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

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

Sending pictures of bedikot

7 October, 2018
Question:

I am currently abroad and I’m not sure if my Hefsek Tahara is clean / kosher. I don’t know of any Rav nearby that specialises in this area and wanted to know if I could send a picture on here and if someone / a rav could offer an answer?

If not, should I count it as not kosher and start counting from tomorrow?

My instincts tell me it is ok, as I understand that “brown” is ok – there is only brown and no red at all, but I am never sure if all brown is ok or if each time it needs to be consulted with a rabbi?


Answer:

Stains that are light brown (the color of coffee with milk) with no reddish hue are acceptable. Other shades of brown should be brought for evaluation. If you have asked in the past about a specific shade of brown and were told it's acceptable, you do not have to ask again when you see another stain of that particular shade.

Whenever possible, stains should be evaluated in person and not via a photograph. In fact, most cameras do not capture color with anything close to the accuracy necessary for a halachic ruling. However, in situations like yours, where a woman does not have access to a halachic authority, we recommend the Tahor App. This app uses sophisticated color calibration technology to take a picture of a stain or bedikah and send it to a Rabbi for evaluation. Please note that, as of this writing, it is available for the iPhone and for a few models of Android phones.

If you are still unsure about the stained hefsek taharah and are unable to clarify its status, you should assume it was invalid and consider the next day's bedikah to be your new hefsek.

For the future, as long as it is not yet sundown, you may make additional attempts at a hefsek taharah until you have an acceptable hefsek. (This only applies to the hefsek taharah in order to start the seven clean days, but not to the bedikot during the clean days.)

Please feel free to get back to us with any further questions.

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