Family purity laws

E79748

Family purity laws are a set of Jewish religious regulations governing marital intimacy and ritual purity, particularly around menstruation and immersion in a mikveh.


Statements (49)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Jewish religious law
halakhic concept
religious purity law
aimsTo maintain ritual purity in the family
sanctify marital relations
appliesTo Jewish couples
married Jewish women
associatedConcept laws of niddah
mikveh
tumah and taharah
categoryWithinHalakha laws of family life
laws of purity and impurity
codifiedBy Rabbi Yosef Karo
codifiedIn Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 183–200 (and related simanim)
concerns menstruation
ritual purity
developedIn Talmud
furtherElaboratedIn Shulchan Aruch
Yoreh Deah
hasHebrewName taharat hamishpacha
hasReligiousSignificance concept of holiness in family life
hasSocialImpact patterns of physical contact in marriage
historicalOrigin ancient Israelite purity system
includesPractice bedikah (internal checking)
hefsek taharah (preliminary check ending bleeding)
nighttime immersion
seven clean days
includesProhibition certain forms of physical affection during niddah
sexual intercourse during niddah
interpretedBy later halakhic authorities (poskim)
involves immersion in a mikveh
status of niddah
languageOfTerm Hebrew
legalCategory issur ve-heter (prohibitions and permissions)
observanceRequires access to a mikveh
observanceVariesBy Jewish denomination
local custom (minhag)
observedBy Orthodox Judaism
many Conservative Jews to varying degrees
regulates marital intimacy
sexual relations between husband and wife
religiousTradition Judaism
requires abstinence during niddah
counting of clean days
separation of beds during niddah in many observant communities
use of a kosher mikveh
requiresIntention mitzvah observance
sourceText Leviticus
Torah

Referenced by (1)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Rabbinic Judaism
practiceFeature

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