QUESTIONS: The Gemara (end of 52b) cites a Beraisa which says that if a woman sees a stain of blood (Kesem) large enough to be divided into three large Grisin, each of which is slightly larger than a normal Gris, she must be concerned that she may be a Zavah, because she may have bled on three consecutive days. Rebbi Yehudah ben Agra says in the name of Rebbi Yosi that even if the Kesem was the size of only two Grisin, she must be concerned that she may be a Zavah. RASHI (DH Achas) explains that this is because she may have bled during two different periods of Bein ha'Shemashos, or she may have bled once during the day and again during Bein ha'Shemashos of the following day. If she bled during Bein ha'Shemashos, she is considered to have bled on two separate days, because part of Bein ha'Shemashos belongs to the day (that precedes it), and part belongs to the night (that follows it), and thus there is a possibility that she bled on three consecutive days and is a Zavah Gedolah.

Rava says that the Rabanan d'Vei Rav explained that the dispute between the Tana Kama and Rebbi Yehudah ben Agra involves a case in which the woman examined herself but did not examine her clothing. When she examined herself, she did so only during the period that is considered Bein ha'Shemashos according to Rebbi Yehudah, which is not considered Bein ha'Shemashos according to Rebbi Yosi.

Rashi (DH Bein) points out that the Gemara in Shabbos (34b) explains that Bein ha'Shemashos according to Rebbi Yehudah refers to the time when "Hichsif ha'Elyon" and not "Hichsif ha'Tachton." Rashi there explains that "Hichsif ha'Elyon" means that the upper part of the sky became black, and "Lo Hichsif ha'Tachton" means that the lower part of the sky, or the part which is visible near the ground (i.e. the horizon), did not yet became black.

(The BI'UR HALACHAH (OC 293:2) writes that even though Rashi in Shabbos explains that "Hichsif" means that the sky became black, he does not mean that it became literally black, because it takes a very long time for the sky to become black. Rather, Rashi understands that when the redness in that part of the sky has gone away, this is equivalent to becoming black.)

Rashi here also writes that the Shi'ur of Bein ha'Shemashos according to Rebbi Yehudah is the time that it takes to walk half a Mil (nine minutes, according to the accepted opinion of the length of a Mil).

The Gemara in Shabbos (34b) seems to contradict Rashi's words in two ways.

(a) The Gemara in Shabbos says the opposite of what Rashi writes. The Gemara says that Bein ha'Shemashos, according to Rebbi Yehudah, is when the lower part of the sky is "Hichsif" but not the upper part. (Rashi there (DH Elyon) explains that the higher part of the sky does not become "Hichsif" as quickly as the lower part.)

(b) Rashi's description of the length of Bein ha'Shemashos as half a Mil is Rebbi Nechemyah's opinion in the Gemara there, while the Gemara gives two different opinions as to the length according to Rebbi Yehudah! Rabah says that the length of Bein ha'Shemashos according to Rebbi Yehudah is three quarters of a Mil (13 1/2 minutes), and Rav Yosef says that it is two thirds of a Mil (12 minutes).

Moreover, Rashi in Berachos (2b, DH ha'Lo Kohanim) also writes that Bein ha'Shemashos is the period of time that it takes to walk half a Mil before the stars emerge, which is consistent with Rashi's words in Nidah but not with the Gemara in Shabbos!

(a) The MAR'EH KOHEN answers that the text of Rashi here must be emended and should read "Hichsif ha'Tachton v'Lo Hichsif ha'Elyon" instead of "Hichsif ha'Elyon v'Lo Hichsif ha'Tachton."

