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Niddah
Separation due to menstrual impurity. The term, in talmudic and rabbinic literature, has its origin in the Book of Leviticus. Its meaning of "separation" is reflected in the Aramaic Bible translations of the term. Throughout the Bible, this meaning remains primary, although metaphoric development connects the term to impurity in general and to sin. In Ezekiel the combination ishah niddah, a menstruous woman, is found. By the tannaitic period niddah referred to a woman who has not been cleansed of the ritual impurity of menstruation and is therefore obliged to remain separate from contact with her husband as well as from the Temple and objects or foodstuffs which must be kept in a state of ritual Purity.

Leviticus 15 deals with normal and abnormal genital discharges, the resulting level of ritual impurity, and purification requirements, including expiation offerings for the abnormal situations. The female with the abnormal discharge (zavah) has prolonged periods or inter-menstrual uterine bleeding. According to the Septuagint, the male with the abnormal discharge (zav) suffers from gonorrhea. From the chiastic structure of this chapter, the resultant levels of impurity transferred by contact, as well as from linguistic studies of the terminology, it appears that the abnormal discharges, male and female, parallel each other, while the normal male seminal discharge parallels normal female menstruation. Menstruation was considered female seed in the Book of Leviticus, a fairly common notion in ancient medical theories. Male seed impurity, transferred by contact, including coitus, can be removed by bathing and waiting until sunset. Female seed impurity, also transferred by contact, including with the male through sexual relations during menstruation, requires a wait of seven days for the woman and the man who has sexual connection with her, but only bathing and waiting until sundown for someone who touches her bedding or chair. The zav and zavah must wait until their discharge ceases and an additional seven clean days before bringing their sacrifices. In addition, the zav must bathe in "living waters" (e.g., a spring).

Although Leviticus 15 warns of contaminating the Sanctuary, it is not considered sinful to be in a state of impurity. Even sexual relations with the menstruant are merely described in terms of impurity, apparently also the view of the Sadducees. However, Leviticus 18:19 forbids sexual connection with a menstruant and threatens excision (Karet) from the people of Israel as the punishment.

The tannaitic material on niddah, chiefly Mishnah, Tosefta, and Sifra, contain certain extra-biblical assumptions. The rabbis were agreed on the issue of bathing and assumed it held for women as well. All but the zav require immersion in a natural gathering of water (Mikveh) of a specified minimum volume. Clarification of situations of doubt, for example, color of impure blood, stains, questionable birth or menstrual impurity, retroactive impurity, irregular bleeding due to pregnancy, nursing, menopause, famine, etc., were among the many aspects clarified during this period. Three additional consecutive days of uterine bleeding were considered sufficient for a woman to become a zavah. The minimum number of days between the end of one period and the beginning of the next (11 days) was brought as a "law of Moses from Sinai" (see Halakhah Le-Mosheh Mi-Sinai), thereby establishing the system by which normal or abnormal bleeding was reckoned. Apparently, internal examinations to check for menstruation were established at this time and concern about distinctions between pure and impure blood became very significant. The destruction of the Temple with the concomitant loss of the normal expiation rites led the rabbis to more restrictive legislation in order that biblical prohibitions not be transgressed.

R. Judah Ha-Nasi, at the end of the tannaitic period, decreed (Nid. 66a), presumably because of situations of doubt regarding pure or impure blood or confusion on the issue of counting, that if a woman sees blood for three consecutive days she keep seven clean days because of them. A law in the name of R. Huna (TJ, Ber. 5:1), about which there was no dispute, states that even if a woman sees a drop of blood the size of a mustard seed she keep seven clean days because of it. This law, in a slightly different form, is found several times in the Babylonian Talmud in the name of R. Ze'Eira. The additional phrase in the latter version, "The daughters of Israel became more strict with themselves so that even if she saw ...," is remarkable in that it seems to be the only case where rabbinic literature attributed such a far-reaching legal decision to women. These decrees eliminated the biblical category of niddah and placed all women in the more restrictive category of zavah with its longer purification period of seven clean days after the cessation of menses. Within a generation or two this custom became binding on Israel as a whole. It forms the basis of the laws of niddah in the Shulḥan Arukh and determines Orthodox practice today. The Samaritans and the Karaites retain the biblical definition of niddah (seven days), but bathing may be done in bathtubs. Although the ritual purification of the male after genital discharge was kept strictly during the talmudic period, the restrictions on his participation in public worship were loosened over the years so that now those laws are kept only by a tiny minority. The laws of niddah, which have come to be known as Family Purity laws, were kept quite strictly because of the punishment of karet. Observance of these laws has become a distinguishing mark between Orthodoxy and others. In the 19th century, Reform Judaism, relegating them to the category of hygiene, disregarded the laws of niddah as outdated and not reflective of private bathing facilities common in many homes. Conservative Judaism has suggested reducing the minimum number of days of ritual impurity from 12 to 11. However, discussion of this commandment maintains a low profile within the movement.