Stain on slip
3 September, 2004
Question:In kallah class, one of the girls asked if, during the zayin nekiim, she had to wear a white slip. The answer was that its better to.
We also discussed if you would wear a white slip (or white skirt) during the non niddah times, if a person stained, what would be the status. The kallah teacher said that if someone stained through their underwear, tights, slip, and even through to their skirt, that they would certainly be niddah with such a big gush!
So now Im married a lot of year KEH, and in the summer I tend to favor white skirts, which means you can only wear a white slip. I always remember what the rebbetzin said, and figured, I'd never have such a shaylah.
And it happened I wore black underpants but a white slip and noticed large stains. While I dont know if they were from that day..what should I have done? Kol hakovod to the rebbetzin who taught us, but does a person really stain and not know it, with black underpants on, through to their slip, and in such a quantity to make a shaylah?
Many thanks.
Answer:The halacha indicates the need for white clothing during the shivah neki'im but does not specify which clothes. At a time when women did not wear form fitting undergarments, it was important that all the clothes on the lower half of the body were white. Now that women generally wear underpants, and any stain from the vaginal area will stain these pants, there is no obligation to wear additional white. If a women wishes to do so, she of course may.
The requirement to wear white applies only during the shivah neki'im because at this time we are trying to assure that bleeding has not restarted. On the other hand, after mikveh use, when a woman is not expecting bleeding, she is best advised to wear colored on which small stains would not be noticed.
If she finds a stain on a white outer garment, she is niddah unless she can figure out where else this stain might have come from. Of course if the staining was heavy enough to leak through colored underwear and be found on a slip or skirt that is white, she will be niddah. Generally, if there is that much staining, the colored underwear is wet or sticky and there is some blood on the body as well, so the woman knows it is from her. If you were aware that you had sat on something, or worked with blood, or that the stains were old, or you never really checked the garment before you put it on, you might not have been niddah. When in doubt, consider yourself a possible niddah and ask a specific question with all the details.
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