We rely on the support of readers like you. Please consider supporting TheTorah. By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use. According to Leviticus , sex with a menstruating woman results in temporary impurity but seems to be allowed. According to Leviticus and , on the other hand, it is strictly prohibited. What accounts for these two different approaches? Leviticus 15 provides a set of instructions on how to handle the impurity that results from various male and female genital emissions.

Imagine keeping a lion in a small cat carrier for years. Day after day, night after night, he roars, he eats a lot. His energy is endless, and yet you keep him caged. Sometimes my physical drives were so strong, I despaired—the long, intense fight for purity in a sexually-saturated culture seemed impossible.

The character of these Provisions, according to the New Testament and Fathers of the Christian Church, was mainly pedagogical and aimed at helping the Israelites to transcend from physical purity to purification of the soul and from the worship of stereotypes to spiritual worship. Moreover, sexual contact that occurred during menstruation was considered as prostitution. From a modern medical point of view, sexual intercourse during menstruation is normal and not perversion, but is associated, although remote, with undesirable pregnancy, the development of sexually transmitted diseases STDs and possible endometriosis, which affects, inter alia, the health of the reproductive tract. These Provisions were essentially hygiene rules imposed by the social and cultural circumstances of that time and were invested with religious authority. Keywords: menstruation, Old Testament, sexual intercourse, hygiene, medicine, Mosaic Law.