Single women's status

I'm amazed by your answer on single women immersing. Does that mean that a Jewish woman is perpetually unclean from menarche until marriage? What about a woman who never marries?

Dear questioner,

Thank you for your question.

A Jewish woman has the halachic status of niddah from menarche until immersion prior to marriage. However, as the only consequence at present of being niddah is that physical contact with men is forbidden, and halacha does not approve of physical contact with men outside of the context of marriage, this does not present halachic problems.

Unclean is an unfortunate translation of tamei. Tumah is a ritual status, not a function of bodily cleanliness. At the time that there was a Temple in Jerusalem, unmarried women did use the mikveh to allow them to participate in certain rituals. Today, in the absence of the Temple, they do not.

This internet service does not preclude, override or replace the psak of any rabbinical authority. It is the responsibility of the questioner to inform us of any previous consultation or ruling. As even slight variation in circumstances may have Halachic consequences, views expressed concerning one case may not be applied to other, seemingly similar cases.

If you have further questions or comments about this email, please click here to Ask the Yoetzet.

The Nishmat Women's Health and Halacha is a public service of Nishmat, The Jeanie Schottenstein Center for Advanced Torah Study for Women. This project and others like it are made possible by contributions from people like you. If you have benefitted from the service, and wish to enable us to help others, click here to donate.