Found loose hair on body after immersion

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November 26, 2008

Question

Last night I went to the mikve. After I dunked, I rinsed off quickly and dried with the same towel I had used earlier to wrap myself in. Then I noticed a small hair (3-4 cm long) on my torso, between my chest and stomach. Most of my rational thinking tells me it most likely was not there during the time of my immersion and most likely made its way there while I was drying off from the post-mikve rinse, but I still have this conscience telling me that perhaps I didn't check myself thoroughly enough beforehand or that somehow the hair got there between my last iyun and my immersion.

Please advise.

Thank you.

Answer

You do not have to be concerned about the hair you found. A hair on your torso is not considered a chatzitzah because, when you enter the water, it usually will float away from your body. Further, as your intuition tells you, it is possible that the hair was not even on your body at the time of immersion, and only got there when you dried yourself off afterwards with the towel.

You may want to try using a checklist when doing your chafifah and iyun. As you go through your preparations, run through the list to make sure you cover everything. Once you complete the list, you can be sure that you prepared thoroughly and properly.

B'Hatzlacha!