there for her to do? Then the Sages ordained that in case the night for ṭebilah of a Niddah was at the conclusion of Sabbath, or at the close of the festival of Rosh-ha-Shanah that fell on Thursday and Friday, making it impossible for her to cleanse and comb her hair immediately previous to her ṭebilah, she might instead cleanse and comb her hair on Friday, that is, three days before her purification.[1] This was the taḳḳanah that the Talmud ascribed to Ezra.
Now we can fully understand why just these taḳḳanot were ascribed to Ezra, inasmuch as we have seen their importance and their value in the development of the laws of טומאה וטהרה, the laws of the Sabbath, and in domestic life.
As for the time of these taḳḳanot, Weiss[2] has well shown that they do not go back to Ezra's day. In my opinion, they were instituted neither by one man nor in one period, but were the results of the evolution of the ancient Halakot according to the demands of the time, some of these taḳḳanot being very ancient, and others not quite so ancient. The taḳḳanot in the matter of טומאה וטהרה are very ancient, e.g. the 'taḳḳanot shum', that the only time that seed becomes susceptible of receiving pollution is when it is detached from the soil. That it is very old is seen by what is stated of Joshua ben Peraḥiah as opposed thereto.[3]The taḳḳanot or amendments in the laws of Sabbath enabling the Jews to give clothes to the launderer on Thursday, and to bake bread on Friday while it was day, are from the times of Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai;[4]
