“Rabbi Zera merely describes a stringent practice which Babylonian Jewish women had taken upon themselves”
This term, first used by medieval commentators (see Zimmerman, p. 27, note 6), is,...
Tag Archives: Menstruation
“In addition to the biblical distinction between normal and abnormal discharges, the rabbis developed two more categories…”
Leviticus 15 is concerned with normal and abnormal, male and female genital discharges. As...
“The practice of waiting seven blood-free days following the end of a regular menstrual period is variously described in the Talmud as heḥemiru al atzman, minhaga, and halakhah pesukah, indicating that a variety of attitudes existed as to the severity of the requirement”
Zimmerman is correct in saying that a seven-day wait after any bleeding has become...
“Should the menstrual prohibition be kept literally by Christians?”
Should the menstrual prohibition be kept literally by Christians? Medieval Christian authors often argued...
“The attempt to locate menstruation in the mythical beginnings of humankind is…a peculiarly Babylonian development”
In contemporary English slang, menstruation is sometimes referred to as “The Curse.” Interestingly, the...