What's Going On - Barriers to Immersion - More on nails, jewelry and other potential barriers Seif 21 gives us a strange law - a case in which a woman's fingernail is torn. The Shulchan Aruch rules that if a small part of a nail is torn, the nail constitutes a barrier and if it is mostly torn it is not. The Shach doesn't understand what this law is even doing here - since he holds that a single uncut nail requires a new immersion, it should be the case here as well that the woman would need a new immersion. Rav Wozner suggests that if the nail is partially torn, it is perhaps too painful or difficult for the woman to remove immediately, but we can assume that she wants to remove it when the opportunity arises. Therefore, the nail has the statud of "kol ha-omed l'katzetz k'katzutz dami" and becomes a barrier. If the nail is more than half torn, it would be relatively easy her here to remove it; that she hasn't is an indication that she wants it to remain and is therefore not in the category of "omed l'katzetz." Alternatively, he suggests that the halacha is that the torn nail is not a barrier at all, but rather that the offending item is on the torn nail. Therefore, if the nail is less than half torn, it retains the status of being attached and the item stuck to it would become a barrier. Conversely, if it is more than half torn, its status is of being detached from her. Therefore, the item stuck to it would not be a barrier. The Pischei Tshuvah(12) deals with a related issue. The common practice was that a woman who got married retained her own hair until after her initial intercourse with her new husband. It would appear that her hair should have been a barrier when she went to immerse prior to the wedding since it is "omed l'katzetz" - at the time of the immersion it has been determined that her hair will be cut. The answer that he brings in the name of the Chasam Sofer is that the rules of omed l'katzetz apply only when the cutting could theoretically take place immediately. However, since in this case the hair would only be cut after some intervening events, the principle does not apply here and the girl's hair would not be a barrier. Seif 23 discusses the effect of jewelry on immersion. The rings referred to in the Shulchan Aruch include both earrings and nose rings. R. Akiva Eiger notes that there is one view that it is specifically nose rings that are a barrier and that earrings are not while there is another view that states exactly the opposite, Rav Wozner suggests that these views might not be in conflict and that the case of nose rings not being a barrier might be discussing a case in which the woman does not ordinarily remove the item before bathing. The Sefer Gan HaMelech suggests that since we consider a woman to be concerned about jewelry if she removes it while kneading bread, a woman who does not bake bread or do any manual labor for which she would remove rings might in fact not need to remove them before immersing since her own personal behavior does not create a state of "hakpada". The Sidrei Taharah rejects this argument, asserting that we do not find this distinction made elsewhere in halacha. A woman needs to clean her teeth before immersion; this process includes flossing. Rav Wozner has an extended discussion about whether or not various types of dental work constitute barriers. Permanent filling and crowns do not, but a temporary crown that is intended to be in place for a shirt time (under a month) probably would constitute a barrier. With respect to other dental work in general, items that are intended to be permanent are not barriers and those that are removed with some degree of frequency are. Braces that are in place for an extended time are also not barriers. Seif 25 introduces is to the terms "hidden places" and "wrinkled places". "Hidden places" include the inside of the nose, the inside of the ear, the vaginal entrance and the mouth. "Folded places" include the armpit, base of the neck, underneath the breasts and folds of fat in a heavyset or older woman. Collectively, although not entirely accurately, this collection of body locations is referred to in halacha as "hidden places". The halacha does not actually require that water actually reach all of these places, just that it be possible for water to do so. Therefore, a woman needs to all of these areas to assure that they will be accessible to water. As in the case of teeth from Seif 24, if a woman did not wash these areas prior to immersion and subsequently found a barrier, she must immerse again.
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