This site is such a treasure trove! So thankful to you for running it!
I’m writing because I’m suffering with anxiety over staining issues for absolutely no reason. I keep on finding red threads, bits of tomato, brown threads, hair, or bit of red onion peel in places like the bath/shower, toilet bowl etc… I know for a fact that its not blood. It doesn’t have the consistency of blood, it doesn’t leave red residue on a tissue, and it’s by far less than a Gris. I have kids that contribute most of these tiny scraps of garbage to the bathroom after their bath, and I have clothes that shed red threads and brown threads. We all share the same bathroom.
I never ask my rav about questions like this, because my brain knows that there is no question… I can just imagine a phone conversation: ‘hi, I just found a brown piece of what seems very very much to me like a thread in the toilet bowl. It’s less than a Gris.’ And he would respond: ‘are you asking me if a thread can make you nidda?!’ I’ll be together with my husband after a find like this, because I know it’s fine, yet in my heart I feel uneasy, and it can consume my thoughts for days… Is this an OCD issue? Are there any guidelines I can tick off to see if it’s a worthy question? My anxiety was in part brought on by a book on taharas hamishpacha that I read that said you should never rely on your own judgment, and should always call a rav with regard to staining – even if it doesn’t fulfill the four criteria of size, color, background color, and item that is mekabel tuma.
I don’t tend to have OCD tendencies in any other areas… Sometimes preparation for Mikva, but it’s pretty controllable. Is there anything I can do to remove these anxieties? Just one more point, I am pregnant at the moment, and I usually don’t stain during pregnancy, and if I stain I notice it on my underwear first.
Thank you so much!