Judaism

====Family purity====
[[File:Fauteuil de circoncision ("Fauteuil d'Elie").jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|18th-century circumcision chair [[Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme|Museum of Jewish Art and History]]]]
{{Main|Niddah}}
{{See also|Women in Judaism}}
An important subcategory of the ritual purity laws relates to the segregation of menstruating [[women]]. These laws are also known as ''[[niddah]]'', literally "separation", or family purity. Vital aspects of ''halakha'' for traditionally observant Jews, they are not usually followed by Jews in liberal denominations.<ref name="JEniddah">{{JewishEncyclopedia|author-link1=Wilhelm Bacher|last1=Bacher|first1=Wilhelm|author-link2=Jacob Zallel Lauterbach|last2=Lauterbach|first2=Jacob Zallel |title=Niddah|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11529-niddah}}</ref>

Especially in [[Orthodox Judaism]], the Biblical laws are augmented by Rabbinical injunctions. For example, the [[Torah]] mandates that a woman in her normal menstrual period must abstain from [[sexual intercourse]] for seven days. A woman whose menstruation is prolonged must continue to abstain for seven more days after bleeding has stopped.<ref name=leviticus15 /> The Rabbis conflated ordinary ''niddah'' with this extended menstrual period, known in the Torah as ''[[zavah]]'', and mandated that a woman may not have sexual intercourse with her husband from the time she begins her [[Menstrual cycle|menstrual]] flow until seven days after it ends. In addition, [[Rabbinical law]] forbids the [[husband]] from touching or sharing a bed with his wife during this period. Afterwards, purification can occur in a ritual bath called a [[mikveh]]<ref name="JEniddah" />

Traditional [[Ethiopian Jews]] keep menstruating women in separate huts and, similar to Karaite practice, do not allow menstruating women into their [[temples]] because of a temple's special sanctity. Emigration to Israel and the influence of other Jewish denominations have led to Ethiopian Jews adopting more normative Jewish practices.<ref name="Karaites" /><ref name="Women and water: menstruation in Jewish life and law" />
[[File:PikiWiki_Israel_32596_Bar_mitzva.jpg|thumb|Two boys wearing [[tallit]] at a [[Bar and bat mitzvah|bar mitzvah]]. The torah is visible in the foreground.]]