White sheets required? - Nishmat Yoatzot Halacha

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White sheets required?

October 20, 2004

Question

As a kalla, I learnt that during the shivah nekiim, it is proper to use white bed linen.

Is this halacha, or is there room to move on this "rule"?

(We are moving apartments, where the bed sizes are different, and we would need to buy new linen. The question has also arisen when we are guests in other people's homes, and the beds are not made with white sheets.)

For what it's worth, I always wear white pyjamas during the shivah nekiim, so it would be technically impossible to spot on a bed-sheet without also staining my pyjamas. Using non-white linen would thus not be a means to avoid due stringency.

Many thanks for a great site. It is enormously helpful.

Answer

While she is counting the seven blood-free days, a woman should wear clean white undergarments. If she wears tight-fitting white underwear or white pyjamas to sleep, then white bed linens are a matter of custom. If she does not, they are a halachic requirement.