Introduction 

Here’s my notes and research from when I took a Talmud class and we studied the tractate on virginity and how to tell.

If you have a question, please post it below.  We will do our best to answer it.

You might also want to check with competent clergy, medical professionals and of course follow the footnotes and references from where I got my research.

Detail & Clarification from Jewish Talmud 

• What is meant by a claim [denying a woman’s] virginity? [A man] married a woman on the assumption that she was a virgin, and [after the wedding] claims that he did not find signs of virginity.
  • For there are two signs of virginity:
    • a) [hymenal] bleeding at the conclusion of her first sexual experience;
    • b) tightness that is felt during sexual relations at that time.  ¹⁹ * Halacha 9   ^Sefaria.Org *   ^Chabad.org
• A GIRL WHO WAS INJURED ACCIDENTALLY BY A PIECE OF #WOOD or any other way of the hymen not bleeding the first time  one has sexual intercourse
  • Literally, “one struck by a piece of wood,” a woman who claims that she did not have hymenal bleeding at the time of her first sexual experience, because she had previously been “struck by a piece of wood” and caused to bleed at that time. As mentioned in Halachah 10, the term is used to refer to any woman who claims that her failure to have hymenal bleeding resulted from causes other than intercourse. ^Chabad.org
    • An injury to the hymen made by a piece of wood (a picket fence injury) causes loss of the status of virginity, according to the Sages (Ketubbot 1:3)  ^{jwa.org/status-of-virgin}     See also Halacha 10    Learn More Kethuboth
  • The early sages (Tanaaim) discussed the case of a woman whose hymen was torn by an injury and not by sexual relations, for example, if a stick penetrated her sexual organ and tore her hymen. According to one sage, Rabbi Meir, she is considered a virgin with all a virgin’s rights because her hymen was not torn as a result of sexual activity.  ^{Daatement.org *} 
• #Bed Cloth  
  • According to the law in Deuteronomy, if a newly-married man claims that he found his bride not to be a virgin, her parents must rebut the charge by producing a bloodstained garment or bed cloth proving that her hymen had been broken at the consummation of the marriage:
    • The girl’s father and mother shall produce the evidence of the girl’s virginity before the elders of the town at the gate.  And the girl’s father shall say to the elders, “I gave this man my daughter to wife, but he had taken an aversion to her; so he has made up charges, saying,
      • ‘I did not find your daughter a virgin.’
        • But here is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity!”  And they shall spread out the cloth before the elders of the town (Deut. 22:15-17; New JPS translation). Learn WAY more ⇒  Christianity.com/accused_brides
• When [a man] weds a virgin who is granted a ketubah of 200 [zuz], and claims that he did not discover signs of her virginity, the woman is questioned [regarding the matter].
  • If she says, “It is true that he did not find me a virgin, but this is because I fell, and I was struck by a piece of wood or the ground, and my hymen was damaged,” her word is accepted and she is entitled to a ketubah of [100 zuz].   Halacha 10
    • Although [her husband] claims: “Perhaps you engaged in intercourse, and I am under no obligation to you,” his claim is not accepted, for his claim is not absolute. He may, however, have a ban of ostracism issued, conditional on her having engaged in relations with another man.  Chabad.org
• If he claims, “I did not find her a virgin,” and she claims,
  • “He has not had intercourse with me and I am still a virgin,” she should be examined. Alternatively, he should have relations with her under the surveillance of witnesses [and the truth will be clarified].24   they should inspect the sheet before and after the couple engage in relations for signs of hymenal bleeding.  Halacha 12
  • If she claims, “He had relations with me and he found me a virgin like all others, and his claim is false,”
    • he is questioned [and asked to clarify his statements]. We ask him: “Why do you say that she was not a virgin?”
      • If he answers: “Because she did not have hymenal bleeding,” we check her family [history]. Perhaps [the women of] this [family] are known not to have [vaginal] bleeding at all: neither menstrual bleeding nor hymenal bleeding. If this was found to be true, we presume [that she was a virgin, and she is entitled to a ketubah of 200 zuz].
        • If the women in her family are not known to have such a condition, we check her [physical state]; perhaps she is afflicted by a serious infirmity that has parched her body’s natural fluids, or [perhaps] she was afflicted by hunger. Therefore, we have her bathe, eat and drink until she becomes healthy. At which point, [the couple] engage in relations again to see if she manifests hymenal bleeding or not.
        • If she is not hampered by sickness, hunger or the like, the [husband’s] claim that she was not a virgin [is accepted]. [This applies] even if he felt tightness during relations. Since there was no hymenal bleeding, her hymen was not intact. For every virgin will manifest hymenal bleeding, whether she is a minor or above the age of majority, whether a na’arah or a bogeret, unless [this is prevented by an external factor,] illness or the like, as explained.
  • I did not feel #tightness [during intercourse]. Instead, I found an open passageway,”
    • we inquire with regard to [the woman’s] age. Perhaps she is a bogeret, under 12 1/2, and most bogrot do not have tightness that can be felt substantially [during intercourse], for as she grew older [the adhesion of] her limbs lessened, and the virginal [tightness] disappeared.
      • If she had not become a bogeret yet, we ask him: “Perhaps you leaned on the side or [entered] gently during intercourse, and therefore you did not feel any tightness?” If he replies: “No. I found an open passageway,” [his] claim that she was not a virgin [is accepted] with regard to any woman who has not reached the age of bagrut, regardless of whether she was a minor or a na’arah, or whether she was healthy or sick. For the vaginal channel of every virgin is closed. Even if she manifests hymenal bleeding, she is not considered to be a virgin, because the vaginal channel was open.  ^Chabad.org
      • There are geonim who rule that for a bogeret, the claim that she did not have hymenal bleeding is not valid, but the claim that her vaginal channel was open is valid. This does not appear [to be based on the proper text of] the Talmud. They had inaccurate versions of the text. I have investigated many texts, including those of an early era, and I have discovered the version to be as I ruled. For a bogeret, the only valid claim is [that she did not manifest] hymenal bleeding.  Halacha 13   ^{Chabad.org  * Purchase Talmud from Amazon}
• Alimony
  • The minimum amounts of the kethubah [alimony?] to which virgins, widows, divorcees or other women belonging to the various strata of social and religious life are entitled, and the conditions governing the forfeiture of her kethubah by a wife in the absence of her virginity, are duly indicated. CHAPTER I, 
  • disputes on the amount of a kethubah, arising from a disagreement between husband and wife as to whether the latter was married as a virgin or a widow. CHAPTER II 

Resources & Links

• jwa.org/legal-religious-status-of-female-according-to-age
• ^{Purchase Talmud from Amazon}
• Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Kethuboth  Folio 10a   Come & Hear.com
• See our webpage on links for further study of Jewish learning