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

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

About to get ears pierced

17 September, 2016

Question:

I don't currently have my ears pierced, but I'm planning to get them pierced later this week. I know you're supposed to leave earrings in for a few weeks after you get them pierced, but I'm supposed to go to the mikvah next week. If they're not supposed to be removed – do the earrings count as a chatzitza?


Answer:

Ideally one should remove all foreign bodies before immersing. Therefore, it would be best to have the piercing done just after using the mikveh, in order to allow about a month for it to heal before you go to mikveh again.

In a case of necessity, there is room to permit items meant to adorn a woman (including earrings) if they are difficult to remove and they are not tight on the body. If it is not possible to push off your piercing until after immersion (for scheduling reasons, etc.), it would be permissible to have your ears pierced this week, and immerse with them next week.

If there is any safe way to loosen the piercing (so that it is not flush against the skin in front of or behind the hole) without removing it, that would be preferred. You should take care to clean well around the piercing site before immersion, and gently rotate the earring while immersing to allow the water to reach all parts of your ear.

Please discuss this ruling with the mikveh attendant in advance, to mitigate any potential discomfort at the mikveh.  You can explain that you have permission to immerse in this fashion from Rav Yehuda Henkin, our site's rabbinic supervisor.


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