Tampon for hefsek
14 October, 2004
Question:[This is a hypothetical question — I don’t need an answer by a certain time]
On the 5th day of being Niddah, I was still seeing red blood, so I decided, late in the afternoon, but before shkia, not even to try for a hefsek tahara, and I inserted a tampon. Later that evening, when I removed it, I was surprised to see that it was completely clean. The next morning, I also got a clean bedika. Could I count that tampon as the hefsek tahara, and the bedika the next morning (which I had originally thought would be a hefsek) as the bedika of the first day?
[As I was getting ready to call to ask, later that day, I realized that I was having more bleeding and it became irrelevant. But I’m still curious…]
Answer:The problem with using a tampon as a bedikah cloth is that it does not get into the folds and crevices of the vaginal canal. Therefore, a tampon should not be used for bedikot, including the hefsek taharah (although it can be used for the moch dachuk). In some extenuating circumstances, it might be possible to rely on it after the fact, but an individual question would need to be asked.
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