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

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

Spotting & beginning five days

6 September, 2006

Question:

I am on the minipill and was not expecting my period when yesterday I began to have some spotting (on colored underwear and toilet paper). We abstained from relations and all physical contact as a precaution that it may become a flow, but I did not consider myself a niddah and so we did not separate the beds or refrain from passing to each other. The staining became an actual flow this morning. Can I consider yesterday day one, or must I begin counting from today?


Answer:

This is an excellent question which we have recently explored in depth in the section on beginning the five day minimum in our article on Minimum Days.

The five days are defined as days on which the couple is halachically prohibited from having relations. Counting the day of the spotting as day one would only be possible if you were considered halachically prohibited to your husband or were unsure but acted as though you were in niddah. Given that you did not consider yourself niddah or separate the beds, it was clear to you that there would have been no halachic prohibition involved in having relations.  Thus you consider today, when you entered niddah, as day one.


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