 |
 |
 |
|
|
|---|
|
NIDDAH (“Menstruous Woman”) was the name of a treatise in the
Mishnah, in the Tosefta, and in both Talmuds. In the Mishnah it stands seventh
in the order Tohorot, but in the editions of the Talmud first, and is divided
into ten chapters, containing seventy-nine paragraphs in all.
The
Pentateuchal code (Lev. xv. 19 et.seq.) ordains that a menstruous woman
shall be unclean for seven days from the beginning of the period, whetller it
lasts only one day or all seven. In either case she is unclean for seven days
only, but during this time her defilement is communicated to every object with
which she comes in contact. These laws, however, have been extended in many
ways and made more onerous, both by rabbinical traditions and interpretations
and by customs which have been adopted by Jewish women them selves.
According to these more rigid requirements, the woman
must reckon seven days after the termination of the period. If, then,
this lasts seven days, she cannot become pure until the fifteenth day.
Purification, furthermore, can be gained only by a ritual bath (“ mikhweh
”); and until the woman has taken this she remains unclean according to
the interpretation of R. Akiba , which was accepted by the Rabbis generally. In
addition to all this, a woman who does not menstruate regularly is unclean for
a certain time before she becomes aware that the period has begun, and objects
which she touches are defiled, since there is danger that the menses may have
begun a short time before and that she may not have perceived the fact.
The
treatise Niddah is devoted chiefly to a more accurate determination of these
regulations and to the rules concerning a woman in childbirth (Lev. xii.).
Ch.
i.: Women whose uncleanness is reckoned only from the time of the first
appearance of the menses, and the period of retroaction in ritual impurity of
this beginning in the case of other women.
Ch.
ii.: The examination to determine whether the period has begun, and the
different colors of the discharge wllich are considered unclean.
Ch.
iii.: Concerning a woman in childbirth. The Pentateuchal code contains
different regulations according to whether the woman bears a male child or a
female child (Lev. xli.). In this chapter rules are given for various eases in
which the sex of the child cannot be determined, as in the birth of a
hermaphrodite or in miscarriages and premature deliveries generally; the view
of the ancients is also given regarding the time at which the sex of the embryo
ean be distinguished.
Ch.
iv.: Rules concerning the daughters of the Cutheans, the Saddueees, and the
Gentiles in regard to menstrual uncleanness; further details regarding a woman
in childbirth.
Ch.v.: Concerning a child delivered by the Caesarean section; the several
periods of life, and the regulations which govern them); the signs of puberty
in both sexes, and the time of their appearance.
Ch.
vi.: Fultller details on the signs of puberty in the female; in the discussion
of this subject a sentence of which the converse is not true suggests a number
of other statements on the most diverse topics which are not true conversely,
such as “He who can be a judge can be a witness; but many a man who is
accepted as a witness is not empowered to be a judge.”
Ch.
vii.: Regulations concerning the impurity of menstrual blood and other
impurities; matters in which the Cutheans are believed.
Ch.
viii,-x.: Of spots of blood, and the method of determining whetller spots are
caused by blood or by other coloring matter; the symptoms of the appearance of
the menses; concerning the corpse of a menstruous woman.
Source on the Niddah: The Jewish
Encyclopedia, ed. Isidore Singer, New York 1907, vol. IX, p.301.
Some samples of other rabbinical regulations:
- “If a man who dwelt in the same courtyard with an Ha-arez
(non-Jew), forgot some vessels in the courtyard, even though they were jars
with tightly fitting covers, they are deemed unclean for the jars may have been
shifted by his menstruant wife.”
- “ If the wife of an ‘am-Ha-arez entered a Harber’s
house without his permission to take out his son or daughter, or his cattle,
the house remains clean even though she has entered it without permission, but
she has to hurry so as not to touch anything.”
- “ If a piece of dough that has suffered first grade uncleanness
were made to adhere to another piece, all becomes unclean in the first
grade.”
- “ Cloth is susceptible to five forms of uncleanness.”
From The Talmud, Sedar Toboreth, II, ch. 7,
mishnah 1, etc.; I.Epstein, The Babylonian Talmud, London 1948, pp. 399,
401, 306, 122.
The Code of the Maimonides gives lengthy instructions as to what
renders a couch or seat unclean:
“The couch or saddle of one who had intercourse with a menstruant is not
like the couch or saddle of a menstruant, for the couch or saddle on which the
menstruant has pressed is one of the Father of uncleanness; but the couch or
saddle of him who has intercourse with a menstruant is but an offspring of the
uncleanness, like utensils that he has touched, which do not convey uncleanness
to persons or to other utensils, but only to foodstuffs and liquids”
Book 10.
Source: H. Danby, Code of Maimonides, Yale 1954, vol.
8.
John Wijngaards
Follow @JohnWijngaards
Join our Women Priests' Mailing List
for occasional newsletters:
An email will be immediately sent to you
requesting your confirmation.
Please, credit this document
as published by www.womenpriests.org!