Hefsek at parents’ house on Shabbat
28 June, 2016
Question:I have a two part question.
1) The earliest chance for a hefsek will be Shabbat. But, we will be at my parents for shabbat so it would not be totally convenient. Is it permissible to just do the hefsek and moch on Sunday (day 6)?
2) If it is not permissible how does doing the hefsek and moch on shabbat work?
Answer:1) You may delay the hefsek if it is inconvenient to perform it on the earliest possible day.
However, it is not clear to us why performing the hefsek on Shabbat at your parents' house would be inconvenient. Take a few bedikah cloths with you into a bathroom that locks. Wrap up any used bedikah cloths in some tissue before throwing them out so no one will see them in the trash. The hefsek should not take an unreasonable amount of time, but if someone asks you why you are taking so long in the bathroom, it is permissible to make up an excuse.
2) You should wash the immediate vaginal area with cold water (or use a baby/wet wipe) prior to performing your hefsek on Shabbat. The moch should be inserted from before shkiah until tzeit hakochavim. You may remove it at tzeit hakochavim even if it is your minhag to keep Shabbat until later (Rabbeinu Tam, etc.). If your community does not have an eruv, you should not leave the house with the moch in place, as it would be considered carrying. If the inconvenience of the moch would cause you to delay your hefsek until Sunday, in this situation you would be permitted to omit the moch.
Please feel free to get back to us with any further questions.
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