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Hilchos Niddah
Shiur 2

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Becoming a Niddah
How does a woman become a Niddah midOraisa1

Simon 183: A woman who sees a drop of blood must wait

Shiva Nekiim .
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S E I F

A woman who had a discharge of blood coming

1) out of her Mekor3, whether it

was (1) by accident or naturally, is Temea - impure 2), but only if she
experience a Hargasha4 of the discharge. However, once she feels that it (the
blood) is removed from its place (in the uterus) and came out (into the vagina) she
becomes Temea (2), even though it didnt come out outside (of the body). Even if

3) the size of a mustard seed, she must wait on it

(before being allowed to immerse in a Mikva ritual bath) 4) Shiva Nekiim2.
she only saw a drop of blood

Rama: According to their rules which will be clarified in Simon 196. There is no difference between a
single woman and a married one regarding the prohibition of Niddah (Rivash Simon 422, reported by
the Bait Yossef) since anybody who has relation with a Niddah is subject to Kares5

According to the Torah.

Seven days of cleanliness, they will be explained in depth in Simon 196.

Womb, uterus.

A feeling, a sensation directly related to the bleeding

Punishment of being cut off from the people of Israel.

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Halacha line by line

THE MECHABER SAYS

A woman who had a discharge of blood coming 1) out of her Mekor,

The Torah writes (Vayikra 20, 18): she has revealed the source (Mekor) of her blood.
Mekor means the uterus and therefore our sages (Torat Kohanim Metsorah 6, 4) learnt
that only blood being discharged from the uterus render the woman Niddah. (See
Shach 1).)
THE MECHABER CONTINUES

Whether it was (1) by accident or naturally.

Contrary to a man who only becomes Zav if his seminal emission was accidental, not if
it was caused by natural causes such as having eaten to much and the like, a woman
always becomes Temea whenever Dam is discharged out of her Mekor, no matter what
has caused the bleeding. Naturally refers to the normal period, while accidentally
means that the blood came out for an unusual reason such as having jumped.
THE MECHABER CONTINUES

But only if she experiences a Hargasha of the discharge.

The Torah writes in the passage of the Niddah (Vayikra 15, 19): Blood will be
discharged bivsarah , in her flesh. The Gemara explains that this word bivsarah means
that a woman only becomes Temea if she has a Hargasha. The wording in her flesh
means that the woman felt in her flesh that she was experiencing a discharge. In case a
woman would find blood without having felt anything, without a Hargasha, she will not
be considered Temea according to the Torah (midOraisa). However, as explained in
Shach 2), midRabanan6, she will be Temea if she will find blood without any Hargasha,
through a Ketem, stain, and will be studied in Simon 190. Our Simon deals with discharges
rendering a woman Temea midOraisa. The exact nature of what is considered a Hargasha
will be discussed beEzrat Hachem later in this Shiur.

By rabbinical institution.

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However, once she feels that it (the blood) is removed from its place (in the
uterus) and came out (into the vagina) she becomes Temea

(2), even though it

didnt come out outside (of the body).

From the same word bivsarah, in her flesh, chazal also learnt that the woman becomes
Temea, impure, as soon as the blood leaves the Mekor (uterus) and enters the Prozdor7
(vagina). The blood doesnt have to be actually found to cause the Touma - impurity.
Once it is bivsarah , in her flesh, i.e. in the prozdor, she is already Temea.
THE MECHABER CONTINUES

Even if she only saw a drop of blood

3) the size of a mustard seed, she must wait

on it (before being allowed to immerse in a mikva 4) Shiva Nekiim.

There is no minimum of blood necessary to render the woman Niddah. Even less than
the size of a mustard seed would make the woman Temea midOraisa (if there was a
Hargasha). (See Shach 3))
THE RAMA ADDS

There is no difference between a single woman and a married one regarding the prohibition of Niddah.
The Gemara (Niddah, 31:B 5th wide line) teaches:
Rabbi Meir says: why did the Torah say that the Niddah is forbidden for seven
days? Since he is getting used to her and disgusted by her, therefore the Torah
said that she should become Temea for seven days in order that

at the completion

of this period of abstinence she should be appreciated by her husband as of the day
of their marriage.

In light of this piece of Gemara, one may think that the laws of Niddah only apply to
the married woman. The Rama, therefore specify that it is not the case, that the laws
apply indifferently for single or married woman. The only stringencies we find in
married women concern rabbinical decrees like passing an object to his wife Niddah.
They do not apply to other women and will be studied in Simon 195.

Literally the antechamber, i.e. the vagina.

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What is a Hargasha?
There are five type of situations which may be considered a Hargasha and therefore
render the woman Temea midOraisa if along with the Hargasha we found blood. [If there
was a Hargasha but no blood was found, we will have to decide if we should suspect
that there was in fact a small bleeding that wasnt discovered. We will discuss this in
Simon 190, 1]

The 5 types of Hargasha:

1. A shivering.
2. The feeling of the opening of the Mekor.
3. A sensation of liquid flowing.
4. Discovering blood through a Bedika8 (or after urinating or intercourse).
5. The onset of a regular period.

