Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Niddah" in English language version.
According to Evyatar Marienberg, the term "Tahorat haMishpahah", itself is of German-Jewish origin, late in the nineteenth century, probably a translation of the expression "Reinheit des Familienlebens". The original expression was most likely coined as an attempt to suppress the obvious halakhic fact that a woman who menstruates is impure. Instead of discussing the impurity of the niddah, one is encouraged to think of the purity of the family. It is also probable that the term came into use to emphasize the talmudic notion that not keeping the laws of niddah can have consequences on the purity of the offspring.
women and menstruation. Later on, the rabbis increased the period of sexual separation between a menstruating wife and her husband from 7 days total to 7 "clean days" and a minimum of 11 days for Sephardim and 12 days for Ashkenazim. The Biblical law also requires that following that period, the woman would immerse herself in the mikveh. In general, the immersion in the miqveh must take place after dark. The woman must undress completely and clean herself before entering. The immersion must be witnessed by a Jewish woman (balanit) whose role is to ensure that all body parts, including the hair, are submerged in the water. Some attendants offer to check the hands, feet, and back for possible barriers (chatzitzot) between the body and the water, such as nail polish. Upon immersing, the woman recites the designated blessing...
According to Marienberg (2003), the term "taharat hamishpaha", was most likely coined to hide the association of impurity and encourage thinking about the Talmudic notion that niddah can have consequences on the purity of offspring.
probably generated by the Neo-Orthodox movement as a response to the Reform rejection of some of the normative menstrual laws, particularly use of the miqveh. The Reform movement claimed that the law was instituted at a time when public bathing facilities were the norm, but was no longer valid with the advent of home bathtubs and greater concern for personal hygiene... The term family purity is euphemistic and somewhat misleading, since the topic is, in fact, ritual impurity.
for the modern Orthodox Jews of Germany, the phrase "family purity" (Reinheit des Familienlebens) came to designate the laws of menstruation. Whereas in Talmudic law, a menstruating woman conveyed a kind of technical impurity, in this new, bourgeois conception, the family as a whole was purified by avoidance of menstrual blood.
This term is technically a misnomer... It entered Jewish legal discourse in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, before it was popularized in the market of handbooks for married couples. One of its main functions is rooted in its polemical force, vis a vis liberal, non-observant Jews
According to Evyatar Marienberg, the term "Tahorat haMishpahah", itself is of German-Jewish origin, late in the nineteenth century, probably a translation of the expression "Reinheit des Familienlebens". The original expression was most likely coined as an attempt to suppress the obvious halakhic fact that a woman who menstruates is impure. Instead of discussing the impurity of the niddah, one is encouraged to think of the purity of the family. It is also probable that the term came into use to emphasize the talmudic notion that not keeping the laws of niddah can have consequences on the purity of the offspring.
