State of being ritually "impure" and "pure" in Judaism
This article is presented as a compilation of the laws ofṭumah andṭaharah, as recorded in the Torah and Rabbinic literature. Forṭaharoh in terms of Kosher animal consumption, seeKosher. For theṭaharah ritual for the deceased, seeBereavement in Judaism.
InJewish religious law, there is a category of specificJewish purity laws, defining what is ritually impure or pure:ṭum'ah (Hebrew:טומאה,pronounced[tumˈʔa]) andṭaharah (Hebrew:טהרה,pronounced[tahaˈra]) are the state of beingritually "impure" and "pure", respectively.[1][2] The Hebrew nounṭum'ah, meaning "impurity", describes a state of ritual impurity. A person or object which contractsṭum'ah is said to beṭamé (טמא Hebrewadjective, "ritually impure"), and thereby unsuited for certain holy activities and uses (kedushah,קְדֻשָּׁה in Hebrew) until undergoing predefined purification actions that usually include the elapse of a specified time-period.
The contrasting Hebrew nounṭaharah (טָהֳרָה) describes a state of ritual purity that qualifies theṭahor (טָהוֹר; ritually pure person or object) to be used forkedushah. The most common method of achievingṭaharah is by the person or object being immersed in amikveh (ritual bath). This concept is connected withritual washing in Judaism, and both ritually impure and ritually pure states have parallels in ritual purification in other world religions.
TheHebrew nounṭum'ah (טֻמְאָה) derives from the verbṭamé (טָמֵא), in theqal form of the verb "to become impure"; in theniphal to "defile oneself"; and in thetransitivePiel to defile something or pronounce something impure.[3] The verb stem has a corresponding adjective,ṭamé (טָמֵא), "impure". Likewise the Hebrew nounṭahara (טָהֳרָה) is also derived from a verb, in this caseṭaher (טָהֵר) "to be ritually pure". and in the transitive piel "to purify". The verb and noun have a corresponding adjective,ṭahor (טָהוֹר), "ritually pure". The word is a cognate to the Arabic word 'طهارة'ṭahāra(h) (pronounced almost identically, with the elongation of the second 'a') which has the same meaning in Islam.
Some sources, such asSamson Raphael Hirsch on Genesis 7:2, claim that the meaning is "entombed", meaning the person or item that is in thetame state is blocked, and not in a state of receiving holy transmission.Ṭahor, by contrast, is defined as "pure" in the sense that the person or object is in a clear state and can/may potentially serve as a conduit for Divine and Godly manifestation. Althoughṭum'ah and ṭaharah is sometimes translated asunclean and clean, it is more aspiritual state than a physical one. Once initiated (for the physical signs that initiatetzaraath,zav andniddah, see below) it is generally immeasurable and unquantifiable by known mechanical detection methods, there is no measure of filth, unsanitary, or odorous affiliation with the state ofṭum'ah, nor any mechanically measurable level of cleanliness, clarity, or physical purity for the state ofṭaharah.
The noun form ofṭum'ah is used around 40 times in theMasoretic Text of theHebrew Bible and is generally translated as "uncleanness" in English language Bibles such as theKing James Version and theNew Jewish Publication Society of America Tanakh.[4] The majority of uses are inLeviticus. Though uses for national impurity occur inEzra andEzekiel, andZechariah prophesies the removal of the "prophets and spirit of impurity (רוּחַ הַטֻּמְאָה) from the land",[5] the adjectivetamei (טָמֵא, "impure") is much more common. The verb form ofṭaharah (טָהֳרָה), the verbṭaher (טָהֵר) "be pure", is used first in the Hebrew Bible is inGenesis 35:2, whereJacob tells his family to "put away strange gods, and be pure".
In general, the termtum'ah is used in two distinct ways in the Hebrew Bible:[6][7]
Ritual impurity – the opposite oftaharah ("purity"), also known as "impurity of the body".
Moral impurity – the opposite ofkedushah ("sanctity"), also known as "impurity of the soul"; this category also includes activities which are disgusting or abominable.
