Overview of Family Purity Laws

Most women expect their flow according to one or more of the following three types of cycles:

• VESET HACHODESH - Hebrew Date of Menstrual Cycle
• ONAH BEINONIT - Average Onah (30-day cycle)
• HAFLAGA - Cycle Based on Interval

In anticipation of the coming menstrual flow, halacha requires husband and wife to abstain from marital relations during all time frames that correspond to these three types of cycles. It is praiseworthy to be strict and refrain even from embracing and kissing, and even more so, from sharing the same bed at these times. Regarding this stringency, the Alter Rebbe states in his Shulchan Aruch: "He who is stringent in this matter will be blessed." (A.R.S.A. chapter 184, note 6)

One should refrain from taking a bath or swimming on any onah of anticipation. Showering is permitted (so long as one does not wash internally). If one bathed before the required bedikah of an onah was performed, please consult your rav.

• From the time a woman is rendered nidah, a minimum of five days must elapse. If she was rendered nidah even a moment before shkiah, it is considered the first of the five days.
• On the fifth day, or the day your flow ends thereafter, it is preferable to wash the whole body; but at least wash the lower region (on weekdays). Close to, but before shkiah (preferably 18 minutes before shkiah), wrap a bedikah cloth - a white, cotton, pre-washed examination cloth - around your finger. Remember to check your hands and the cloth on both sides to be sure they are clean before inserting the cloth. To facilitate inserting the bedikah cloth correctly, it is advisable to stand with one foot elevated on a surface. Insert the cloth into your vagina as deeply as possible and thoroughly wipe the entire accessible area, including all uneven surfaces, crevices and folds. Remove the cloth. The discharge on the cloth should be clear or white without any traces of red or black. If there are any spots or traces of questionable color (brown and yellow are also questionable colors), you may repeat the examination as many times as necessary, as long as you are finished before shkiah. (It is advisable to leave some time between bedikot). This particular bedikah is called a hefsek tahara. In general, once a bedikah is done, its outcome is considered final and it may not be done over. Only bedikot which are done as part of a hefsek tahara may be repeated. If you were unable to complete the hefsek tahara successfully, try again the next day.
• After completing a successful hefsek tahara, you should insert another examination cloth before shkiah and leave it in until nightfall. This is called a moch dachuk. This cloth should be checked immediately upon removal, and then placed in a clean, non-plastic wrapper or envelope to be checked again by daylight the next morning. The moch dochuk must also be clear or white without any reddish or black spots. Colors of question must be shown to a Rav (rabbi). If both the hefsek tahara and the moch dachuk are successful, you can begin counting your seven preparatory days the morning following the hefsek tahara. Both the hefsek tahara and the moch dachuk must be inserted before shkiah. Ascertain local shkiah times. If you missed shkiah by any amount of time, do the hefsek tahara the following day.
• Seven consecutive preparatory days must be counted and observed as follows: The seven preparatory days begin the first day following a successful hefsek tahara. For example, if you confirm a hefsek tahara on Wednesday before sunset then Thursday is day one of your seven preparatory days. On each of the seven days make two bedikot (internal examinations): one upon arising, after sunrise, and one before shkiah. Wear white undergarments and use white bed sheets beginning immediately following the hefsek tahara. White undergarments and white bed sheets should be used throughout the seven preparatory days, and they should be checked once daily for spots.
• If you have difficulty making bedikot, a Rav (rabbi) must be consulted to determine whether fewer than the required number of bedikot may be made. If you inadvertently missed one or more of the bedikot, you may immerse in the mikvah at the appropriate time as long as you made a successful hefsek tahara and at least one bedikah on the first and one on the last of the seven preparatory days. Please note that day one refers to the first day following the successful hefsek taharah (bedikos done as part of the hefsek taharah, while necessary to begin the count of the seven preparatory days, are not included in the necessary minimum count of bedikos). e.g. If the hefsek taharah is completed on Wednesday before shkiah, day one is Thursday. At the very minimum, one bedikah must be made on Thursday between sunrise and sunset, and one bedikah on the following Wednesday between sunrise and sunset. If, at least, these two bedikos are not made, she may not immerse in the mikvah Wednesday night.
• Mark the date, one week to the day, as the day to go to the mikvah (i.e. a successful hefsek taharah on Wednesday before shkiah (sunset) means you to to the mikvah the following Wednesday night). Bedikos during the 7 preparatory days must be done between sunrise and sunset. Bedikos done after sunset have no validity.
• At nightfall after the seventh day, go to the mikvah. Occasionally, an onah of anticipation may coincide with the mikvah night. In this circumstance, going to the mikvah is postponed to the next halachically appropriate night.
• Special preparations prior to immersion are essential for the immersion to be valid. Study these laws of Chafifa (washing and cleansing) and Chatzitza (intervening substance) separately.
• If you experience spotting, staining or a renewed flow during your seven preparatory days, consult a qualified teacher or a Rav on how to proceed and how this will affect your calendar.

