Annual Reading Schedule - Torah Given Through Mosheh - Week 27 - Be Set-Apart, For I YHWH Your Elohiym Am Set-Apart (Leviticus 14:54-21:24)

A lot of what I'm about to share are just my opinions on how to deal with the woman's monthly cycle in day-to-day household situations. I'm not saying everybody has to do things the way I do, but for those interested I will share my views on how I like to do things at home and what advice I would give.

The laws related to a woman's monthly period in Leviticus 15 are interpreted many different ways. Some believe that as long as a woman puts a blanket or towel under her when she sits or lays, that as long as no blood got on anything, all she has to do is wash that blanket or towel when her period is over and all the objects that were under her are considered clean if she didn't sit on them directly. I question if that is true and if that is the correct way to understand these laws. If that is the case, then wouldn't the first thing she is sitting on actually be her clothing anyhow, thus making a towel or blanket unnecessary? So it does seem to me that it's quite possible that even if you put a towel or blanket down that perhaps the things under her are still becoming unclean. I am not 100% certain on the correct interpretation.

Since I am not 100% certain, I think the best way to deal with this is for women to have separate things to sit and lay on during their monthly period. Women should know their cycle and be paying close attention in the days leading up to their expected period date and checking periodically to make sure they know if they are in their period or not. Wives should promptly communicate to their husbands if they are in their period and husbands should make sure they count the 7 days of separation also and avoid touching her at all during this time of separation.

Another way to deal with this, if the woman disagrees but the man is concerned about staying clean, is for the man to have his own separate bed and his own separate chair that women do not use. This way, if he wants to avoid becoming unclean, he has the option to lay or sit on something that he doesn't need to be concerned about causing him to become unclean.

For the toilet situation, it is best to have separate toilet seats – one for women on their period and one for women not on their period and men as well. It's best to have two separate toilets but since many people don't have that option, the next best thing is to swap out toilet seats and just not permanently connect the toilet seat. Then, when the woman is on her period she can take off the clean toilet seat, put on the unclean one, and when she is finished, take the unclean one off and put the clean one back on. This is an inconvenience for her, but it makes it more likely that the man or others will remain clean.

If she is not physically well enough to change toilet seats, the man could put on long rubber gloves (the thick yellow kind used for cleaning) and change it when he needs to for himself instead. As long as his skin doesn't actually touch the seat directly, my understanding is he does not become unclean. My understanding is that he would have to have direct skin contact with something she sat or laid on for him to become unclean. I could be wrong, but that's my belief and understanding at this time.

However, if blood were on the seat and it got on the gloves and then he touched the gloves and the blood came into direct contact with his skin, then he would definitely become unclean. So he would have to be careful. In that situation it is unclear if his uncleanness is until evening or for 7 days if direct contact with the blood occurs in any way. I would think it could be for 7 days if it involves direct skin contact with the blood.

Another alternative is for the man to use a portable commode like the ones they use bedside in hospitals. Then, he could get out the commode as needed, use it, empty it into the toilet bowel without directly touching the toilet seat or bowel itself, and clean it. It is debatable whether or not cleaning it on a Sabbath would be appropriate. I'm not sure about that.

Regarding cleansing things she sat or laid on – some might believe when her period is over the bed mattresses or pads are automatically clean but the sheets just need to be washed. I am not sure that interpretation is correct. I would advise having a separate bed for when she is on her period. We definitely want to make sure any clothes or sheets, blankets, pillow cases, towels, etc. are all washed when her period is over. She can put these in the washer 7 days after her period starts shortly before sunset, take a shower at sunset, and after the shower put the clothes in the dryer. The clothes, blankets, pillow cases, towels, etc. would be considered clean as long as they were washed before sunset. She should use a fresh clean towel in the bathroom, not one she may have used during her period.

If the 7th day of separation falls on a Sabbath, wash and dry as much as you can before the Sabbath. Then, fill the washer with water before the Sabbath starts and turn the washer off with a full load of water still in the washer. Then, near the end of Sabbath, she can just put the clothes she has on and the sheets or towels she used on Sabbath in the washer (without turning it on) and just make sure they go under the water. However, I would not turn the washer on while it is the Sabbath. Instead, just make sure the clothing and towels go all the way under the water before taking a shower after Sabbath has ended. After Sabbath is over, she can turn the washer on and let it go through the full cycle and then put them in the dryer. The reason I say a shower "after Sabbath" is most people don't have a Mikveh filled with water to get in for Biblical cleansing and due to modern showers using hot water heaters, and not being able to cook water on Sabbath, most people are not going to want to take a cold shower on Sabbath – and it's unclear to me if sunset or one of the later twilights is when Biblical sunset actually occurs. Any sources of water we have authority over should not have heat applied on Sabbath, generally speaking. I say, "generally speaking" because it's difficult to know what to do in certain life and death or medical situations, or if the water source or heating source is actually owned by someone else and damage to property of someone else could occur – which raise other Biblical questions. Modern technology complicates how to answer Biblical questions.

If you have a front-load washer the above steps might not be possible because front loaders might not work as well as top-loaders do. In that case, if you have a front load washer that can't be pre-filled with water, still wash and dry as much as you can before the Sabbath. Then, for the woman's clothes, towels, sheets or other things used on Sabbath day, I would put them in the washer near the end of the Sabbath with no water in it, but I would not actually run the washing machine on the Sabbath. I would put the clothes in the washer without turning the washer on. I would wait until Sabbath is over before running any washer or dryer.