In general,tum'ah in the sense of "ritual impurity" is prefixed by the letterlamed or lacks any prefix at all, whiletum'ah in the sense of "moral impurity" is prefixed by the letterbet.[6]
A person who touches or shifts the carcass of one of theeightsheratzim (creeping animals);[11] also a vessel orclay oven upon which falls one of these carcasses.[12]
A woman, upongiving birth, becomes impure for 7 days for a son or 14 days for a daughter.[13]
A house and its contents which have been diagnosed withtzaraath.[15]
A man or woman with an unnatural emission from the genitals (zav/zavah), or a menstruating woman (niddah). A person who touches them, or who touches their chair, or vessels that they touch, is also impure.[16]
A man who has had a seminal discharge, or a garment touched by semen.[17]
A person who eats meat of animals that have died of themselves or been killed by beasts.[18]
A priest who performs certain roles in thered heifer sacrifice.[19]
If a corpse is present in a house, people and objects within the house become impure.[20]
Some of these activities are forbidden (i.e. eating non-kosher meat),[21] others are permitted (i.e. sex between a married couple),[22] and others are unavoidable (i.e. if a person dies suddenly while other people are in the house). Thus, there is no automatic moral stigma to becoming "impure"; impurity "comes to everyone universally and without exception by virtue of biological existence".[23]
Certain activities are prohibited as a result of acquiring this "impure" status. For example:
Before the giving of theTen Commandments, the people were warned not to approach their wives (presumably due to semen causing impurity).[24]
One who is impure due totzaraat, genital emissions, or touching a corpse, had to live outside the desert encampment.[25]
Priests could only eat sacrificial meat while pure.[26]
One who is impure due to a corpse could not visit the sanctuary without making it spiritually impure, which is a crime punished bykaret.[27]
Just as it is a severe offense to bring impurity into the Israelite sanctuary, "impurity" is also seen as a means of nullifying a worship site of other religions;[28] though the rules for this impurity are not made clear.
According to RabbiMalbim, the laws of kashrut fall in this category.[6]
In a number of cases, no specific sin is mentioned; overall sinful behavior has led to impurity.[38]Christine Hayes argues that moral impurity is the reason for thegentile expulsion and alienation that occurs inEzra–Nehemiah.[39] However, S.M. Olyan argues that this expulsion was inspired by earlier biblical traditions regarding both ritual and moral impurity.[40]
TheMishnah devotes one of its six subdivisions, namedTohorot ("purities"), to the laws of ritual impurity. Neither theBabylonian nor theJerusalem Talmud contains systematic commentaries to the tractates of Tohorot (except for niddah which is an integral part of Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud as well), as these laws had little practical relevance after the destruction of the Temple. However, the laws are discussed many times in other tractates, and in later rabbinic literature.
Maimonides clarifies that, in addition to all of Israel, thepriests are expected to be knowledgeable and fluent in the general and specifics ofṭumah andṭaharah law. Given his role of Temple service and year round consumption ofterumah, each priest was required to be in aṭahor state.[41]
A niddah hut (mergem gogo) at the Jewish village ofAmbober in northern Ethiopia, 1976.
The mainstream view amongrishonim (leading 11th-15th-century legal authorities)[42] and non-Kabbalistic authorities[43] is that one is permitted to becometamei (except on those occasions when one must visit the Temple, or touch holy objects), and thus there is no obligation to attempt to remaintahor.[44] As an example, it is not only permitted but amitzvah to tend to a dead person, even though this causes impurity. However, some rabbis have advocated keeping some of the laws of purity even in the absence of thetemple in Jerusalem and even in the diaspora.[45]
One category that was commonly kept in Talmudic and pre-Talmudic times isṭumath ochlin v'mashkin (consuming food and drink that did not becomeṭamei).[46] Sages such asRabban Gamaliel[47] andHiyya the Great[48] encouraged eating only pure food at all times.Targum Yonathan considered this to be implicit inExodus 22:30.[49] One who kept this stringency was called aporush, meaning "separated" (fromṭumah).[50]This was also one of the criteria for being ahaver (a "friend" or "fellow" with whom the rabbis could eat without risk of violating purity laws),[51] and according to some, the main criterion.[52] Additionally, some rabbis advocated abstaining from themidras of aniddah.[53] RabbiMenachem Schneerson discouraged abstaining from any object made impure by a menstruating woman in modern times, with the exception for unique individuals.[54]
The rabbis describe a hierarchy of levels of impurity. In general, each level can result from touch by the level above it. The levels are:
Avi avot hatumah (grandfather of impurity) - a human corpse
Av HaTumah (father of impurity) - Maimonides enumerates 11 objects which have this status:[55]
Tameh met - a living person who has touched a corpse
Tumat sheretz - the dead body of a swarming animal (sheretz) listed inLeviticus 11:29–30
Tumat nevelah - the body of a land animal which died without ritual slaughter; the body of a non-kosher land animal which died in any manner; a kosher bird which died without ritual slaughter receives this status in relation to its consumption but not its touch
Shichvat zera - human semen which has left the body
Mei hatat - water into which ashes of the red heifer were mixed
People who were involved in the red heifer procedure and in certain procedures of theYom Kippur sacrifices
Niddah - a menstruant woman; a man who has had sex with such a woman; the woman's blood, spit, and urine; objects which she has sat, reclined, or rode upon
Yoledet - a woman in the period after she gives birth; the same related categories as withniddah
Zavah - a woman with abnormal genital discharge; the same related categories as withniddah
Zav - a man with abnormal genital discharge; his spit, urine, semen, and discharge; objects which he sat or rode [or reclined??] upon
Metzora - a person who has contractedtzaraat, and in the purification period after recovery; a garment or house infected bytzaraat
Subsidiary types of Av Hatumah include:
A person who had relations with aniddah,zavah, oryoledet
A utensil designed for sitting which was sat on by a niddah,yoledet,zavah,zav (and possiblymetzora)
Liquids expelled from inside the body (e. g., spit, blood, but not sweat) of aniddah,yoledet,zavah,zav (and possiblymetzora)
In addition, the rabbis declared several rabbinic categories ofav hatumah.
