Rules, rules (a blog post about halachic infertility)

[Guest Anonymous]

http://jewishmom.com/2011/04/11/hating-the-mikvah-an-infertile-mothers-spiritual-journey/

[MissSeptember]

As someone who is working through ACTUAL (meaning biological) infertility, I want to slap this woman. She's lucky! She can have a child, she just won't.

I do feel bad for her that her religious convictions are strict and holding her back from something she wants, but man, what a waste of a healthy reproductive system.

[Milly-Molly-Mandy]

Gosh how...odd.

[Soldier of the One]

Oy vey.

Halachic infertility is a real problem in the frum community. I observe mikveh myself but have decided to be 'flexible' with regards to my immersion date if it would prevent me conceiving.

For those who are not familiar with the Jewish laws surrounding menstruation:

The Torah (Lev. 18) legislates that a menstruant woman may not have intercourse with her spouse. According to Torah law, she had to wait till her flow ended before she could immerse in a mikveh (ritual bath). Then she would return to being intimate with her husband.

This 'basic' law accrued certain stringencies (and leniencies in other regards) over the centuries when Jewish law was discussed and codified in the Mishnah (from around 200 CE) and Talmud (around 500 CE). The Rabbis of the Talmud enacted an 'extra' week of abstinence, meaning that a woman can only go to the mikveh and resume relations after more or less a two week period. In most cases, women tend to ovulate around or a little after mikveh night but in some cases, women (especially older ones) may have a shorter cycle. In that case, her ovulation occurs before her mikveh night, rendering her 'halachically infertile' because she cannot immerse until she has fulfilled rabbinic law.

Now, this very issue cuts to the very philosophical and theological core of Judaism. Namely, what is the place of Jewish law (Halacha) and up to what degree can it be amended? Is there a case to be made for going back to the Biblical law alone, especially when faced with fertility issues and duress? Rabbis and feminists alike wrestle with this issue.

In Orthodox Judaism, the answer would be more on the conservative side. Very few, if any, Orthodox rabbis would allow a woman to 'drop' the extra week and immerse earlier because they believe the 'Oral Torah' (the codification of the Talmud) to be equally binding as the actual, 'Written Torah'.

In Conservative Judaism, there is more flexibility to deal with Halachic issues and many, if not most, Conservative rabbis would rule that a woman can immerse 'early' in this case. To the Orthodox community, this would not be an acceptable p'sak (ruling) because in their esteem, it violates the Halachic process. The Conservative Movement would counter that through philosophical or historical reasons.

In the case of Reform, it is a moot point in most cases since the very, very large majority of Reform women do not keep the Jewish 'purity' laws and since Reform, as a philosophical position, do not consider Jewish law to be binding.

I am an observant Conservative Jew, and this explains my position above :) I hope I've succeeded in shedding a little light on a very difficult topic.

I also hope that I have been able to reflect the various opinions respectfully :)