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

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Never established chazakah

8 March, 2006

Question:

In a recent hilchot niddah class, my husband learned that a woman should check herself three times after intercourse to assure that intercourse does not lead to menstruation.

We have been married for close to 10 years and I can't recall whether that is something I did at the time we got married. I distinctly remember one of my kallah teachers (I had a couple) telling me that wiping is sufficient (no need for internal bdika) and I think that another teacher might have said that internal bdika is required (though I am not sure about this last point).

My questions is do I have to perform these bdikot after all these years of marriage? Furthermore, because of a medical condition I have a heter to use a diaphragm. When I remove the diaphragm after several hours, it comes out clean (no blood). Is that a valid substitute for a bdika?

If I do in fact have to check, how do I do this with a diaphragm? The diaphragm has to stay in place for several hours and the bdika has to be done immediately.

We follow Sephardi psak.


Answer:

Many women never learn of the three bedikot requirement.  This is more often the case for women from America, where common practice is to rely on the position of Rav Moshe Feinstein, who ruled in accordance with the opinion that these bedikot are not required unless a problem arises.

Your years of marital relations without incident have halachic weight.  When a couple has been married for some time without any bleeding incidents subsequent to marital relations, most halachic decisors waive the requirement.  Ten years is more than enough!

Among Sephardi poskim, Rav Ovadiah Yosef is stringent even with a couple that has been married for a long time, but accepts even an external wiping as a bedikah.  Thus, your experiences with the diaphragm should satisfy even his stringent opinion.


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