Nazir 51B

שכבת זרע במעי אשה, מהו? מי אמרינן כיון דלא איתצר ⁠— כי גופה דמי, או דלמא כיון דמעלמא קאתי ⁠— לא?

with regard to semen in a dead woman’s womb. What is the halakha in this case? Does it form a mixture with respect to the woman’s body? The Talmud explains the two sides of this dilemma: Do we say that since no fetus was formed from the semen, it is considered like her body? Or, perhaps one should argue that since it comes from outside, it is not considered part of her body.

בעי רב פפא: פירשה, מהו? כיון דלא מקיימא בדלא אכלה ⁠— חיותא הוא, או דלמא הא נמי מעלמא אתי? בעי רב אחא בריה דרב איקא: עורו מהו? בעי רב הונא בר מנוח: כיחו וניעו מהו?

Rav Pappa raised a similar dilemma: With regard to her excrement, the food waste that remains in a woman’s intestines, what is the halakha? Once again, the Talmud explains the two sides of this dilemma: Do we say that since she cannot subsist without food it is considered her life, which means that the food left inside her body is part of her and does not form a mixture with the corpse? Or perhaps this too comes from outside and is therefore not part of her body, and does form a mixture with her corpse. Similarly, Rav Aḥa, son of Rav Ika, raised a dilemma concerning a corpse: With regard to its skin, what is the halakha? Rav Huna bar Manoaḥ likewise raised a dilemma: With regard to its phlegm and its spittle, what is the halakha?

אמר ליה רב שמואל בר אחא לרב פפא: ואי סלקא דעתך כל הני דקאמר הוי גלגלין, רקב דמטמא היכי משכחת לה! דאשקייה מי דקלים, וסכיא נשא, ושלקו במי טבריא.

Rav Shmuel bar Aḥa said to Rav Pappa: But if it enters your mind that all these cases of which they spoke form a mixture, under what circumstances do you find this case of dust that imparts impurity? Dust from a corpse will always include some components of the aforementioned elements. The Talmud answers: It is possible. For example: if someone was given palm water [mei dekalim], a powerful laxative, to drink before he died, and was rubbed with a depilatory agent to remove his hair, and was boiled after death in the hot waters of Tiberias until the skin came off, this would remove all matter that is not part of the corpse itself.