The status of a new mother during this extended period of time was complex. On the one hand, she was no longer impure because of discharges. On the other hand, she was still barred from entry into the sanctuary and from contact with consecrated things. The rabbinic sages compared her status to that of a person impure for a day. Until sunset, rites of purification could not be undertaken; and yet such a person was on his way to final purification, and only time separated him from it. Similarly, the