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

  • Hebrew
  • English
  • Espnaol
  • Francais
  • donate
Menu
Side Bar

Pills on Yom Kippur

24 September, 2006

Question:

Is it permissible to take a birth control pill on Yom Kippur, if it can be swallowed without water? If not, what do you recommend?

Thank you


Answer:

With regular combination pills, we recommend taking one pill shortly before Yom Kippur, and the next pill shortly after the fast is over. Since they will both be taken within a 26-hour range, they should remain effective after Yom Kippur.

With some formulations, consistent timing is required to avoid spotting or bleeding. For more information, please see our answers regarding progesterone only pills and long term combination pills.

If necessary, an unflavored, unsweetened pill can be swallowed directly without water on Yom Kippur. A sweetened or flavored pill can be wrapped in a kosher gelatin capsule (available at pharmacies), or in some cases crushed and mixed with a bitter substance, and taken on Yom Kippur without water.

If a woman cannot get the pill down without water, she can take it with a small quantity of bitter water. This is often prepared by steeping a cup of water in advance with two bags of a tea, such as chamomile, that tastes bitter when oversteeped.

This response was updated on 18 September, 2023.


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