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Women and water menstruation in jewish life and law hbi series on jewish women paperback illustrated november 1 1999 by rahel wasserfall editor 47 out of 5 stars 2 ratings. Women and water explores how these purity rituals have affected jewish women across time and place and shows how their own interpretation of niddah often conflicted with rabbinic views these essays also speak to contemporary feminist issues such as shaping womens identity power relations between women and men and the role of women in the . The term niddah means separation during her menstrual flow and for several days thereafter a jewish woman is considered niddah separate from her husband and unable to practice the sacred rituals of judaism purification in a miqveh a ritual bath following her period restores full status as a wife and member of the jewish community in the contemporary world debates about niddah focus . The mishnah assumes that women must go to the mikvah before they resume sexual relations with their husbands 12 this is based on a number of assumptions that are not in the torah washing for purification the rabbis assume that women must wash in water to purify themselves after niddah lev 1516 m. In codification of basic jewish oral law edited and arranged by r judah ha nasi c 200 ce mishnah menstruation the menstruant woman ritual status of the menstruant woman niddah 11 mishnah eduyyot 11 shammai claims that a woman becomes ritually impure only when she sees blood hillel contrary to the normally lenient legal position of