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Mishnah Nida 1.1:

שַׁמַּאי אוֹמֵר, כָּל הַנָּשִׁים דַּיָּן שְׁעָתָן. הִלֵּל אוֹמֵר, מִפְּקִידָה לִפְקִידָה, וַאֲפִלּוּ לְיָמִים הַרְבֵּה. וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים, לֹא כְדִבְרֵי זֶה וְלֹא כְדִבְרֵי זֶה, אֶלָּא מֵעֵת לְעֵת מְמַעֵט עַל יַד מִפְּקִידָה לִפְקִידָה, וּמִפְּקִידָה לִפְקִידָה מְמַעֶטֶת עַל יַד מֵעֵת לְעֵת. כָּל אִשָּׁה שֶׁיֶּשׁ לָהּ וֶסֶת, דַּיָּהּ שְׁעָתָהּ. וְהַמְשַׁמֶּשֶׁת בְּעִדִּים, הֲרֵי זוֹ כִפְקִידָה, וּמְמַעֶטֶת עַל יַד מֵעֵת לְעֵת וְעַל יַד מִפְּקִידָה לִפְקִידָה:

Shammai says: for all women it suffices [to reckon] their [period of uncleanness from their time [of discovering the flow]. Hillel ruled: [their period of uncleanness is to be reckoned retroactively] from the [previous] examination to the [last] examination, even if this was many days. The sages say: [the law is] not like the words of these or the words of those, but [the women are deemed to have been unclean] during [the preceding] twenty-four hours when this lessens the period from the [previous] examination to the [last] examination, and during the period from the [previous] examination to the [last] examination when this lessens the period of twenty-four hours. For any woman who has a regular period it suffices [to reckon her period of uncleanness from] the time she discovers the flow. And if a woman uses rags when she has marital intercourse, this is like an examination which lessens either the period of the [past] twenty-four hours or the period from the [previous] examination to the [last] examination. (Sefaria Translation)

The Mishnah uses the word פקידה to describe a checking. All the commentaries (including the Talmud on 4b) describe this act by way of the word בדיקה (checking). Meaning the verb פקד is never formally used to describe that same action. If so, why even use the word פקידה all together if all it is, is בדיקה.

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    I don't really see what the question is. Is it "Why does the mishna use one word while the gemara uses a different word?"
    – Daniel
    May 21, 2019 at 14:23
  • @Daniel no its why use one word to describe the action of another word when word one could have been used to describe its own action
    – Dr. Shmuel
    May 21, 2019 at 14:24
  • I don't understand how that's different from the question in my previous comment.
    – Daniel
    May 21, 2019 at 14:26
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    @Dr.Shmuel How do you know that the word בדיקה could have been used in this context when this mishnah was formulated?
    – Joel K
    May 21, 2019 at 14:28
  • it just seemed quite plausible to me @joelk
    – Dr. Shmuel
    May 21, 2019 at 14:36

1 Answer 1

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Rashash links to discussion in Maharshal and Maharam who both bring specificity to what פקידה exactly means in the context of Rashi (ד"ה שמאי). They discuss the differentiation between checking by way of seeing or specific checking with a cloth, and their legal ramifications. From this it would seems that there are two types of checking. One which includes using a cloth and one which does not. This discussion wants to further expound on Rashi that the Mishnah speaks of the former form.

Rashash ties this in to the specific language used in the Mishnah. He seems to say that פקידה refers specifically to the former, which is the intent of the Rashi and this Mishnah.

הגהות וחדושי הרש"ש:

עי' רש"ל ומהר"ם. ול"נ דמלישנא דפקידה לפקידה מוכח דהשתא מצאה ע"י פקידה דהיינו בדיקה

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