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

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Premenstrual cramps

3 January, 2005
Question:

Are cramps considered a hargasha? Does it matter when the cramps were felt (i.e, before an anticipated date of period, or right after mikveh immersion)


Answer:

Cramps are not considered a hargashah. Hargashah is not well defined in written halachic sources. A number of possibilities are described:

  1. she feels her uterus open
  2. she feels her whole body shake
  3. she feels an internal flow.

Menstrual cramps do not fall into these catagories.

If your cramps come regularly, and you always see blood at at the same interval following the cramps, you may have a veset haguf. We suggest you read about these two concepts on our website, where they are discussed at length, and get back to us if you have a more specific question.

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