A niddah (alternative forms: nidda, nida, or nidah; nidá), in traditional Judaism, is a woman who has experienced a uterine discharge of blood (most commonly during menstruation), or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirement of immersion in a mikveh (ritual bath).
In the Book of Leviticus, the Torah prohibits sexual intercourse with a niddah. The prohibition has been maintained in traditional Jewish law and by the Samaritans. It has largely been rejected by adherents of Reform Judaism and other liberal branches.
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,This prohibition may be Biblical. and even passing objects to spouse; and requiring a detailed ritual purification process.
Since the late 19th century, with the influence of German Modern Orthodoxy, the laws concerning niddah are also referred to as . This is a euphemism coined to de-emphasize the supposed impurity of women, a concept criticized by the Reform movement, and to exhort the masses by warning that niddah can have consequences for the purity of offspring.
Etymology and usage The word niddah means moved, expelled or and eliminated, and refers to the avoidance of menstruating women due to ritual impurity. Medieval Biblical commentator Abraham ibn Ezra writes that the word niddah is related to the term .Jacobs, Joseph and Judah David Eisenstein (1906). "Red Heifer", Jewish Encyclopedia.
The word niddah comes from the root ndd, "to make distant" (Aramaic Bible translations use the root rhq, "to be distant"), reflecting the physical banishment of menstruating women to separate quarters. Later in the biblical corpus, this meaning was extended to include concepts of sin and impurity, which may be related to ancient attitudes towards menstruation.
Hebrew Bible The word niddah occurs 25 times in the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible. The majority of these uses refer to forms of uncleanliness in Leviticus. For example, in Leviticus, if a man takes his brother's wife, then that is "uncleanness", niddah. The five uses in Numbers all concern the red heifer ceremony () and use the phrase mei niddah, "waters of separation".Botterweck, et al. (1999), p. 163 (vol. 4) includes the exhortation of Hezekiah to the Levites to carry the niddah, or "filth", possibly idols of his father Ahaz, out of the temple in Jerusalem. Usage in Ezekiel follows that of Leviticus. Finally, the Book of Zechariah concludes with an eschatological reference to washing Jerusalem:Klein, et al. (2008), p. 373. "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin (ḥaṭ'at) and for uncleanness (niddah)" ().
Rabbinic injunctions The copious laws of niddah contained in the Jewish rabbinic writings are almost entirely made-up of "fences" (), 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. However, the rabbis have declared a woman to be unclean although she has not felt any discharge of blood, but has merely seen either a red or black blood stain on her body,Knohl (2014), p. 159 or on her white garment or sheet, and which blood stain is larger in diameter than a fava bean (about 20 mm), in which case she must separate herself from her husband until she can complete seven clean days and can be purified in a ritual bath (mikveh).Teherani (2019), p. 6 (chapter 2) A blood stain that is a dark brown color leaning towards the color of coffee and the color of chestnuts defiles a woman and renders her niddah, on the condition that she feels its discharge. However, if she saw the same color while checking herself with an inspection cloth, but had not felt any discharge of blood, she is clean. Conversely, a vaginal discharge that is white in color, or either light yellow, green or blueish in color, does not render the woman niddah. There are, yet, many other conditions that need to be met, by rabbinic ordinances, in order to render uncleanness to a blood stain.Teherani (2019), p. 24 (chapter 3) The daughters of Israel have behaved stringently with themselves, insofar that even if they should see a drop of blood as a mustard grain, they would wait over it seven days of cleannessBabylonian Talmud (Berakhot 31a)Maimonides (1974), Hil. Issurei Bi'ah 11:3–4
Although the Written Law () explicitly enjoins women to count seven days of cleanness when they have had irregular blood sightings occurring from the eighth day of the start of her regular period and ending with the conclusion of the eighteenth dayMaimonides, Mishne Torah (Hil. Issurei Bi'ah 6:1–5)), the Sages of Israel required all women who experienced even their regular and natural menses to count seven days of cleanness before they can be purified.Babylonian Talmud (Berakhot 31a, Rashi s.v. )
Application of the Torah The Leviticus description of niddah is essentially composed of two parts: the ritual purity (tumah and taharah) aspect and the prohibition of sexual intercourse aspect.Tshuvath HaRambam (as quoted in Igrot Kodesh vol. 3 p. 374)
Ritual purity aspect
The Biblical regulations of Leviticus specify that a menstruating woman must "separate" for seven days (). Any object she sits on or lies upon during this period becomes a "carrier of tumah" (midras uncleanness). One who comes into contact with her midras, or her, during this period becomes ritually impure () In addition, a man who has sexual relations with her is rendered ritually impure for seven days—as opposed to one day of impurity for coming into contact with her or her midras ().
