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

  • Hebrew
  • English
  • Espnaol
  • Francais
  • donate
Menu

Lingering doubts about tevilah

11 November, 2008
Question:

I went to the mikva tonight and during my third immersion I felt something glide on my foot possibly a hair or something. I told myself it was nothing and considered my tevila kosher and left the mikva however now it is making me nervous in my head and I can't seem to get it out my mind even though I have told myself that the tevila was fine. Can you tell me if this could have in anyway hindered my tevila? My husband is currently away so it is possible for me to repeat if really necessary. Thanks for your help.


Answer:

As long as you performed your preparations thoroughly earlier that day and inspected your body carefully for barriers prior to your immersion, you can presume that your immersion was valid. Especially in this case where you are not certain whether there was anything on your foot, and that sensation could simply have been the water itself gliding over your foot. Further, even if only one immersion out of three was valid, you still are tehorah.

In sum, do not worry about your tevilah, it was fine. Try not to dwell on these lingering doubts. Once you have immersed, you should focus your mental energies elsewhere (your relationship with your husband, etc.) and try not to think about your immersion anymore.

B'Hatzlachah!

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