If you live in an apartment building or other situation where you don't have enough privacy to follow these steps, then my advice would be slightly different. In that situation, use a big laundry bag and put all your unclean clothes in the laundry bag. When your period is over and you have cleansed yourself, take your laundry bag to the place you do laundry and, if you are cautious enough, you should be able to empty the laundry bag into the washer without actually touching any of the things in the laundry bag directly. Then, at last, you can throw the laundry bag in the washer also after it is emptied and wash that with everything else.

When the washer is done, you could use a clean dry towel to cover your hands while you reach in the washer to pull out the clothes to put them in the dryer. If you touched the clothes or other things you sat or laid on during your period with your bare skin, you would become unclean. However, if you use a clean dry towel as a barrier between your hand and the things you are pulling out of the washer, then you avoid direct skin contact and as long as you keep it from touching your skin then you remain clean. If it were to touch your skin, you would be unclean until evening since the clothes, sheets, etc. themselves won't be cleansed until after the sunset that occurs after they are cleaned. So just be careful when pulling things from the dryer for it to not touch your skin directly. If it happens on accident that garments of some kind do touch your skin directly before they were cleansed, then you will need to follow Leviticus 15:27 which says wash your garments and bathe in water. If this seems too difficult, you could just choose to grab the clothes with your bare hands and just become unclean and do what it says in Leviticus 15:27; but I think that when possible we should try, in most situations, to remain clean. However, I realize some of this may be too detailed and too much for some to do, so just do your best.

However, if you ever see any period blood stains on any clothing, that clothing is still unclean and you should avoid touching that garment with direct skin contact when possible until the blood stain is removed from the garment. Definitely don't touch the blood because it is quite possible that could make you unclean for another 7 days. That part is unclear to me and I'm not 100% certain though.

And just to be clear, I myself begin Sabbath observance at sunset but I end the next day at nautical twilight (which is later than sunset) because I am not 100% certain that the day ends at sunset. Since I'm not sure, I go until nautical twilight which is later (research online to see the difference – it changes throughout the year – sometimes around 50-70 minutes after sunset approximately, plus or minus some time).

My understanding is that 7 days after her period starts, after sunset that evening, she will be clean. So if her period started at 3 PM on the first day of the week, the next week at the end of the 1st day at sunset she would be clean. This is slightly more than 7 days, but less than 8 days, so I think it's the correct way to count. If you stopped the count the evening before, it would have been less than 7 full days which seems possibly incorrect.

If a tub was brand new and you wanted to keep it 100% definitely Biblically clean, then women would need to avoid baths and showers during their period if possible so that the blood does not get the tub unclean. I would guess most tubs are probably already Biblically unclean. For this reason, I recommend a removable bathtub mat for people to step on while showering to avoid always becoming unclean when using the shower. Most people only have one tub, but if you had multiple then you could reserve one for when a woman is on her period. Standing while bathing is better if a woman on her period needs to bathe because sitting down in the tub would definitely make it unclean. It does not command she end her period with a bath or shower, however, we see in 2 Samuel 11:4 that Bathsheva was "cleansing herself from her uncleanness". I believe this was a bath she was taking after the 7 days of separation. Also, just as a matter of hygiene, it makes sense for a woman to shower after 7 days of having a period – after 7 days of separation.

If you don't have multiple chairs or multiple beds for the man to stay clean, or if the man's wife does not want to accommodate him for some reason, the next best thing the man can do is put down sheets and towels under him when he sits or lays so that he does not come into direct contact with her or with what she has sat or laid on. While I'm not 100% certain I understand these laws correctly, this might be sufficient to keep him clean as long as he doesn't have direct skin contact with what she has sat or laid on. Again, I'm not 100% certain that's correct, but I'm guessing that may be sufficient at this time. At the end of the day, just do the best you can. It is not a sin if you do happen to become unclean by something a woman sat or laid on. I say that because we do not see a sin offering being required. All we see is that we must wash our clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. No sin offering is mentioned for that, however, in Leviticus 15:20-23. However, there is value to being clean and the time of a woman's separation is a good time for a man to draw closer to Yahweh, do ministry things, or get work done around the house, etc. when it is not Sabbath.

Regarding Leviticus 19:27, I believe if a man is shaving his face every day or shaving his head, he is definitely in violation of this law. Beyond that, it is debatable as to how we obey this command. I will just say that if you shave your face or head, you are definitely violating this law. For myself, out of caution, I let my hair grow and comb it back. Every so often, I will just cut along the back or back bottom part of my head or pull all my hair together on the back of my head and cut off what I can hold together in my hand to keep my hair from growing long. I think this is probably avoiding breaking this law in regards to the part about the head.

For the beard, for the first eight years I had a full beard, I only trimmed my beard once. Since then, I rarely trim the beard because it barely grows longer, at a slow rate. When I trim it, I cut straight across the bottom of the beard. I do not think it would be right to use a beard trimmer and go around my face in a round fashion. Rather, I think it is more correct and permissible to cut straight across the bottom of the beard to make the bottom of the beard appear square with corners. However, again, this is debatable and I recognize there are different views on this. But if you are shaving your face, I do believe you are definitely in violation of the command.

Man was made in the image of Elohiym, and whatever facial hair our Creator has given us is part of that image. We do not want to destroy the way He naturally made us. Hair is a natural part of our body and I think we should let it be natural. Trimming, to a certain extent and if done in a certain way, is permissible – but I think we should let ourselves be the natural way we were created to be.