in accordance with the ruling of the mishna: The Sages give her four nights, then he should have given her longer, as we learned in the mishna that according to Beit Hillel the blood may be attributed to the torn hymen until the wound heals.

Rather, you will say that he gave her these four nights all during her days as a young woman. Are there twelve months when one has the status of a young woman? But didn’t Shmuel say: The difference in time between becoming a young woman and becoming a grown woman is only six months? And if you would say that Shmuel is saying that it is in less than six months that there is no transition from young woman to grown woman status, but there is such a transition in more than six months, as women develop differently, that is not so, as Shmuel said: Only, which indicates that the period is neither less nor more than six months.

Rather, you will suggest that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi gave her two days during her days as a minor, and he gave her two days during her days as a young woman. This too is difficult, as Rav Ḥinnana bar Shelamya asked Rav: With regard to a young girl who married before she reached puberty, and then her time to see menstrual blood arrived while she was under the authority of her husband, what is the halakha? Does she have the four nights when the blood is considered to be from her torn hymen?

And Rav said to him: All the acts of intercourse that you engage in while she is still too young are considered as only one act of intercourse, and the remainder, i.e., three more acts of intercourse, complete the total number of four nights. If so, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi could not have given her two nights as a minor, since at most those acts of intercourse count as one.

Rather, you will suggest that he gave her one night during her days as a minor, and two nights during her days as a young woman, and one night during her days as a grown woman. But this is also difficult: Granted, if you say that we generally give a grown woman more than one night, then one can understand why Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi gave her one night in this case: Just as all the acts of intercourse she engaged in as a minor have the effect to deduct one night for her days as a young woman, similarly all the acts of intercourse she engaged in while a young woman have the effect to deduct one night for her days as a grown woman, leaving her with one.

But if you say that we generally do not give a grown woman more than one night, then in this case Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi should have given her as a grown woman only the one act of relations that consummate a marriage, which are a mitzva, i.e., merely a single act of intercourse, and nothing more, as otherwise the acts of intercourse before she became a grown woman would not have affected her status.

The Gemara answers: Actually, the correct explanation is that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi gave her one night during her days as a minor and three nights during her days as a young woman. And as for the fact that she has the status of a young woman for only exactly six months, do you maintain that every three months was counted as one period of the husband’s absence, such that she had only two nights in six months? This is not the case. Rather, every two months was counted as one period, and therefore she had three nights during these six months when she could attribute the blood to her torn hymen.

The Gemara relates that the Sage Minyamin Saksana was coming and walking to the place of Shmuel. He thought that he would perform an action in accordance with the opinion of Rav, in that he would permit a grown woman to attribute blood to her torn hymen for the entire first night, even though she had already seen menstrual blood before she was married. Minyamin mistakenly said to himself: Rav does not distinguish between a woman who has seen menstrual blood and a woman who has not seen menstrual blood.

Before Minyamin reached Shmuel’s place, he passed away on the road, and he never completed the journey. Upon hearing this, Shmuel recited this verse about Rav: “No mishap shall befall the righteous” (Proverbs 12:21), i.e., God does not allow prohibited acts to come from the statements of the righteous. In this case, Minyamin ruled incorrectly, based on a misunderstanding of Rav’s statement.

Since the Gemara cited Rav Ḥinnana bar Shelamya, it cites another of his statements: Rav Ḥinnana bar Shelamya said in the name of Rav: Once a person’s teeth fall out and he has difficulty eating, his food diminshes accordingly, as it is stated: “And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places” (Amos 4:6). The term “cleanness of teeth” is here a euphemism for having no teeth at all, which leads to a lack of bread.

§ The mishna teaches: In the case of a young woman who saw menstrual blood before marriage, while she was still in her father’s house, Beit Hillel say: They may engage in several acts of intercourse, as any bleeding throughout the entire night is attributed to the torn hymen. The Sages taught in a baraita: In the case of a young woman who saw menstrual blood while she was still in her father’s house, Beit Hillel say: All the night is hers, and the Sages give her one complete period of time during which she may attribute all bleeding to her torn hymen. And how long is a complete period of time in this context? Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel explained that it is one night and half of the next day.

The Gemara asks: But do we require all this time of one night and half of a day for a complete period? And the Gemara raises a contradiction from a baraita: In the case of one whose winepresses or olive presses were impure and he wished to prepare his grapes and olives in a state of ritual purity, how does he act? He should rinse the planks used to press the grapes in the winepress, and the palm branches used as brooms, and the troughs,