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

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Corona: Leniencies with harchakot?

24 March, 2020
Question:

For Coronavirus-related reasons, I’m not going to be going to the mikveh for a while. Is there any way to relax the harchakot? It’s becoming really difficult to keep this going. We did get through postpartum a couple of times, but this has been harder for us.


Answer:

We appreciate how difficult it can be to spend an extended amount of time in niddah, especially when facing the uncertainties of the current pandemic.

On the whole, the harchakot remain in place. This is the time, though, to review the harchakot, as by reading our site’s articles, to ensure that you are not being overly stringent.

When there are specific marital difficulties or mental health concerns during this pandemic and immersion has been delayed, a couple can be lenient with most harchakot that do not involve direct physical contact (e.g. passing objects directly and serving food).

Since the specifics of a situation make a difference, please get back to us or consult a local halachic authority with any follow up questions.

May we all merit good health and good news.

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.
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