Any woman new to a walk in Torah gets a little overwhelmed when she learns about Niddah. I mean, we all know about that regular monthly visitor that we all abhor already, but now we have extra rules about how to hospitality for when Aunt Flow visits! So let's break down what scripture says on the matter, why, and how to functionally apply these segment of Adonai's Law into our lives.
Starting, of course, with scripture. Let's look first at Leviticus 12:1-5. While this isn't Niddah proper it still falls under much of the same classification in how we handle it, but for different time periods. Adonai said to Moshe, 2 “Tell the people of Isra’el: ‘If a woman conceives and gives birth to a boy, she will be unclean for seven days with the same uncleanness as in niddah, when she is having her menstrual period. 3 On the eighth day, the baby’s foreskin is to be circumcised. 4 She is to wait an additional thirty-three days to be purified from her blood; she is not to touch any holy thing or come into the sanctuary until the time of her purification is over. 5 But if she gives birth to a girl, she will be unclean for two weeks, as in her niddah; and she is to wait another sixty-six days to be purified from her blood.
Now, we can see here that this case is about child birth putting a woman into a state of Niddah, but not only. We can see that a boy has forty-one days before she is clean properly, and welcome back at church, and a girl is eighty days, women heal faster from having sons than daughters, but are all those days actually Niddah? No. We can see in the case of the girl that the woman is in Niddah for only two weeks, and a boy puts her in Niddah for only a week, but not quite clean for the remaining sixty-six days! Now, there could be a lot more to that and how to bridge that gap than I currently know; but that stands then to reason that during the fill time, between a boy's eighth and forty first day and a girls fifteenth and eightieth day where the woman is not in Niddah but not yet purified that she is not under all the same regulations of Niddah that we will go into. The two regulations that I can see placed on her for that time is to still not attend the synagogue or touch anything Holy until she is pure, and that as she is still unclean she is not to have sexual contact with her husband during this time.
So what are these regulations anyways? We find that answer starting in Leviticus 15:19-24, “‘If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she will be in her state of niddah for seven days. Whoever touches her will be unclean until evening. 20 Everything she lies on or sits on in her state of niddah will be unclean. 21 Whoever touches her bed is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. 22 Whoever touches anything she sits on is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. 23 Whether he is on the bed or on something she sits on, when he touches it, he will be unclean until evening. 24 If a man goes to bed with her, and her menstrual flow touches him, he will be unclean seven days; and every bed he lies on will be unclean. So for the start we can see that her discharge, her regular cycle, starts her off the first day of the bleed into a time called Niddah for the duration of seven days every month. She is in a state of uncleanliness, which is not a sin in and of itself but can easily become one if we disobey the laws around the state. As is typical of being unclean the things that are sat upon and laying on are unclean as well. In this case, even with our more hygienic methods of managing our periods we still stand the chance of leakage. We start off seeing that whomever touches her, her bed or her chair is unclean as well and must wash and be unclean for the day. Again, this in itself is not the sin; but not washing would then be the sin. We can see that there is increased uncleanliness should the husband accidentally come in contact with her blood, that he is then unclean for seven days as well.
Continuing to verses 25-33, 25 “‘If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days not during her period, or if her discharge lasts beyond the normal end of her period, then throughout the time she is having an unclean discharge she will be as when she is in niddah — she is unclean. 26 Every bed she lies on at any time while she is having her discharge will be for her like the bed she uses during her time of niddah; and everything she sits on will be unclean with uncleanness like that of her time of niddah. 27 Whoever touches those things will be unclean; he is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening.
28 “‘If she has become free of her discharge, she is to count seven days; after that, she will be clean. (LY: vii) 29 On the eighth day, she is to take for herself two doves or two young pigeons and bring them to the cohen at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 30 The cohen is to offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering; thus the cohen will make atonement for her before Adonaion account of her unclean discharge.
(Maftir) 31 “‘In this way you will separate the people of Isra’el from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in a state of uncleanness for defiling my tabernacle which is there with them.
32 “‘Such is the law for the person who has a discharge; for the man who has a seminal emission that makes him unclean; 33 for the woman in niddah during her menstrual period; for the person, man or woman, with a discharge; and for the man who has sexual relations with a woman who is unclean
In this case we have now shifted from a regular flow to an extended one, or a case of something out of wack in the woman's body. In these cases her Niddah extends beyond her regular seven days for the duration of her bleed, plus seven more days to be clean of it once her bleeding stops.
So what is going on here in a little more depth? Are there things we can do to make this more hygienic on our husbands? To closer follow the Law? Some Rabbinical teachings would have us have a special bed just for our state of Niddah, to leave our husbands bed all together! The road we have taken instead is out of hygiene and respect for my husband is that we have an extra set of sheets for this time, and I clean then extra times during the week. Another great idea is to use a sleeping bag liner, making a separation from you and your husband and the sheets you're touching to keep him clean. As we both shower daily anyways cleanliness there isn't and issue and it's then a part of following the ordinance to wash. Mikvah after all was to be cleaned at the end of Niddah to purify you for your husband. I also stick to using chairs which are hard, or have a removable pillow which can be washed; so no couch or lazy-boys, but my wooden rocking chair with a pillow or two for extra comfort are great, as it can all be washed down.
But there is one more aspect which is the most vital to all of this. We see what happens when a man touches his wife, he is unclean, and when a man accidentally comes in contact with her blood, he is unclean for seven days. Because of these we see what then gets clarified and hard lined in Leviticus 20:18, that a man is not to have sexual contact with his wife when she is in Niddah. In fact, this is such a big deal to God, that we keep the distance because of the blood, that if a man and wife do have intercourse during her state of Niddah the verse says this, If a man goes to bed with a woman in her menstrual period and has sexual relations with her, he has exposed the source of her blood, and she has exposed the source of her blood; both of them are to be cut off from their people. That's a pretty big deal! This is now where the sin really does come in, along with not washing properly while being unclean or going to church while unclean.
And we haven't talked in depth on church when in Niddah yet, I'm sure you've raised the odd eyebrow when I have touched on it. We can see in the first passage that it is forbidden during her healing time, her uncleanliness after childbirth, but it doesn't outright say that in the other passages. However, we do have scripture telling us to keep God's Temple and the synagogue clean. To not have the unclean where it is kept Holy. This is what is referred to in the first passage from Leviticus 12 when it mentions that she is not to go to the synagogue. Any person in a state of uncleanliness is not to be at the church, a place to be kept Holy, and thus a woman in Niddah is not to attend herself. A great way to still be fed is to do your own personal study at this time, or to watch a service on TV or the internet. Likewise, if the man has become unclean because of this time he is not to attend service either.
I want to draw your attention to one more aspect of this topic. 1 Corinthains 3:16-17 says, Don’t you know that you people are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 So if anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you yourselves are that temple. Our bodies are temples of the Ruach Hakodesh, a designation that was lacking when the Torah was written. As the Law of Elohim does not change, as God does not change, what was state before must remain standing. But hoe much more vital is it that we follow those laws of cleanliness to avoid defiling His temple? How much more important is it now to ensure we follow his Laws for Niddah now that the Spirit is within us?
I hope this has been a blessing to you and helps you to understand Niddah and the laws we are given about it!
