Niddah after mikveh, before relations
18 March, 2013
Question:I went to the mikvah this past Thursday night, but my husband and I have not yet had relations. Sunday, I saw something questionable on my undergarments and sent it to our Rav. He only got back to us today (Monday) and said it was not tahor. Do I now have to wait 5 days and then count 7 clean days and then go to the mikvah?
Answer:We are sorry to hear of what must be a frustrating situation.
The five day wait is mandatory when husband and wife were permitted to each other at the time she became niddah, even if they did not actually have relations. Thus, in your case, you do have to wait the five days followed by seven clean days. Day one of the five days is Sunday, the day on which you became niddah.
In the future, we encourage you to wear colored undergarments while tehorah in order to avoid becoming niddah from stains.
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.