Q&A: And the Menstruant in Her Menstrual Impurity
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
And the Menstruant in Her Menstrual Impurity
Question
The Rabbi describes Rabbi Akiva’s exposition regarding a menstruant as proof that there are expositions that create new law… I wanted to know what kind of interpretive method he used there against the earlier elders. It seems that he simply interprets the verse differently.
Answer
I didn’t understand the question. Are you asking which hermeneutic principle he used, or whether this is an exposition at all? It is certainly possible that this is a plain-sense interpretation and not an exposition (the boundary is not always clear). It is clear that this does not emerge from the wording of the verse by itself. In any case, he certainly creates a new Jewish law through that interpretation.