Rishon letumah (first level of impurity) orvlad hatumah (child of impurity) - a person, vessels, food, or drink which have touched anav hatumah,
Sheni letumah (second level of impurity):
Food or drink which has touched arishon letumah
A person's hands are always consideredsheni letumah, until he or she has donenetilat yadayim.[56]
Shlishi letumah (third level of impurity) - sanctified goods which have touchedsheni letumah
Revii letumah (fourth level of impurity) - sanctified goods which have touchedshlishi letumah
Hamishi letumah (fifth level of impurity) - According to Maimonides this status does not exist, andrevii letumah cannot impurify other objects.[57] However, some sources suggest that this status might exist.[58] In addition, red heifer waters can have a status similar to this.
The rabbis declaredTorah scrolls to be impure by rabbinic law. This seemingly strange law had a practical purpose: it discouraged Jews from storing theirterumah produce alongside Torah scrolls, which attracted mice and caused the Torah scrolls to be nibbled on as well.[59]
Following the destruction of the Second Temple, ritual impurity status ceased to have practical consequences, with the exception ofniddah andzav/zavah, and rules forbidding making a Kohen impure. These rules are still practiced inOrthodox Judaism.
InConservative Judaism, while the concept ofniddah and a prohibition on sexual relations during theniddah period (including childbirth) are still agreed upon, recent decisions by theCommittee on Jewish Law and Standards have endorsed multiple views about the concept ofzavah, as well as thetumah status of aniddah. The liberal view held that the concepts ofṭumah andṭaharah are not relevant outside the context of aHoly Temple (as distinct from asynagogue; hence aniddah cannot conveyṭumah today), found the concept ofzavah no longer applicable, and permitted spouses to touch each other in a manner similar to siblings during theniddah period (while retaining a prohibition on sexual conduct). The traditional view retained the applicability of the concepts oftumah,ṭaharah, andzavah, and retained a prohibition on all contact.
^Martin S. JaffeeEarly Judaism: religious worlds of the first Judaic millennium 2006 - 277 "For the conceptual background of rabbinic conceptions of cleanliness and uncleanliness, including the relation of these concepts to moral conditions"
^The Talmud of Babylonia: An American Translation IV: Pesahim ed. Jacob Neusner - 1993 "P. If the Israelites were half clean and half unclean, these prepare the offering by themselves, ...Kahuna's ruling: R. Lo, if half of the Israelites were clean and half unclean, the clean ones observe the first Passover and the"
^Johnson M. KimuhuLeviticus: The Priestly Laws and Prohibitions from the Perspective of Ancient Near East and Africa. 2008 Vol. 115 - Page 352 citing Helmer Ringgren in Bolterweck Theological Dictionary of the OT
^Michael Katz (Rabbi), Gershon Schwartz Searching for meaning in Midrash: lessons for everyday living 2002 Page 166 "This spirit is the spirit of impurity, as it is written, 'And I will also make the "prophets" and the unclean spirit vanish from the land' (Zechariah 13:2). Water of purification is sprinkled upon him, and it flees."
^Hayes, C. (1999). Intermarriage and impurity in ancient Jewish sources.Harvard Theological Review, 92(01), 11.
^Olyan, S. M. (2004). Purity ideology in Ezra-Nehemiah as a tool to reconstitute the community.Journal for the Study of Judaism, 35(1), 1-16.
^Maimonides, end of introduction to Seder Taharoth
^R' Aharon Lichtenstein,Taharot: Basic concepts (1). Full text: בשורה התחתונה, הדעה הרווחת בראשונים היא שאין איסור להיטמא, ולא חובה להיטהר, כל עוד לא נמצאים במגע עם עולם של מקדש וקדשיו.
^Tosefta, Damai 2:2 - המקבל עליו ארבעה דברים מקבלין אותו להיות חבר שלא ליתן תרומות ומעשרות לעם הארץ ושלא יעשה טהרות אצל עם הארץ ושיהא אוכל חולין בטהרה.
