Tumah and taharah

The Hebrew terms tumah and taharah refer to ritual "impurity and purity" under Jewish law. The Hebrew noun tum'ah (טָמְאָה) "impurity" describes a state of ritual impurity. A person or object which contracts tumah is said to be tamei (Hebrew adjective, "ritually impure"), and thereby unsuited for certain holy activities and utilisations (kedusha in Hebrew) until undergoing predefined purification actions that usually include the elapse of a specified time-period.

The contrasting Hebrew noun taharah (טָהֳרָה) describes a state of ritual purity that qualifies the tahor (טָהוֹר; ritually pure person or object) to be used for kedusha. The most common method of achieving taharah is by the person or object being immersed in a mikveh (ritual bath). This concept is connected with ritual washing in Judaism, and both ritually impure and ritually pure states have parallels in ritual purification in other world religions.

The laws of tumah and taharah were generally followed by the Israelites, particularly during the First and Second Temple Period, and to a limited extent are a part of applicable halakha in modern times.

The Hebrew noun tum'ah (טֻמְאָה) derives from the verb tam'a (טָמֵא), in the qal form of the verb "to become impure"; in the niphal to "defile oneself"; and in the transitive Piel to defile something or pronounce something impure. The verb stem has a corresponding adjective, tame (טָמֵא), "impure."

Likewise the Hebrew noun tahara (טָהֳרָה) is also derived from a verb, in this case taher (טָהֵר) "to be ritually pure". and in the transitive piel "to purify". The verb and noun have a corresponding adjective, tahor (טָהוֹר), "ritually pure." The word is a cognate to the Arabic word 'طهارة' (pronounced almost identically, with the elongation of the second 'a') which has the same meaning in Islam.

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