This term, first used by medieval commentators (see Zimmerman, p. 27, note 6), is, itself, an inaccuracy: Rabbi Zera merely describes a stringent practice which Babylonian Jewish women had taken upon themselves. Thus, the correct[…]
Leviticus 15 is concerned with normal and abnormal, male and female genital discharges. As scholars have noted, the chapter is structured chiastically: (A) Verses 2-15 describe males with abnormal (gonorrhea) discharges (zav), (B) verses 16-18[…]
Zimmerman is correct in saying that a seven-day wait after any bleeding has become standard practice, almost never dispensed with. However, she gives the incorrect impression that the seven-day wait after a menstrual period of[…]
Perhaps it can be argued that the ḥumra of the daughters of Israel is termed a halakhah pesukah not because it is “a ruling that all agree to,” as explained by Zimmerman (this is an[…]
The notion that the seven blood-free days are an undue stringency imposed by the Rabbis is a commonplace of contemporary halakhic discussion among liberal Orthodox and non-Orthodox feminist Jews who discuss the laws of nidah,[…]
The family purity handbook shares the qualities of the other halakhic handbooks…, but it has a history of its own. … In addition to explaining complicated rules in plain language, these books were designed from[…]
It is impossible to credit the claim that it doesn’t matter at all to the content of the halakhic system that those admitted into the tent of Torah, those with a seat at the table,[…]
Should the menstrual prohibition be kept literally by Christians? Medieval Christian authors often argued that only Old Testament prohibitions related to morality are binding for Christians, for example, the prohibitions of killing or stealing, but[…]
No new bride should ever have to feel isolated and scared because of the laws of Taharat HaMishpacha. Our community needs to collectively strategize on ways to offer support to couples. … Our community needs[…]
R. Moshe Maimon called my attention to the Meam Loez’s discussion of the laws of niddah, addressed to both men and women, and there is no mention there of bringing anything to the rabbi. This[…]