Nishmat's Women’s Health and HalachaIn memory of Chaya Mirel bat R' Avraham

  • Hebrew
  • English
  • Espnaol
  • Francais
  • donate
Menu

White underwear post menopause

7 June, 2017

Question:

I have recently lost several kilos, following my doctor's advice. I am also about to end a year of aveilut (which only partly coincidentally began almost exactly at the time of the health advice). I decided not to buy even permitted garments and undergarments because my whole body was changing. I am 57, and it has been two years since I have had any niddah–related staining.

I have been told that post–menopausal women should continue to wear colored underpants, but I greatly prefer white ones.

Now that my life and my weight have stabilized, I plan to buy very nice undergarments to replace the ones that do not fit well––Is there ever a time that it is not foolish to wear white ones?

Thank you for your patience and understanding, as well as your help in the past and present:


Answer:

We appreciate the importance to you at this juncture of purchasing the garments that you prefer.

Even when a woman is menopausal, uterine bleeding can make her niddah. Wearing colored undergarments is a halachic measure which prevents stains from making a woman niddah.  (Please see our site's articles "Stains" and "Toilet Paper" for more details about staining.)  

If you are prepared to take the risk of becoming niddah should you have staining, then there is no reason not to wear white undergarments.  If pastels might suit you, that could be a good compromise, since most halachic authorities consider pastel undergarments to be colored undergarments.

Please write back with any further questions.


This internet service does not preclude, override or replace the psak of any rabbinical authority. It is the responsibility of the questioner to inform us of any previous consultation or ruling. As even slight variation in circumstances may have Halachic consequences, views expressed concerning one case may not be applied to other, seemingly similar cases. All health and health-related information contained within Nishmat's Women's Health & Halacha Web site is intended to be general in nature and should not be used as a substitute for consulting with your health care professional. The advice is intended to offer a basis for individuals to discuss their medical condition with their health care provider but not individual advice. Although every effort is made to ensure that the material within Nishmat's Women's Health & Halacha Web site is accurate and timely, it is provided for the convenience of the Web site user but should not be considered official. Advice for actual medical practice should be obtained from a licensed health care professional.

For further questions or comments: 

The Nishmat Women's Health and Halacha Site is a public service of Nishmat, The Jeanie Schottenstein Center for Advanced Torah Study for Women. This project and others like it are made possible by contributions from people like you. If you have benefited from the service, and wish to enable us to help others, click here to donate.


Users of Internet filtering services: This site discusses sensitive subjects that some services filter without visual indication. A page that appears 100% complete might actually be missing critical Jewish-law or medical information. To ensure that you view the pages accurately, ask the filtering service to whitelist all pages under yoatzot.org.


Accessibility Toolbar