Maimonides’ Interpretation of Women’s Rituals in Jewish Law

The Halakah expresses all aspects of Jewish Law through written passages in the Torah and oral dictations in the Talmud. The laws outlined in this literature are then further interpreted by rabbis in the Gemara in order to present a more cohesive and comprehendible understanding to the Jewish population. Although there are many rabbinic rulings on the laws and commandments outlines in the Halakah, one interpretation is valued significantly higher than the rest. Maimonides, Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, was a descendent of Judah the Patriach. Judah the Patriach compiled the initial Mishnah, oral traditions in Judaism. As a descendent Maimonides’ interpretations were regarded as “second to Moses” when providing clarity among the numerous discussions of Hebrew traditions and provided rational explanations to the rulings of Jewish Law (Maimonides 1981, p.III). The explanations and interpretations of the Laws that Maimonides provided were extremely influential and led to improvement of everyday life for individuals, especially women. Maimonides’ reinterpretation and explanations for the women’s ritual of Niddah mitigated the conflicts with other Jewish laws and provided a significant improvement to the day to day lives of Jewish women. Maimonides was a very influential rabbinic voice. He was known to have reconciled the past teachings of the Jewish Bible with a present understanding in order to illuminate the importance of integrating the past into the present interpretation of the law (Maimonides 1981, p.IV). He produced his reinterpretation of the Jewish Law and the Oral Traditions of Israel, in collections of 14 texts entitled the Mishneh Torah, as well as a separate book, “a Guide for the Perplexed” in an attempt to provide teachings to the Jewish people scattered from the wars (Maimonides 1981, p.V). The hope was that the Mishneh Torah, alongside the Written Torah would provide all of the information necessary to live in good faith with Jewish law (Mishneh Torah, 2013). Although there was some opposition to Maimonides’ complied texts at first, his opinion was not to be questioned according to rabbinic sources such as the Yad Mal'akhi.

“One must follow Maimonides even when the latter opposed his teachers, since he surely knew their views, and if he decided against them he must have disapproved their interpretation". -"Yad Mal'akhi" rule 26, pg. 186 (Mishneh Torah, 2013).
The above quote from the Yad Mal'akhi accentuates the validity of Maimonides’ teachings and interpretations. The Mishneh Torah became the first post-Talmudic source consulted when a law or rule came into question (Mishneh Torah, 2013). The power of Maimonides’ interpretation and justification of the laws led to a drastic change in many ruling controlling the lives of Jewish women.
The ritual of Niddah, menstruation, is a very strict women’s ritual in Judaism. Similar to many other cultures in the ancient Near East, Judaism also believed that a menstruating woman is not to come into contact with anything or anyone (Biale 1995, p.147). This ideology was formed due to the fear of bleeding and as a result menstruating women were ostracized for being impure. Purity is understood as a state in which a person is permitted to approach a place of divinity such as Temple and therefore a person in an impure state is prohibited from touching anything connected with God’s residence (Biale 1995, p.148). As a result, anyone who was able to go to Temple, i.e. men, could not come into contact with a niddah because it was believed that impurity and uncleanliness were contagious (Biale 1995, p.150).