1. A shivering.
The Rambam (hilchos issourei bia 5, 17) describes the Hargasha as a shivering, meaning that
the woman felt either the pinch you get when you start bleeding or a sensation similar
as the one one feels as she starts urinating. There is no question that such a Hargasha
renders the woman Temea midOraisa. (This type of Hargasha is rare nowadays.)
We should not confuse this type of Hargasha which is directly related to the bleeding
(the woman feels something which is part of the actual bleeding) with other symptoms
which often accompany the periods. Very often a woman will have stomach cramps,
specific headaches or other symptoms before or during the onset of a period. They are
called veset hagouf, lit. body-pattern, and might help determine when is the woman
expected to have her next period (see Simon 189, 19-26), but they are not a Hargasha as
they are not a sensation of the actual bleeding.

8 Bedika means checking. At different times during her cycle a woman must check her status by doing a
Bedika, i.e. inserting a piece of cloth deep in her vagina and carefully applying pressure all around it to gather
any trace of blood which may be there. This will be explained in Simon 196,6.

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2. The opening of the Mekor.

The Shulchan Aruch, Simon 190, 1 describes the Hargasha as the sensation of the opening
of the cervix due to the bleeding. This Hargasha also, unquestionably, renders the
woman Temea midOraisa but is rare today.

3. A liquid flowing.
If a woman feels a liquid flowing down in her vagina, some hold that this constitutes a
Hargasha (Noda biyhuda Yod 55 DH oumeata), However others (Chasam Sofer, Responsa
145) disagrees strongly. Those who disagree hold that since the Touma only occurs at
the moment blood passes the cervix, the later hargasha of feeling the blood flowing
cannot render the woman temea. Therefore, that Hargasha does not render the
woman Temea. The Chavos daas holds that the sensation of flowing has the status of a
Hargasha but only if the woman feels it in the cervix, not later in the vagina.
The Noda biyhuda on the other hand argues that the requirement of a Hargasha, was
inferred from the word bivsarah, in her flesh, which refers to the vagina not the uterus.
In any case, it is only the sensation of the flowing which constitutes a Hargasha, not
just the feeling of being wet. Thus, if a woman feels wetness in her vagina and finds
blood there, she is not Temea midOraisa. In Higros Moshe, Rav Moshe Feinstein is Possek like
the Noda biyhuda, the sensation of blood flowing constitutes a Hargasha.
Bedika

When a woman experiences a Hargasha, she must make a Bedika, checking.

1. If she finds blood on the piece of cloth, the Eid used to make this Bedika she
is then certainly Temea midOraisa.
2. If she finds another substance on the Eid and no blood, well say that this
substance was the cause of the Hargasha and she is still Tehora, pure.
3. The case when she doesnt find anything on the Eid will be studied later in
Simon 190, 1.
Very often, a woman will think that she is sensing some wetness in her vagina. As we
stated already a sensation of wetness doesnt constitute a Hargasha, and therefore
doesnt require a Bedika. However she may be uncertain whether its only a sensation of
wetness or a real Hargasha of something bleeding. This often is the case when a woman
is nervous or expecting to have her period. The easiest way to circumvent this problem
may be to require this woman to make a Bedika. Of course, if shell find blood she will

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become Temea. However, if shell find something else, i.e. some mucus, she will remain
Tehora. If three times on a row, a woman will feel a flow in her vagina, make a Bedika
but still remain Tehora, she will have established that this feeling is irrelevant for her and
she will be able to disregard it next time it happens. For this woman it wont be
considered a Hargasha.

4. Through a Bedika.
The Acharonim9 debate the question to know what the status of a woman who makes a
Bedika and finds blood on the Eid, but didnt experience any Hargasha. Are we going to
say:
a) That since she didnt feel anything she is not Temea midOraisa
b) Or should we rather say that the bleeding that she found did come with a
Hargasha, but she didnt distinguish it from the feeling of friction of the Eid in
her vagina while doing the Bedika.
We suspect that there was in fact a Hargasha but that she wasnt aware of it because she
confused it with the Hargasha of the Bedika itself. Many Acharonim [(the Kreisi uplesi
(Tiferes Yonoson 183,1), the Sidrei tahara (183,2), and the Chavos daas (190,1)] consider the
possibility of this hidden Hargasha and are Possek, rule, that this woman will be Temea
midOraisa in accordance with the rule of Safek deOraisa leChumra10.
The reason we suspect this woman to have had a Hargasha even though she didnt feel
anything is based on a principle brought by the Rambam (hilchos issurei bia 9, 1) that
Chezkas Damim beHargasha meaning that as a general rule (in most cases) when blood is
discharged from the Mekor it is associated with an Hargasha. Of course, when a woman
finds blood on her clothing or on her flesh and doesnt remember having any Hargasha,
we have no choice but to conclude that the blood came without a Hargasha since we
have no other way to explain the presence of the blood. We are therefore forced to say
that an exception occurred.

Rabbis of the later generations, from the 16th century and on.

10 In case of doubt, the general rule is that concerning rabbinical questions we can be lenient, but in Torah
questions we must take the most stringent view. In our case, we must adopt the view that the woman had a
Hargasha since in this case she would be Temea midOraisa.

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However in our case when the blood was found through a Bedika we are able to
validate the principle of Chezkas Damim beHargasha by saying that the blood came with
a Hargasha and explain her not feeling it because of the other feelings due to the Bedika.
The same reasoning would apply if a woman would discover blood during intercourse
or after urinating. This latest case will be studied in Simon 191.

5. Regular period.
Based on what was previously said regarding Chezkas Damim beHargasha, some
Acharonim (Aruch Hashulhan Simon 183) hold that any time a woman experiences a
regular period, even if she doesnt acknowledge any Hargasha, we must still say that she
had a Hargasha that she wasnt aware of.

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