Is it all its cracked up to be: Inquiring minds want to know

By TikunOlam

So back in my Modern Orthodox high school days, I took a required Taharat Hamishpacha class with a 20 something year old newlywed. She told us that by abiding by the laws of Taharat Hamishpacha, we would ensure that marital intimacy would stay fresh and interesting as long as we both shall live. In fact, she seemed to want us to believe that without abiding by these laws, we were destined to have failed marriages, husbands who cheat and awful sex lives.

I haven’t been observant in many years and am a happily married woman. The laws of Taharat Hamishpacha don’t make sense to me. The apologizers will inevitably argue that the laws are in no way a result of men viewing menstruating women as dirty. I can’t help but understand the Taharat Hamishmacha laws as yet another way to marginalize women.

So married folks out there, inquiring minds want to know. Is Taharat Hamishmacha all it was cracked up to be in my high school class?