“When a woman has a discharge, her discharge being blood from her body, she shall remain in her impurity seven days; whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening … anything she sits on shall be unclean…anyone who touches any object on which she has sat…will be unclean.”
- Leviticus 15:19-33 (Biale 1995, p.150)
This excerpt from Leviticus 15 presents a long and detailed explanation of the precautions and obligatory steps in dealing with a niddah under Jewish Law. It prevents women from coming into contact with anyone during the seven days of menstruation and anything she touches must be thoroughly cleaned before it is to be used again. Postbiblical Halakah imposes a further ruling that a niddah must remain unclean 7 days after menstruation in order to ensure the impurity has passed (Biale 1995, p.153). In order to be declared as clean the niddah must take a ritual bath called a mikveh in a public bath house before she may come into contact with anyone (Biale 1995, p.172). The rules of this ritual limit Jewish women from participating in daily family and public activities. If the woman’s menstrual cycle is abnormal and/or unpredictable a woman may be unable to come into contact with anyone for at least 14 days. Such segregation prevents her from completing her other law mandated duties such as taking care of her family, husband and home.
Maimonides’ observed of the Sabian customs of niddah in order to better understand the origins of the laws. The Sabians were group of people believed to have lived in biblical times. Their customs around niddah were so extreme that the niddah were not to leave their homes because it was believed that “the places on which she treads” must be burnt, and that even the wind could carry her impurity onto others (Biale 1995, p.166). Although these customs were severe, they emphasize the strict limitations niddah women face under Jewish Law. Maimonides proceeded to present a theoretical discussion of the origins of the impurity laws in the “Guide to the Perplexed” in order to clarify the rationale behind the original purity laws and minimize the exclusion of niddahs in society (Biale 1995, p.165). He stated:

“…many purposes are achieved by means of these laws. One of them is to keep men away from disgusting things. The second is to safeguard the Sanctuary… restrictions and to order things in such a manner that questions of uncleanness and cleanness should not prevent a man from engaging in any of his occupations…concerns only the Holy Places and holy things nothing else...” - Maimonides, Guide to the Perplexed, III: 47 (Biale 1995, p. 166) Maimonides stressed the idea that the laws of niddah were implemented to keep any impurities away from the Temple (Biale 1995, p 166), not to interfere with a “man’s occupation”, or in this case, a woman’s occupations of taking care of her family. According to Maimonides the purpose of the niddah laws in the Bible were implemented to reduce the number of activities a niddah is barred to do, and to permit her to continue her domestic duties. His opinions allowed for further rabbinic discussion to ensue which led to the adjustment to the laws.
After the destruction of the Temple, the laws of niddah were no longer based on purity/impurity, but rather on sexual prohibition (Biale 1995, p.165). As a result, Maimonides reinterpreted the rule to state that “it is only forbidden to have intercourse with [a niddah] in the days in which she is unclean” (Biale 1995, p.167). The exclusion of niddahs within the community lessened. Niddahs were restricted more heavily regarding their relationships with their husbands then their contact with the extended community based on Maimonides reinterpretation of the biblical niddah laws. Maimonides continued to state that “there is no sin if one remains unclean as long as one wishes and eats as one wishes…”(Biale 1995, p.166). This gives women more freedom in the actions they can complete while a niddah.
Maimonides reinterpretation of the niddah laws were instrumental to providing the further choice within the laws of niddah and reduced the extreme exclusion from the community allowing them to continue with their daily lives. His teachings if the Jewish Laws merged the past teachings into his modern society in order to make the laws more applicable to modern society. The reinterpretations of these laws allowed for the rationale behind each law to be examined and better understood which in turn led much rabbinic discussion but inevitably led to adjustments that bettered the lives of the Jewish population. The woman’s ritual of niddah was one aspect of Jewish life that Maimonides altered dramatically. Before the reintroduction of the Laws of Purity, women were ostracized from the community during menstruation. They were considered to be contaminated by an impurity and therefore could not leave their homes and could not come into contact with anyone or anything. Maimonides focused his attention to the origins of the purity laws and proclaimed that it was only sinful for sexual interactions to occur during niddah. Thus, allowing women to complete their daily activities without exclusion from public life. Without the reinterpretation of the Law women would not be able to function in our modern day society, and they would be further ostracized by other cultures as well. Therefore it can be said that Maimonides is responsible for minimizing the limitations of niddah and enabling a better life.
Citations
Biale, Rachel. (1995). Abortion. In Women and Jewish Law: The Essential Texts, Their History and Their Relevance for Today (pp.147-172). New York: Schocken Books Inc.

Maimonides, M. (1981). The book of knowledge: from the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides
(H.M. Russell & R. Weinberg, Trans.). Edinburgh, Ireland: Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. (pp. iii-vii). Retrieved February 27, 2013, from

Mishneh Torah. (2013, February 25). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved February
27, 2013, from