Niddah 57: Ritual Impurity Based on Where Blood is Found

We begin a new Mishna on daf 57(b).  It teaches that blood found adjacent to one's vagina must have come from her uterus and thus renders her ritually impure.  Women are also considered to be ritually impure if a blood stain is found anywhere on the inside of her legs or on her feet, heels, big toe - anywhere that the blood could have fallen.  If the blood is found on the outside of her legs, she is considered to be ritually pure because the blood could not have come from her uterus.  If blood is found on her robe or sleeves where the robe could touch her vagina, she is considered to be ritually impure.

Notable is the word beit haturpa, a euphemism for vagina.  It either refers to to the most shameful part of a woman's body, or the part of her body that feels most vulnerable to shame or embarrassment.  It could also be related to the word toref, essence, or turpa, weakness.  There is no need to share a feminist interpretation of these words; it goes without saying. 

The rabbis again argue about the status of a woman who examines the ground, sits down, and rises, finding blood beneath her.  Many rabbis say that she is ritually pure because she felt nothing "in her flesh", which is required by both Torah and rabbinic halacha.  They try to reconcile the requirement to feel a flow of blood and the fact that a woman is considered to be ritually pure if there is a blood stain on the lower half of her clothing.  The rabbis note that a woman might have walked past a butcher and her clothing was stained from that interaction.  They also note that the shape of a blood stain next to one's vagina should be long rather than round to indicate that it is blood from one's uterus.