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JUDAISM DISCOVERED 736 MICHAEL HOFFMAN
Inside the "Menstrual Science" of the Rabbis
According to the testimony of St. Jerome, the Early Church Father,
concerning the occult practices of the rabbis, he wrote, "They have as heads of
their synagogues certain very learned men who are assigned the disgusting
task of determining by taste, if they are unable to discern by their eyes alone,
whether the blood of a virgin or a menstruant is pure or impure." 868
Factors to be determined by the rabbi: was the blood stain found on an
examination cloth or was it found on a garment? If found on a garment, what
color is the garment? From what type of material is it made? If found on a
(vaginal) examination cloth, was the cloth pre-checked prior to insertion?
Prior to the discovery of the stain did she feel her uterus opening? The Judaic
woman initially performs the examinations herself. If she does not perform at
least two examinations during her Seven Clean Days, then her Seven Clean
Days are not valid, and she must start her abstinence from the marital act all
over again. Concerning the two minimum examinations, the majority of
rabbis rule that if she conducted these examinations once on the first day and
once on the seventh day, her Seven Clean Days are valid. However, if the two
examinations were performed on two other days, the Seven Clean Days are
not valid. If she examined herself on the first day but not the seventh day, or
on the seventh day but not on the first day, or if she examined herself on one
or more of the middle days, a rabbi must be consulted. It goes without saying
that if no examinations at all were performed during the Seven Clean Days,
the Seven Clean Days are not valid.
Now we turn to what defines an examination. To be valid, the
examinations must be performed properly. There is a lengthy list of
regulations pertaining to what constitutes an improper i.e. inadequate
examination. A Judaic woman must insert the examination cloth deep into
her vaginal canal. She must move it "around slowly and carefully in all
crevices and folds." If she fails to perform these actions precisely as
prescribed, her Seven Clean Days are not valid and her ritual immersion
(mikvah) is not considered an immersion, and she remains a Niddah.
868 Epistle to Algasia. "Praepositos habent synagogis sapientissimos quosque foedo operi
delegatos, ut sanguinem virginis sive menstruatae mundum vel immundum, si oculis disceme
no potuerint, gustatu probent." Quoted by Fonrobert (pp. 115-116), who accuses St. Jerome of
lying. Yet the rabbinic ability to at least smell and differentiate by smell different types of
women's blood is highly prized in Judaism. Cf. the tale of Rava, a fourth century rabbi, in the
story of Ifra Hormiz and Shapur II; also cf. in the Hekhalot, Rabbi Nehunyah's witness.