• If you find it difficult to make bedikot
• If you cannot make the hefsek tahara within the hour before shkiah
• If you find it difficult to insert the moch dachuk
• How to record your flow if staining occurs before your actual flow begins
• If staining occurs for more than one day
• If you are not sure during which onah your period began
• If you experience any New Flow that lasts less than 24 hours
• If you performed a hefsek taharah even a moment or two after sunset, note the exact time the hefsek taharah was done and consult an Orthodox rabbi on both the validity of the hefsek taharah and how this will affect your haflagah count
• If you did not make a bedikah on an onah of anticipation
• If you notice any uniformity, pattern or progression in your cycle
• If you are travelling across the International Date Line during your period or the seven preparatory days
• If you ovulate before it is time to go to the mikvah, or if you have any other condition/s that may interfere with fertility
• If a treatment or diagnostic procedure is recommended and you are uncertain about whether you may, may not, or must follow the recommendation.
• If your bedikah cloth gets lost
• If a stain on your bedikah cloth, sheet, or undergarment has a questionable color
• Anytime there is any staining during pregnancy be sure to consult a rabbi on how to proceed
• If performing bedikot pose a difficulty for you after you have given birth, or you have difficulty attaining a clean bedikah
• Any staining or bleeding occurring after 90 days of no cycle
• You must consult a Rav regarding any changes to your cycle caused by the effects of any pill, medication or other remedy
• If you experience a New Flow within the seven preparatory days
• If you misplaced your calendar or cannot remember the dates of your period and/or hefsek tahara
• Unclean bedikot often affect the calendar as a New Flow. Please consult your Rav if you are uncertain how an unclean bedikah will affect your calendar calculations and times of separation

A woman with a veset kavuah (established pattern) should consult a Rav on how to keep her calendar during pregnancy. A woman with no veset kavuah needs to keep the onot of separation that fall within the first three months of pregnancy (calculating from mikvah immersion).

Once she has observed them, she does not carry any of them over.

This means that she needs to keep one onah beinonit, any veset hachodesh dates (these will all be passed in the first month) and all haflaga onot that fall within the first three months of the pregnancy. She does not keep a calendar again until she will have her first period post birth. She also does not have to keep any larger haflaga onot that may fall past the first three months of the pregnancy.*

*Note:
Any woman that has any staining or bleeding at any time during the pregnancy MUST consult a Rav and be certain to ask him if/how this affects her calendar.

If you are experiencing difficulty becoming pregnant it is essential that you consult with a knowledgeable Rav. To contact a Rabbi for guidance in matters of fertility please call 347-470-3130 or email projectchai@mikvah.org. The Rabbonim are under the direction and endorsement of Rabbi Y. Farkash, Rabbi Y. Feigelstock and Rabbi Y. Ulman. Confidentiality is assured.

Although not common, some women can halachically establish a veset kavua. If after several periods you notice any uniformity, progression or pattern (e.g. your period begins on the 15th of every Hebrew month during the daytime three times in a row), or if you have any doubt, consult a Rav to determine whether or not you have established a veset kavua. Once a set menstrual cycle is established, special halachot apply. A Rav or qualified instructor must be consulted.

For 24 months post birth (or r”l a miscarriage of a pregnancy of 40 days or longer duration) kavua is not an issue and the calendar must be kept as for one who does not have a kavua pattern.

A. If you are not sure whether you have a shayla (question regarding Jewish law), consult a qualified instructor for guidance. Mikvah attendants may be helpful.

B. It is preferable to consult a Rav directly. However, if you are shy, the Rav’s wife, a mikvah attendant or qualified instructor may ask the Rav for you.

C. You need not and should not inspect toilet tissue after use. If you did and found something of a questionable color, you must save it and consult a Rav.

D. If your period comes at a time when Daylight Saving Time (or the reverse) or any other time changes caused by normal seasonal changes would change the onah, keep the onah, and disregard the time. A night onah remains a night onah and day onah remains a day onah.

Example 1:

Period arrives at 5:50 pm on the day onah of the 18th of Cheshvan. The veset hachodesh is therefore the day onah of the 18th of Kislev.

On the 18th of Kislev, however, sunset is at 4:32 pm, due to the return to Standard Time from Daylight Savings Time. This puts 5:50 pm into the night onah.

In this case, disregard the time, separate for the entire day onah and perform the necessary bedikah just before the end of the onah (just before sunset) on the 18th of Kislev.

Example 2:

Period arrives at 7:35 pm on the night onah of the 1st of Nisan. The veset hachodesh is therefore the night onah of the 1st of Iyar.

On the 1st of Iyar, however, sunset it at 7:55 pm, according to the normal seasonal change of time. This puts 7:35 pm into the day onah.

Again, in this case, disregard the time, separate for the entire night onah and perform the necessary bedikah before the end of the onah (sunrise) on the 1st of Iyar.

E. If at any time you forgot to do a bedikah at the proper time, do it as soon as you remember. If the bedikah is clean, you may cancel the date. If the bedikah is not clean, ask a Rav how it affects your calendar.

F. When the Veset Hachodesh date of anticipation coincides with Onah Bainonit dates; if the Chodesh onah is a night onah, do a bedikah to cancel out the Chodesh night onah (after the time of onset of the period that set the onah, but before sunrise). If the Chodesh onah is a day onah, if the time of the Veset HaChodesh onah is close to the time when you must do the bedikah for the Onah Beinonit (just before shkiah), one bedikah can cover both (Veset HaChodesh & Onah Bainonit). If the time of the Veset HaChodesh onah is far from the time before shkiah (e.g. in the morning, etc) and doing a bedikah poses no difficulty, then a bedikah should be done to cancel out the Veset HaChodesh date, and another just before shkiah for the Onah Beinonit.

G. If you experience any New Flow that lasts less then 24 hours, consult a Rav regarding the onot of separation that may result from this flow.