Niddah

[2][3] In rabbinic Judaism, additional stringencies and prohibitions have accumulated over time, increasing the scope of various aspects of niddah, including: duration (12-day minimum for Ashkenazim, and 11 days for Sephardim); expanding the prohibition against sex to include: sleeping in adjoining beds, any physical contact,[4] and even passing objects to spouse; and requiring a detailed ritual purification process.

[2][5][6] Since the late 19th century, with the influence of German Modern Orthodoxy, the laws concerning niddah are also referred to as Taharat haMishpacha (טָהֳרַת הַמִּשְׁפָּחָה‎, Hebrew for family purity), an apologetic euphemism coined to de-emphasize the "impurity" of the woman (a concept criticized by the Reform movement) and to exhort the masses by warning that niddah can have consequences on the purity of offspring.

[2][7][8][9][10][11] Niddah has the general meaning of "expulsion" and "elimination",[12] coming from the root ndd, "to make distant" (the Aramaic Bible translations use the root rhq, "to be distant"), reflecting the physical separation of women during their menstrual periods,[13] who were "discharged" and "excluded" from society by being banished to and quarantined in separate quarters.

[12] Later in the biblical corpus, this meaning was extended to include concepts of sin and impurity,[2][12][13] which may be related to ancient attitudes towards menstruation.

[14] Medieval Biblical commentator Abraham ibn Ezra writes that the word niddah is related to the term menadechem (מנדיכם‎), meaning those that cast you out.

[15] 2 Chronicles 29:5 includes a single exhortation of Hezekiah to the Levites, to carry forth the niddah (translated: "filthiness"), possibly idols of his father Ahaz, out of the temple in Jerusalem.

The copious laws of niddah contained in the Jewish rabbinic writings are almost entirely made-up of "fences" (Hebrew: סייגים), or safeguards, built around the Torah.

The general rule which applies is that a woman is clean from the standpoint of the Torah until she feels uterine blood discharge from its source within her body.

Some later rabbinic authorities encouraged (but did not require) avoiding the midras of the niddah, as a remembrance for diasporic Jews so as to not forget the purity laws.

According to rabbinical law, a woman becomes a niddah when she is aware that blood has come from her womb, whether it is due to menstruation, childbirth, sexually transmitted disease, or other reasons.

In the days of the Amoraim, because of possible confusion in determining when menstruation began and ended and hence whether blood was normal menstrual (niddah) or abnormal (zavah) blood, it became the accepted practice and practical halacha, that all women treat any emission as a continued abnormal flow (zavah gedolah—זבה גדולה), which requires counting seven abnormal-discharge-free days from the end of menstruation.

The woman takes a bath or shower near sunset, wraps a special cloth around her finger, and swipes the vaginal circumference.

After the hefsek taharah, some women insert a cloth (or, in modern times, a tampon), consequently known as a moch dachuk, for between 18 minutes and an hour, to ensure that there is no blood; this must be done carefully, as it could otherwise irritate the mucous membrane, causing bleeding unrelated to menstruation.

It is furthermore strongly recommended that women make an effort to refrain from looking at the toilet paper after wiping to avoid possible resultant questions.

[40] Some have suggested that by physically distancing oneself from his spouse there is an enhanced need for relationships to develop in non-physical ways, such as emotional and spiritual connections.

When blood from a menstruant (niddah) has ceased altogether, shortly before sunset she performs on herself a "cessation of uncleanness", known by its Hebrew euphemism hefseq be-ṭaharah (הפסק בטהרה‎ = lit.

[55][56] This custom, though widely practised in the 20th century among the Jews of Yemen,[57][58] Djerba,[57] parts of Morocco,[57] as also with a few families in Baghdad,[57] was later rejected and abandoned by many, as Maimonides calls it an errant practice.

However, for certain women, this period extends far past the date of ovulation, and in combination with the ban on sexual relations during the niddah state, effectively results in the woman being unable to conceive,[59] a situation sometimes called "halachic infertility".

[60] In the case of this effective infertility, rabbis try on a case-by-case basis to relax halakhic strictures in order to facilitate conception.

Though that is the attendant's foremost duty, she may also help by checking a woman's back or answer questions regarding proper ritual protocol.

[73] According to all Orthodox authorities, the first time a virgin has intercourse, she also becomes niddah as a result of her hymenal blood flow (Hebrew: דם בתולים, romanized: dam betulim, lit.

[76] Conservative Judaism authorities teach that the laws of family purity are normative and still in force, including the requirement to refrain from sexual relations during niddah, yet there is a difference of opinions over how much other strictures need to be observed, such as whether there should be complete prohibition on any touching during niddah and whether women are required to count seven "clean" days before immersing in the mikveh.

The majority of orthodox rabbis contend that the seven days of cleanness still apply to all menstruant women today, even though it is only a rabbinic injunction.

Grossman and Berkowitz ruled that women may rely on their own discretion about when menstruation has ended, and need not routinely engage in bedikah as described above.

However, in an issue of the United Synagogue Review that focused on issues of mikvah and niddah (published in conjunction with the passing of the responsa mentioned above, in Fall/Winter 2006), Rabbi Myron S. Geller, a member of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, wrote about an upswing in the observance of the laws of family purity within the Conservative Jewish community:[84] Conservative Judaism has largely ignored this practice in the past, but recently has begun to reevaluate its silence in this area and to consider the spiritual implications of mikvah immersion for human sexuality and for women.

[citation needed] Reform Judaism and other liberal denominations have largely rejected many of the rituals and prohibitions associated with menstruation, particularly the use of a mikveh.