Siman 197, Seifim 1 - 2
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A niddah, a zavah and a birth mother never
emerge from their impurity without immersion. Even after many
years, one who has intercourse with any of them is liable for kares,
unless she immersed properly and in the proper place.
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If a woman's husband is in the city, it is a mitzvah
for her to immerse at earliest appropriate moment so as not to annul the
commandment of procreation for even one night.
Rama - A woman may immerse on Friday night if her husband is in the city
if it had not possible for her to do so before then. However, if
he is not, then she may not do so. If it had been possible for her
to immerse earlier, for example, after childbirth or if her husband had
not been in town and then arrived unexpectedly on Friday, there are
those who say that she is not permitted to immerse. So is the
custom in certain places, but in a place that has no custom one should
not be strict. In those places that are strict, one also does not
immerse on Saturday night because once it was possible for her to
immerse earlier, we do not lengthen the time between the chafifah
and the immersion. Similarly, a widow may not make her first
immersion (after re-marriage) on Friday night, since one may not have
one's initial intercourse wit her on Shabbos. Consequently,
she may also not immerse Saturday night. There are those who
permit her to immerse on Saturday night, since we did not permit her to
do so earlier because of our fear of a prohibition.
What's Going On -
Timely Immersions
The halacha is based on an argument among the
rishonim (Rabbis of the 11th - 15th centuries) about whether immersion
at the proper time (i.e. earliest possible moment) is a mitzvah in
and of it self or not. The general halachic conclusion is that
in modern times, timely immersion if not an independent mitzvah, but
rather should be done in a timely manner "so
as not to annul the commandment of procreation". Rav Wozner points out
that the phrase is not meant literally - otherwise pregnant and nursing
women, for example, would not fall into the halachic category that is
being established here. Rather, he explains, the imperative is
fulfilling the commandment of intercourse.
Therefore, there is no
definitive mitzvah to immerse when the woman's husband is out of
town. The Rabbis have understood this dictum of the Shulchan Aruch
in several ways. The basic understanding is what what we have already
explained - that there is no definitive mitzvah but there is no
affirmative prohibition either. The Zohar however however
states that there is danger in doing so in that a dybbuk or evil
spirit might enter her. The Shevus Yaakov says that if a woman
does immerse, she should not sleep alone but should have an infant sleep
with her and should place a knife under her pillow. Although there are
those who assert that this custom has no basis, it has apparently been
accepted and so is our practice.
As an offshoot of the discussion of timely immersion, the Rama raises
the issue of immersion on Friday night. The primary contemporary issue
in the prohibition of bathing on Shabbos is that one might violate
the prohibition of Schita - wringing out one's hair or towel.
Seemingly, this reason should apply to immersion as well and, indeed, a
woman needs to be careful about this. The permission to immerse on
Shabbos requires that the husband be in town.
An issue arises if the husband has been out of town during the week, one day
of which would have been her immersion day and arrives unexpectedly on
Friday. Obviously, she has not immersed. The Rama informs
us that there are places with a custom not to permit the woman to immerse on
Friday night, since, in theory at least, she could have immersed earlier but
didn't because of the custom not to. However, the majority of
poskim do not agree with this custom and would permit immersion in this
case on Friday night.
If a woman deliberately postponed her immersion, however, there is a strong
custom to not permit immersion on Friday night. Although there are
circumstances under which it can be permitted; one should seek guidance is
one is in this situation.
In a different circumstance, a
woman who owned a shop in the market would need to have closed early for
timely immersion, thus letting the entire marketplace know that she was
going for immersion. In order to preserve the woman's privacy, she was
permitted to delay her immersion until Friday night and the delay was not
considered to be a "deliberate" one that would have prevented her from doing
so.
The issue of Saturday night
immersion and chafifa will be more fully explained in Siman
199.
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