Gregory Parham

BI-219X

Dr. Hinks

5 June 2018

Artifact 6: Menstruation

Topic: “How does the Jewish Orthodox religion view menstruation? What is the origin/intention of this view and the rituals associated with purification? Are these views/rituals repressive or empowering?”

                        Menstruation is the process in a woman of discharging blood and other materials from the lining of the uterus every month until menopause, except during pregnancy. The blood flows from the uterus through the small opening in the cervix and goes out through the vagina. It was a process that usually lasts 3 to 5 days. The menstrual cycle is controlled by hormones like estrogen and progesterone. The menstrual cycle phases are menstruation, follicle growth, ovulation, and then the luteal phase. The follicle growth phase is when your body starts getting ready for the release of an egg. The ovulation phase is when the most mature egg is released from the follicle and once the egg leaves the ovary, it moves through one of the fallopian tubes toward the uterus. The last phase is the luteal and that’s when the empty follicle in your ovary makes hormones that tell the lining of your uterus to get ready for a fertilized egg.

The Jewish Orthodox view on menstruation requires a seven day of sexual abstinence for women and their husbands, from the onset of blood flow. Jewish Orthodox claims woman need to anticipate the beginning of menstruation to avoid accidents, and if she has an irregular cycle, to check her cycle regularly. On the last day of spotting, they want the girl to count seven additional days and then go to the mikveh where the woman prepares by brushing her teeth, bathing, removing jewelry, and cleaning under the nails and toes. A mikveh is a Jewish ritual bath. They treat women as if she was having birth and until the procedure is over, she cannot have any sexual contact and anything that might cause sexual feelings. When entering the mikveh, it contains two pools and allows you to immerse your entire body at once. The woman can’t be touching the walls or the floor of the pool, then she recites the blessing and once she does that, the woman is no longer a Niddah.

Jewish Orthodox religion talks about the menstrual cycle through the “Niddah” or “Family Purity Laws.” Another word for “Family Purity Laws” is the tahara which refers to ritual purity, a sense of cleanliness. Throughout the time the women are going through her menstrual cycle, she should be separated from people. The main regulations of the Niddah was avoiding physical contact between family members and loved ones, sleeping in separate beds, avoid passing objects directly to each other, seeing each other undress, and engaging in a flirty conversation. According to Niddah, you are a menstruating woman once you are experiencing the full flow of her period onto the white underwear she is wearing. Once their menstrual cycle comes to an end, the women have to be clean of her discharge, then count off seven days, and after that she will be clean and able to do the things she wants to do. I feel like the views are more empowering due to the fact it is making someone stronger and more confident, in the way of claiming their rights.