(b) The BEN ARYEH suggests that Rashi might be following the opinion of the MAHARLBACH, Rabeinu Levi Ibn Chabiv, on the Rambam (Hilchos Kidush ha'Chodesh, chapter 2). The Maharalbach maintains that the opinions of three quarters of a Mil and two thirds of a Mil include the Bein ha'Shemashos of Rebbi Yosi. Rashi here is discussing only the Bein ha'Shemashos of Rebbi Yehudah, because the Gemara says that the woman examined herself during Rebbi Yehudah's Bein ha'Shemashos, but not during Rebbi Yosi's. Similarly, Rashi in Berachos is discussing only the Bein ha'Shemashos of Rebbi Yehudah. The Gemara in Shabbos, however, is discussing the time periods that cover both opinions of Bein ha'Shemashos in order to teach the times during which one must be stringent. The Shi'ur of half a Mil is only according to the view of Rebbi Yehudah.

(To resolve the contradiction between Rashi in Berachos and the Gemara in Shabbos, the SHA'AGAS ARYEH (end of #13, DH v'Da) writes that there is a printer's error in Rashi in Berachos. However, the CHOCHMAS BETZALEL here (DH Shuv) points out that Rashi here and the MAGID MISHNEH (Hilchos Isurei Bi'ah 9:13) write that Bein ha'Shemashos is half a Mil according to Rebbi Yehudah, and it is improbable that there are printer's errors in all of these places. See also HAGAHOS HA'GRA to Berachos 2b, who writes that the correct text in Rashi there is that Bein ha'Shemashos according to Rebbi Yehudah is "more than the time it takes to walk half a Mil.") (D. BLOOM)

OPINIONS: The Beraisa records a dispute between Rebbi and Rebbi Shimon ben Elazar in the case of a woman who saw a Kesem and afterwards had a flow of Dam Nidah. Rebbi says that the Kesem is attributed to the blood for 24 hours. Rebbi Shimon ben Elazar says that when she sees blood after the Kesem, she attributes the Kesem to the blood on the same day

What exactly are the opinions of Rebbi and Rebbi Shimon?

(a) RASHI explains that according to Rebbi, when a woman sees a Kesem on one day and then Dam Nidah on the next day, we treat the Kesem like Dam Nidah. This has two ramifications. The first is that we do not say that she was Tamei retroactively (for Kodshim and Taharos) from the last time that the garment was washed. The second is that we require her to count the days of Nidah only from the time that she saw the Kesem, and she may immerse herself seven days after finding the Kesem; she does not need to count seven days from when the Dam Nidah started. Similarly, she counts the cycle of seven days of Nidah and eleven days of Zavah based on when she saw the Kesem and not based on when she saw the Dam Nidah. Accordingly, if she saw blood on the eighth day after the Kesem (which is the seventh day after she saw Dam Nidah), she would be a Zavah Ketanah.

According to Rebbi Shimon ben Elazar, a Kesem seen before Dam Nidah is considered Dam Nidah only when it was seen on the same day as the Dam Nidah. If it was seen the day before, it is treated as an ordinary Kesem.

The RITVA understands the case like Rashi, that the Kesem was found the day before the Dam Nidah. The Ritva explains that the dispute between Rebbi and Rebbi Shimon ben Elazar has two ramifications. The first is that according to Rebbi, the Kesem is associated with the Dam Nidah and thus is not Metamei retroactively. According to Rebbi Shimon Ben Elazar, the Kesem is not associated with the Dam Nidah and thus is Metamei retroactively (this is like Rashi's first ramification of the dispute). The second is that according to Rebbi, there is a risk that a woman might become confused in her count as a result of the Kesem, because we associate it (to some degree) with the Dam Nidah. According to Rebbi Shimon ben Elazar, there is no such risk, because the Kesem is treated with the laws of an ordinary Kesem.

(b) RABEINU CHANANEL cited by TOSFOS (DH she'Hu) explains that both Rebbi and Rebbi Shimon ben Elazar are referring only to a Kesem seen on the same day as the Dam Nidah. According to Rebbi, such a Kesem is a full-fledged Kesem and is Metamei the woman retroactively for one day. Rebbi Shimon ben Elazar maintains that such a Kesem is not Metamei the woman retroactively for one day.