Parshat Metzora, meaning “leper” or “one who has tzara’at,” takes us through Leviticus chapters 14 and 15, first giving us the detailed procedures for handling tzara’at of a house and the process of its ritual purification. Chapter 15 then goes into instructions regarding emissions, sexual relations, and menstruation. 

On the topic of menstruation, the Torah teaches: 

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 tamei (impure) until the evening. ¹

This pasuk is part of the basis for the laws of niddah (the menstrual cycle), a practice that enables a married couple to maximize fertility and to maintain romantic intimacy. By refraining from sexual intercourse in a process that takes roughly 12 days for a traditional couple (roughly 5 days of bleeding followed by a 7-day “clean” period), the person is put in touch with the natural and spiritual phenomenon that is the cycle of life in their body. 

While these laws have been thought of by some as stigmatizing women as being unclean and impure, we learn in this parshah that biblical ritual impurity is a regular occurrence that provides opportunities for men and women alike. When we recognize this, we can view how the practice of family purity laws can be about facilitating fertility and helping couples rekindle their relationship.

Dr. Tirzah Meacham wrote for the Jewish Women’s Archive: 

Advocates of menstrual law observance emphasize potential positive aspects such as the sense of honeymoon when sexual relations are allowed, the opportunity to develop non-sexual aspects of the relationship and modes of communication, and time for oneself without worry about sexuality. ²

 

In a 2012 essay for the American Jewish World Service, Sigal Samuel argued that Leviticus actually provides a model for how we should be talking about periods—openly and as a matter of high importance. She wrote: 

[A]s far as the Torah is concerned, this bodily process is neither private nor unmentionable. Instead, it is quite public: people often know when a woman has her period, and if she experiences any irregular bleeding, she must ³ bring two birds to the tabernacle for the priest to sacrifice on her behalf. ⁴ Far from being hidden or ignored, the rites of menstruation are dealt with by the priest: the person in the highest position of all.

These discussions bring to mind the fact that menstruation is not just a Jewish spiritual issue, but an issue of honoring everyone’s humanity. It need not be stigmatized. 

In addition to the stigmatization problem, feminine-hygiene products often are not affordable or accessible, especially in the Global South. 

When girls can’t get tampons and pads, they often must resort to using leaves, dirt, and newspapers. We should all see this as a degradation of the image of God that these people bear. This can also mean that girls who are fortunate to have access to school in the Global South often miss many days of school because of embarrassment and staining. Missing school can have a devastating social and educational impact on their lives. 

In America, too, access to menstrual hygiene products in migration detention centers, jails and prisons, and schools remains an unresolved issue. At one of Valley Beit Midrash’s social action branches, Arizona Jews for Justice, we do our best to make sure distribution of period products is an integral part of our outreach to the Valley’s unsheltered community and to immigrants and asylees coming out of detention, as honoring these individuals’ humanity means we are obligated to help the whole person. 

There is also the burden that having adequate supplies puts on working-class families. A report by UT Health Austin found that tampons cost a person about $63 each year, and pads over the course of a year can cost $72. ⁶ And in households in which multiple people need products, the expense can quickly add up. Then there are the women suffering from homelessness: “Without the basic resources needed to feel clean, safe, and secure, periods can be devastating for the over 210,000 women experiencing homelessness in the United States.” ⁷ 

The United Nations Children’s Fund suggests some solutions to these tragedies, including the following:  

1. Ensure adequate access to affordable menstrual protection products… by exempting menstrual products from taxes and providing products for free. (Tampons are subject to sales tax in Arizona.) ⁸ 
2. Every child should know what a period is and how the cycle works in order to feel normal and secure in their own body.
3. Conversations about menstruation should be done openly at schools, [and] in the private life, including with the support and engagement of male family members, as well as in the community at large. ⁹

On a personal note, I, as a boy, was not educated on these issues. School administrators and parents, in all settings and especially in communities in which periods are seldom discussed, should take on the responsibility of making menstruation something we can talk about. We are called to bring dignity, not shame, to this natural cycle.   

The lesson from Parshat Metzora’s section on menstruation should not be that our bodies are something to be ashamed of. Rather, they are a beautiful thing we are obligated to take care of in order to bring holiness into the world. 

Sources

1. Leviticus 15:19
2.  Jewish Women’s Archive: “Female Purity (Niddah)”
3.  The author is referring specifically to Tabernacle and Temple times.
4.  Leviticus 15:25-30
5.  American Jewish World Service: “Tazria-Metzora” (2012)
6.  UT Health Austin: “Period Products: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”
7.   https://now.org/blog/female-homelessness-and-period-poverty/ 
8.  Marie Claire: “The Current State of the Tampon Tax—and How We’re Going to Eliminate It” (2021)
9.  UNICEF: “Making Period Stigma History” (2021)