{"id":98503,"date":"2022-11-20T01:44:43","date_gmt":"2022-11-19T23:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/?p=98503"},"modified":"2022-11-20T01:44:43","modified_gmt":"2022-11-19T23:44:43","slug":"family-purity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/family-purity\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Purity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cYour umbilicus is like a moon-shaped basin in which no mixed wine is lacking. Your stomach is like a heap of wheat, hedged about with roses\u201d <\/em><\/strong>(Shir Hashirim<\/em> 7:3)<\/p>\n

The Midrash states (Shir Hashirim Rabbah<\/em> 7:3) that the roses referred to in this pasuk are divrei Torah<\/em>, fragile as roses\u2026 The natural order is that a man marries a woman at great expense. He wants to have relations with her, when she tells him, \u201cI have seen the redness of the rose (the blood of niddah<\/em>).\u201d He immediately distances himself from her. What caused him to keep away from her? Is an iron wall erected between them? Is a metal bar separating them? Was he bitten by a snake or scorpion? It is the words of Torah, fragile as the rose, as the pasuk says (Vayikra<\/em> 18:19), \u201cYou shall not approach a woman in her time of unclean separation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Gemara relates (Sanhedrin<\/em> 37a): A Sadducee once asked Rav Kahana, \u201cYou maintain that a woman who is a niddah<\/em> may be secluded with her husband. Can cotton catch fire and not be singed?\u201d Rav Kahana responded, \u201cThe Torah testified that we are a nation fenced in by roses. Even delicate roses are sufficient to keep us from making breaches in the Torah\u2019s commands.\u201d<\/p>\n

David asked Hashem, \u201cAm I not devout? All of the kings of the east and west sit on their royal thrones, while I am engaged in dirtying my hands with the blood of placentas and fetal membranes, all in order to help a woman become pure to her husband. Moreover, whenever I decide a ruling, I confer with Mefiboshet, my teacher. I ask, \u2018Did I rule correctly?\u2019 \u2018Did I judge properly?\u2019 \u2018Did I grant merit accordingly?\u2019 \u2018Did I pronounce purity appropriately?\u2019 \u2018Did I pronounce defilement fittingly?\u2019 and I was never ashamed\u201d (Berachot<\/em> 4a).<\/p>\n

The Gemara asks (Niddah <\/em>31b) in the name of Rabbi Meir, \u201cWhy does the Torah command a niddah<\/em> to wait seven days until she can become pure? In order that her husband should not become accustomed to her and eventually be disgusted with her. She maintains seven days of preparation for purity, so that she may be as cherished by her husband as when she stood under the chuppah.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ramban states (Iggeret Hakodesh<\/em>, pg. 323) that one should not consider marital relations as ugly or unseemly. Chalilah<\/em> for one to think this way. Marital relations are called \u05d9\u05d3\u05d9\u05e2\u05d4, the same word used for lofty forms of knowledge. If this matter did not contain tremendous levels of sanctity, it would never be called by this name.<\/p>\n

The Gemara relates (Shabbat <\/em>13a) the following tale: A Talmudic scholar who studied much Torah and served talmidei chachamim<\/em> died at a very young age. His wife took his tefillin and visited the Batei Kenesiot and Batei Midrashot with the following grievance on her lips, \u201cThe Torah states that it is our life and the length of our days. My husband learned so much Torah and served talmidei chachamim<\/em>. How could he have died so young?\u201d No one had an answer for her.<\/p>\n

One time, Eliyahu Hanavi visited her home. She related the incident of her husband\u2019s passing. He replied, \u201cMy daughter, how did you and your husband observe your niddah<\/em> period? Did he come near you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cChas v\u2019shalom<\/em>,\u201d was her immediate reply. \u201cHe did not even touch me with his little finger.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what about your seven days of cleanliness before purification?\u201d he pressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring those days, we ate and drank together. We even slept in one bed, but nothing more.\u201d<\/p>\n

To which Eliyahu finally offered her an explanation for her husband\u2019s untimely death. He said, \u201cBlessed is He Who killed your husband and did not allow his Torah study to bribe Him. The Torah commands a man to maintain complete distance from his wife in her niddah<\/em> state, until she immerses in a mikveh<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cYour umbilicus is like a moon-shaped basin in which no mixed wine is lacking. Your stomach is like a heap of wheat, hedged about with roses\u201d (Shir Hashirim 7:3) The Midrash states (Shir Hashirim Rabbah 7:3) that the roses referred to in this pasuk are divrei Torah, fragile as roses\u2026 The natural order is that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":58922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1073],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-purity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}