Nishmat HaBayit Research Institute

Machon Nishmat HaBayit was established in 2012 as a Research Institute of Nishmat’s Yoatzot Halacha, with the goal of putting their work into writing. Yoatzot Halacha have been strengthening the observance of Taharat Hamishpacha for over two decades, offering supportive woman-to-woman halachic counsel that incorporates extensive knowledge of women’s health and related fields.

The Yoatzot Halacha initiative was established in 1999, and Yoatzot Halacha have answered tens of thousands of questions through Nishmat’s Golda Koschitzky Hotline, websites in four languages, and in communities in Israel and worldwide. The work of the Yoatzot Halacha is rooted in yirat shamayim and a strong commitment to halachic observance.

The activity of the Research Institute builds upon the activity of Yoatzot Halacha in the field. The Institute publishes in-depth halachic discussions based on sources, including current medical information and sensitivity to women’s concerns, in accordance with the general work of the Yoatzot Halacha.

The Institute’s publications are intended as a resource for scholars, rabbis and Yoatzot Halacha who respond to questions, students of halacha, teachers and kallah teachers, and the general public. The Institute seeks to provide relevant medical-halachic information and also to impart a model of appropriate language for responding to women on these sensitive topics.

The first volume of Nishmat HaBayit was published in Hebrew in November 2017, and in English in 2022. The book contains 63 questions that were asked of Yoatzot Halacha over the years in the areas of pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and contraception. The second section of the book includes up-to-date medical appendices on these topics.

The book was produced by a staff of seven Yoatzot Halacha who are Research Institute Fellows, under the direction of Yoetzet Halacha Rabbanit Michal Roness. The responses were reviewed by Rav Yehuda Henkin z”l and Rav Ya’akov Warhaftig (directors of the Yoatzot Halacha initiative) and edited by Rav Yehuda Henkin z”l and Rabbanit Chana Henkin (founders and directors of Nishmat and the Yoatzot Halacha initiative).

Nishmat Habayit has received the endorsement of numerous Rabbis, including: Rav Dov Lior, Rav Aryeh Shtern, Rav Moshe Ehrenreich, Rabbi Menachem Genack, Rabbi Kenneth Auman, and others.

The book was published by Maggid – Koren Publishers and can be purchased here through their website. The first pages of the book can be viewed here in English, and here in Hebrew.

The Research Institute Fellows have produced booklets on various halachic-medical topics, and are currently at work on the second volume of Nishmat HaBayit, which will address questions relating to mikveh immersion.