Zavah

Part of Judaic series of articles on
Ritual purity in Judaism
Tumah and taharah Mikveh
Purification methods Netilat yadayim Mikveh Red heifer Hefsek taharah Hagalah Tevilat Kelim
Hierarchy Av HaTumah Midras
Sources of Impurity Keri Niddah Tzaraath Zav Zavah Corpse uncleanness Tumath eretz Ha'Amim Prohibition of Kohen defilement by the dead
v t e

In Jewish ritual law, a zavah (Hebrew זבה, lit. "one who[se body] flows") is a woman who has had vaginal blood discharges not during the usually anticipated menstrual cycle, and thus entered a state of ritual impurity. The equivalent impurity that can be contracted by males, by experiencing an abnormal discharge from their genitals, is known as the impurity of a zav.

In the realm of tumah and taharah, the zavah, just like a woman who is a niddah (menstruant) or yoledet (postpartum), is in a state of major impurity, and creates midras uncleanness by sitting and other activities (Leviticus 15:4, 15:9, 15:26). Another aspect of her major impurity is that a man who engages in sexual intercourse with her becomes ritually unclean for seven days. Additionally, the zavah and her partner are liable to kareth "extirpation" for willfully engaging in forbidden sexual intercourse, as is the case for a niddah and yoledet.