ben Azaryah said that the period of eleven days of Zivah between each period of Nidah is a Halachah l'Moshe mi'Sinai. The Gemara asks, "What is that Halachah?" Rebbi Yochanan answers that it is the "Halachah of the eleventh day," referring to the Halachah that the eleventh day does not require Shimur. Reish Lakish answers that it is the "Halachos of the eleventh day," referring to two Halachos -- that the eleventh day does not require Shimur, and that the eleventh day does not serve as Shimur for the tenth day (that is, the tenth day does not require Shimur).

     Where did Rebbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish see in the words of Rebbi Elazar Ben Azaryah that a specific Halachah concerning the eleventh day was a Halachah l'Moshe mi'Sinai? Rebbi Elazar Ben Azaryah simply stated that the period of eleven days of Zivah is a Halachah l'Moshe mi'Sinai - that is, the entire concept of the 11-day period!

     If Rebbi Elazar Ben Azaryah's statement was referring specifically to laws of the 11th day, what was the Gemara's question that these laws are learned from verses and are not Halachos l'Moshe mi'Sinai? The law of the eleventh day does not appear in any verse! (TOSFOS DH Rebbi Yochanan Amar)

   • Answer:
     1. TOSFOS explains that Rebbi Elazar Ben Azaryah's Halachah concerned the entire period of eleven days of Zivah. Rebbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish were arguing about another Halachah, related to what Rebbi Elazar Ben Azaryah mentioned. They were not explaining what he had said.
     2. RASHI explains that Rebbi Elazar Ben Azaryah was referring specifically to the eleventh day. It could be that Rashi means to say that Rebbi Elazar Ben Azaryah is telling us of two Halachos l'Moshe mi'Sinai. This is inferred from his words, "The [period of] eleven days between each [period of] Nidah is a Halachah l'Moshe mi'Sinai." Since he did not say simply, "The days between each [period] of Nidah," it is clear that Rebbi Elazar Ben Azaryah was emphasizing that there are two parts to the Halachah l'Moshe mi'Sinai: (a) that there is a period of eleven days, and (b)that the 11th day is unique among them (the subject of the argument between Rebbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish). (M. Kornfeld)

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