Siman 190 Seifim 1- 4
1. From the Torah, a woman is not impure nor forbidden to her husband until she has a hargasha[1]. The Sages decreed that she is impure if a kesem (stain) is found on her or on her clothing and is therefore forbidden to her husband . This is true even if she felt no hargasha and if she performed a self-examination and found herself to be clean. After this, she needs to perform a hefsek tahara and to count 7 clean days, as though she had seen an actual flow. If she had a hargasha that her uterus opened to expel blood and she checked afterwards and did not find anything, there is one who says that she is impure.
2. The decree was not instituted for a young girl whose time to see has not yet come - that is, someone under the age of 12 even if she has pubic hair or someone who is over 12 who is examined and is found to not have pubic hair, whether she is a virgin or not and even if she has already had two menstrual flows. However, if she has had 3, then the laws of kesem apply to her.
3. If the young girl experiences a slight flow for several days or experiences continuous droplets, it is only considered to be one sighting. But if the flow or dripping stops for a period, even if it all happens 3 times all on one day, she is considered to be a full menstruant and her kesem is subject to the decree. There are those who hold that she needs to experience 3 full cycles, but one should be strict like the first opinion.
4. A young girl who has not reached the age of menstruation (see seif 2) who sees 3 times and then stops seeing for another 3 cycles, which is 90 days, returns to her earlier state and her kesem is pure until she returns and establishes her period for another 3 cycles.
What's Going On - Spotting and Staining
Spotting, or Kesamim (sing. kesem) is another of the major areas of the laws of Niddah. The previous sections that we have studied have been primarily related to the concept of vesses - the separation of a husband and wife in anticipation of the onset of her period. We have also studied which colors of blood make a woman impure. Now we will study a complimentary and important section of the laws of Niddah - those covering spotting and staining. This is a fairly common problem among women and represents a large portion of the practical questions that arise.
When confronted with a kesem, a posek needs to determine the status of the kesem. The first step is to ascertain whether the color of the stain is one that would render her impure. The details for colors have been covered in Siman 188. If the color qualifies as an impure one, then the laws in this section apply in determining whether or not the woman is impure.
Seif 1 tells us that a qualifying stain renders a woman impure just as an actual menstrual flow would and all of the procedures and all of the rules relating to a true menstrual flow apply to a kesem as well - the hefsek taharah, the 7 clean days and the immersion in the mikveh.
Shevet HaLevi[2] discusses whether there is any difference between kesamim that are found during the daytime and those that are found when a woman wakes up in the morning. In general, there should be difference in Halacha - if she had had a hargasha she would have been woken up by it. However, given that women today do not necessarily know what sensations are hagashos and which ones aren't, there are views that would differentiate between the two and make a woman who sees a stain upon waking up impure. The Shevet HaLevi is unconvinced by the arguments, but asserts that if a woman takes medication for sleep or that deepens her sleep, one should be strict and consider kesamim found in the morning to be impure.
There is a concept called s’faik s’faika – a double doubt that one might be tempted to propose in our case. First, we are uncertain if a vlood stain that we find is from the woman or from some external source. Then, even if it is from the woman, we are uncertain as to whether the bleeding is uterine or not. Normally, in a case where there are two overlapping doubts, the Halachic ruling tends to be lenient. However, in this particular case we do not consider the second doubt to be legitimate since, in the absence of a known internal injury, vaginal bleeding is considered to be uterine.[3]
The last sentence of Seif 1 poses some difficulties and we'll go into this in a bit more depth. The Halacha tells us that (a) the woman has a hargasha of feeling her uterus open (b) she checks afterwards and finds nothing then (c) she is impure. The basic source of this stricture is the Trumas HaDeshen[4]. The reason that in this case the woman is impure is because of a safek - doubt. That is, implicit in the ruling is that if she DID find a stain and that stain was of a non-offending color, then she would not be impure. We only render her impure because we cannot determine if the flow that she felt in her hargasha was of a pure or impure nature. Many later commentaries take issue with this, but the basic Halacha of the Trumas HaDeshen remains in place.[5]
Because we render her impure out of doubt, one can be lenient if there is any other safek that enters the picture[6].
.Clearly then, if the woman after her hargasha finds a stain that is white, or some other non-offending color, she is pure. This is the opinion of most of the poskim.
A second issue that arises is exactly which types of hargasha are included. The basic three are (a) a feeling of opening of the uterus; (b) a shivering and (c) feeling an internal flow. The language of the Shulchan Aruch indicates that not all hargashos qualify for the chumra. On the surface, it seems clear that hargasha type (a) is included. None of the poskim argues about that.[7]
As far as (b) goes, based on the language of the Shulchan Aruch, some maintain that a hargasha of this type is not included in this halacha[8]. The Chasam Sofer takes issue with that, but maintains that (c) does not count as a hargasha for these purposes.
The underlying argument to exempt (c) is that women regularly have flows of liquid substances, most of which are not uterine blood. Second, the inclusion of (c) in the list of hargashos is based on a Noda BiYehudah that is the subject of substantial dispute. The Chasam Sofer, for one, takes serious issue with this idea and, citing his Rebbe Rav. Nosson Adler, rejects (c) as a hargasha at all. The Shevet HaLevi appears to agree with the Chasam Sofer, but acknowledges that there are views that are strict on this. He goes a bit further and holds that the stricter views would only render a woman impure if the flow that she felt was in the uterine area and not if it is only in the generalized vaginal area.
The Shevet Halevi concludes that this chumra of the Trumas Hadeshen applies only in case (a) and acknowledges that there might be a valid strict view with regards to (b)[9].
Interestingly, Rav Wozner also notes that menstrual behavior prior to marriage should not be an indication of what it will be after marriage[10]. I have seen articles linking menstrual regularity and sexual activity, so his statement has some scientific validity. Incidentally, he makes the comment in connection with a woman who before she is married experiences hargashos followed by non-impure staining on a regular basis. A woman can in fact establish a chazaka that her hargashos are not impure. It is specifically this chazaka that Rav Wozner holds is not transferable from pre-marriage to post-marriage. I am unaware if he makes this assertion regarding other matters as between virginity and marriage. If anyone does, please let me know.
Returning to clause (b) of the Halacha, as we have learned, if a woman finds a pure spotting when she checks she would be pure. The Chavos Da'as[11] holds that the woman is pure only if checks immediately. However, if she checks after some time, even if she finds a pure mareh, the woman is impure. Conversely, there are other poskim who hold that the regulation applies only if she performs her check during the subsequent onah, but if she checks immediately and finds nothing then she is pure. The Shevet HaLevi leaves open the question of exactly what the cut-off time after the hargasha should be.
Nowadays, since women wear underwear that remains very close to the body and would pick-up any discharges, one can make an examination of her undergarments
With respect to pregnant and nursing women, the Toras HaShlamim is lenient and would not impose impurity on the woman, while the Chasam Sofer is stricter on the matter. Shevet HaLevi seems to conclude that one can be lenient during pregnancy and in the immediate aftermath. However, he notes that women today who are nursing sometimes do menstruate; based on that he says one should not be lenient on a woman who is not nursing but is still within the 24 month period of yemay maynikusa.
Interestingly, the Shulchan Aruch provides us with a specific halacha with respect to a young girl’s spotting and does not mention a menopausal woman. One suggestion offered is that the older woman still has some status of bleeding and thus doesn't get quite as lenient treatment as the young girl, at the very least in the earlier stages of her menopause[12].
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