Siman 196, Seifim 2-3

 

  1. If she saw blood for one day only and it stopped  during that day, she must perform her self-examination in connection with her hefsek tahara with a Moch Dachuk and leave it in throughout the evening period. Nevertheless, it would be considered acceptable if she performed a self-examination close to the evening and found herself to be clean.  This is true even if she did not have a Moch Dachuk for the entire evening period.  However, a self-examination for Hefsek Tahara done during the morning of the first day does not help her, since she only saw for one day.
     

  2. On the day that she was no longer bleeding she examined herself, as has been discussed, she must wear a garment that has been examined and determined not to have any stains.  At night she puts on bed sheets that have been examined and found to have no stains.  The following morning she begins to count her 7 clean days. And it is a proper custom that after the Hefsek Tahara, the woman wash and put on white clothing.  However, it is sufficient if she is only able to wash her genitals.  So is our custom and one should not deviate.  In a pressing situation, such as if she is traveling on the road, she can count the 7 clean days and just wear clean clothes that have been examined for stains.


What's Going On - The White Clothing

The Halacha requires that the clothing that the wear be white - and not some off-white color.  For contemporary purposes this rule is satisfied by wearing white undergarments.  If a woman often has spotting during the 7 days, she might be able to, under halachic guidance, wear colored undergarments.  The requirement to have clean white sheets relates to those places and times when people slept with no clothes.  For us, wearing white undergarments to sleep would satisfy the requirements of this halachaRav Wozner adds that it is, nevertheless, a good thing to change the sheets in order to preserve a minhag Yisrael.

 

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