During a woman's menstrual cycle, she is still permitted to cook and bake for her husband, and to separate the dough-portion (Challah), but is restricted from arranging her husband's bed linen in his presence, from mingling his cup of wine with water, and from washing her husband's face, feet and hands, since these actions are thought to arouse affection. (responsum no. 90) A niddah is also prohibited from passing objects directly unto her husband, from hand to hand, a rabbinic safeguard made to avoid physical contact, as it is prohibited unto the man to touch his wife during these days.
While the purity laws still exist in theory, in modern times there is generally no practical consequence to becoming impure (as, e.g., the Temple in Jerusalem cannot be visited), so the laws have no practical expression.
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.Shelah, vol. 1 p. 452, Pitchei Harakanti (Menahem Recanati) Chap. 586, Teshuvat HaRif Chap. 297 This encouragement was only for the biblically prescribed seven-day period, not for the latter days that were added as part of certain rabbinical stringencies. The Lubavitcher rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson discouraged abstaining from the midras of a niddah in modern times.With the exception for unique individuals - Igrot Kodesh vol. 3 p. 374
Sexual relations Leviticus further prohibits sexual intercourse with a woman who is in her niddah state. "And to a woman in her (state of) niddah impurity you should not come close (with intent to) reveal her nudity" ().
The Torah concludes by imposing the punishment of kareth on both individuals (man and woman) if the prohibition is violated () This issur (prohibition) component of physical relations with the niddah is considered in full effect and mandatory for all children of Israel.
Practical laws Terms and definitions Niddah, a woman who had become impure as a result of menstruation. Zavah, a woman who had become impure by a bloody uterine emission, deemed abnormal, in the sense that the emission had occurred during the timeframe of the 8th - 18th day, counting from the start of her last menstruation Mikveh, a ritual bath for immersion after the niddah period has ended. Vestot, days during which the woman is likely to see her menstrual flow Onah Benonit, the 30th day after the beginning of previous menstruation Veset HaChodesh, the same day of the Jewish month on which began the previous menstruation Veset HaFlagah, the days (or half-days, per Chabad minhag) between menstruation Bedikah, cloth with which to check whether menstrual blood has finished Ben niddah (male) or bat niddah (female), a person conceived when their mother was niddah
Start of menstruation 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.Cohen, A. (1984) If menstruation began before she sees evidence of it, the rabbinic regulations regard her as not being niddah until she notices. Until this point, the regulations do not come into force.
It is not necessary for the woman to witness the flow of blood itself; it is sufficient for her to notice a stain that has indications of having originated in her womb; bloodstains alone are inadequate without such evidence, for example, if she finds a stain just after cutting her finger, she does not become a niddah, as the blood is not obviously uterine. If she notices a bloodstain of uncertain origin, for example on her underclothing, there are a series of complicated criteria used by rabbinical law to determine whether she is niddah or not; the woman herself is not expected to know these criteria, and must seek the assistance of a rabbi.
Duration of niddah status
According to the Torah, the niddah period is 7 days; however, in Ashkenazi communities, the Rabbis added a stringency increasing the minimum duration period to 12 days. (See section "Seven days of cleanness" for differences in custom).
The Biblical definition of niddah is any blood emission occurring within seven days from the beginning of the menstrual period. After this seven-day period, the woman may immerse in the mikveh immediately (if she has stopped menstruating). Any blood found after these seven days is considered abnormal (zavah) blood and is subject to more stringent requirements, depending on the duration of said abnormal blood flow.