Shivah neki’im before conversion?
29 June, 2016
Question:When a woman is in the process of giyur and is finally able to go to the mikveh for the first time, does she count 5 and then 7 blood free days if she had her cycle during the time that her giyur was approved?
Answer:A woman about to immerse in the mikveh for conversion does not have to be concerned about where she is in her cycle and does not do bedikot etc. She simply has to be sure that there are no barriers (chatzitzot) between her body and the mikveh water. Therefore, she bathes, combs her hair, and generally prepares for mikveh in the same manner as a Jewish woman immersing for niddah purposes.
Any bleeding a woman experiences before her immersion for conversion does not render her niddah. This is true even if the bleeding began once her conversion was already approved. Therefore, once she immerses for conversion she is tehorah until she next experiences bleeding.
If a woman is actively bleeding at the time of her scheduled immersion, and feels uncomfortable or embarrassed, she can ask for her immersion date to be postponed.
If a woman is planning to get married shortly after the conversion, she may be required to count seven clean days and immerse again (after completing the conversion) due to the concern of dam chimud (as any bride must) depending on the specific circumstances. If this is the case, please get back to us with more details (are both spouses converting or just the wife, were they previously married in a civil service/living together). Alternatively, the couple can clarify this detail with the rabbi who will be performing the marriage.
Please feel free to get back to us with any further questions.
B'Hatzlacha!
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.
Ask a Yoetzet
Golda Koschitzky Hotline
