Hilchos Niddah Siman 186, Seifim 1-2

Siman 186 Seifim 1 - 2:

1. A woman who has a vesses kavua does not need to perform any checks either before or after intercourse. Quite the opposite, she should refrain from checking in her husband's presence so that he should not have his “heart knock.”[1] The Rambam requires examination after intercourse, her with a single eid and him with a single eid. They should examine the eidim to determine whether there was any flow of blood during intercourse. According to the Rambam, modest women perform an examination before intercourse[2]. The first opinion is the key one, and this is our custom.

2. If she has a vesses sheaino kavua, the first three times she engages in intercourse she needs to perform an examination before and after intercourse, him with his eid and her with her eid. If those 3 checks determine that there is no bleeding because of intercourse, the couple never needs to perform an examination either before or after intercourse. The Rambam and the Rosh both hold that any woman with a vesses sheaino kavua must always perform an examination before and after intercourse; Rambam requires that the husband also perform an examination after intercourse. And she does not need to check herself after each act of intercourse during the night, but they wipe themselves with an eid throughout the night and examine it in the morning. If there is blood, she is temeah. If she wiped herself and lost the eid, she cannot have further intercourse until she performs an examination because of her status as an aino kavua.

What's going on?

The Rambam's view in Seif 1 is a single opinion; as the Rama points out, is not the custom among Ashkenazim. Apparently, it is also not the Halacha for Sephardim.[3] The Seif also introduces the concept of an eid - a piece of clean white cloth that each of them uses to wipe themselves after intercourse. The requirements of a proper eid are covered in Siman 196.

The second seif teaches us that a woman with a vesses sheaino kavua needs to consider the possibility that intercourse will trigger a menstrual flow. This is necessary because we have no apparent knowledge of anything - whether time, symptom or physical action, that works with her cycle. However, after she has established three times that she has not seen blood, she acquires a chazaka that precludes her from having to check ever again. Again, the view of the Rambam is not mainstream Halacha.

Another question is exactly what type of self-examination must the woman perform. Generally, there are 2 types of relevant methods - the simple wipe of the outer portion of her vagina or an examination "B'chorin u'v'sadkin" - an internal examination that tries to reach into each cranny and fold of her vaginal canal. Although there is a view that it must be of the B'chorin u'v'sadkin type[4], our practice is to require simple wiping.[5]

It appears that most of the rishonim hold that no bedikah is required at any time. However the poskim appear to defer to the more strict view of Rabbeinu Chananel.[6] It appears that one can meet this requirement with intercourse 3 times during one night, with a check after each time.[7] Others argue and maintain that the bedikos must be done on different nights.[8] Additionally, if a woman has never checked herself, but over an extended period has not experienced any blood flow from intercourse, she is established as one who does not see blood because of intercourse.[9]

The two theoretical examinations have functionally different purposes. The first is to ascertain that she has not become impure and thus forbidden to her husband; the second is to determine whether there has been bleeding as a direct result of intercourse. Neither of these is applicable to a woman who has a fixed vesses.[10]

There is a view that if a woman has a cycle of at least 25 days with no regularity after that point, she must perform these checks after day 25, since she is considered to have a “partially” fixed vesses.[11] The time of “before intercourse” means no more than 30 minutes prior to intercourse.[12]

The applicable Halacha today is that we never require a woman to perform a bedikah, even if she has a non-fixed vesses. Nevertheless, it is appropriate to be strict about this and it is exceptionally appropriate to be strict about the bedikah before intercourse.[13] Therefore, in practice we do a check after the first three acts of intercourse. There are those who prefer a check of the B'chorin u'v'sadkin type before intercourse and require it afterwards.[14]

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[1] i.e., be discouraged from having intercourse by concluding that the reason she is checking is because she has felt a hargasha.