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Text Excerpt
״שנים עשר״ — פתחה שמונה.
If she said: I saw 12 impure days, i.e., I had a discharge of blood for 12 days, the alleviation of her state of uncertainty occurs after she experiences 8 clean days, to account for the worst-case scenario that the first two days of discharge occurred on the last two of the 11 days of ziva and the other 10 occurred on the 7 days of her menstrual cycle and the 3 subsequent days. If so, she would have another 8 days until the end of the full 18-day cycle, and when she next experiences a discharge it is the beginning of her new menstrual cycle.
״שלשה עשר״ — פתחה שבעה.
If she said: I saw 13 impure days, i.e., I had a discharge of blood for 13 days, the alleviation of her state of uncertainty occurs after she experiences 7 clean days, to account for the possibility that the first two days of discharge occurred on the last two of the 11 days of ziva and the others occurred on the 7 days of her menstrual cycle and the 4 subsequent days. If so, she would be left with only 7 more days until the end of the full 18-day cycle, and when she next experiences a discharge it is the beginning of her new menstrual cycle.
שאין פתח בטועה פחות משבעה, ולא יתר על שבעה עשר.
All this shows that there is no alleviation of a woman’s state of uncertainty if she had a discharge of blood and is unsure whether it was during her days of menstruation or during her days of ziva in fewer than 7 clean days and in no more than 17 clean days.