Midras uncleanness

Part of Judaic series of articles on
Ritual purity in Judaism
 Menorah
Purification methods
Hierarchy
Sources of Impurity
Woman in niddah state standing on elevator rug using her full body weight, thereby rendering the rug a "midras tmeiah" (unpure midras)

Midras uncleanness (Hebrew: טומאת מדרס) is one of the forms of ritual impurity in Judaism which can be transmitted by either an object or person. The term may be translated as pressure uncleanness.[1]

A midras (lit. "trampled on" object) is an object that can be a carrier of ritual impurity. Common objects that could potentially become unclean, and become a such midras object, include a chair, sofa, mattress, and rug. A person who becomes unclean is categorized as a "father of uncleanliness".

A niddah hut (Mergem Gogo) at the Jewish village of Ambober in northern Ethiopia, 1976. Beta Israeli women left their homes and stayed at the hut during menstruation, until they could immerse at the river and return home.
  1. ^ Jacob Neusner (2005). Is Scripture the origin of the Halakhah?. p. 141. The pertinent classification of uncleanness called Midras- or pressure-uncleanness pertains only to objects that ordinarily are used to bear weight or pressure, that is, beds and chairs and things analogous to them