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

  • Hebrew
  • English
  • Espnaol
  • Francais
  • donate
Menu

Tennis

21 June, 2020
Question:

Can I play tennis with my husband while Niddah?

My husband has a very busy work schedule which means we very rarely have time together. We also don’t often enjoy the same activities. Tennis is something that we both enjoy and we’d like to find the time to play together each week. Neither of us view tennis as a romantic activity, rather more as a sport and a way to spend time together. Is this an issue while we are Niddah?


Answer:

We appreciate the importance to you and your husband of regularly playing tennis together.

There are two main halachic questions involved. First, is hitting the ball to each other considered similar to throwing to each other, which is prohibited during niddah? Second, is playing a game like tennis an activity that may lead to excessive frivolity or even physical contact?

Our site’s rabbinic supervisor, Rav Yehuda Henkin, permits playing tennis during niddah because the ball isn’t caught, but hit away with a racket, and because the distance between the players reduces the risk of frivolity. Your stated intention for the game to be more about togetherness and sport than romance (at least during niddah) further supports this ruling in your case.

Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.

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