My Dear Daughter

Based on passages in Leviticus, rabbinic law dictates that Jewish women who experience uterine bleeding are prohibited from having physical contact of any kind with their husbands. The intricate laws of niddah (enforced separation) spell out exactly when and under what circumstances physical relations, even simple touching, can be resumed. Aside from the guidance of other women, how could sixteenth-century women learn all the rules and regulations of such an intimate subject?