What is Niddah? Menstruation in Judaism | POLIN Museum

A lecture in the series Old and New Questions

Niddah is the term used in Jewish tradition for a menstruating woman and, by extension, for menstruation, menstrual impurity, laws related to menstruation, and the like. The word derives from a Hebrew root (ndd/ndh) that pertains to “wandering” or “exclusion,” suggesting that a menstruating woman should be excluded from the community. The laws of “Niddah” affect observant Jews to this day.

Evyatar Marienberg is an Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA). He is a historian of religions, having a particular focus on the study of beliefs and practices of lay Jews and Christians from various periods. His doctoral dissertation was devoted to the conceptualization of menstruation in Jewish and Christian cultures, with a particular interest in the Medieval and Early Modern periods. He published two books and many articles on the matter.

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