Hargasha

From Halachipedia

What is a Hargasha

  1. Chazal learn from the pasuk דם יהיה זובה בבשרה[1] that in order for a woman to become a Niddah on a Biblical level she needs to feel the onset of her flow. That feeling is called a hargasha.[2] There are three major types of feelings (hargashot) that would indicate that her period began and would render her a Niddah.[3]
    1. Many explain that if a woman felt that her uterus opened that is a hargasha.[4]
    2. Others explain that if a woman felt some liquid flow from the uterus into the inner part of her vagina that is a hargasha.[5]
    3. Others explain that if a woman felt a certain shock sensation that caused her to shake that is a hargasha.[6]
  2. Even if she saw blood and didn't have a hargasha she is a Niddah rabbinically.[7]

Hargasha Nowadays

  1. Nowadays most women do not feel any of these conditions. Nonetheless, the poskim assume that women who experience their period are a Niddah on a Biblical level.[8]
  2. The rules of ketamim do not apply to a bedika cloth even if she says that she didn't feel a hargasha.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag
    1. If a woman urinated: A ketem on a wipe or tissue found after urinating if found immediately it is considered niddah blood but if it is found after a normal amount of time that a woman would wait to wipe for all of the drops to leave her it is only a ketem.[9] A ketem found on tissue paper isn't a ketem since it isn't mekabel tumah.[10]
    2. If a had tashmish
    3. If a woman did a bedika
  3. If a woman was involved in one of those activities and states that she is certain that she didn't have a hargasha according to some opinions she is credible. However, many poskim are strict and say even in such a case there is a concern that the hargasha was masked and the blood is judged as though it came out with a hargasha.[11]
  4. Any blood found on a bedika cloth even if she says that she didn't have a hargasha is treated as though it is possibly Biblical and the leniencies of ketem do no apply.[12]

Sources

  1. ↑ Vayikra 15:19
  2. ↑ Gemara Niddah 57b, Rambam Isurei Biyah 9:1, Shulchan Aruch YD 190:1, Taharat Habayit v. 1 p. 6
  3. ↑ Pitchei Teshuva YD 184:1
  4. ↑ Trumat Hadeshen, Shulchan Aruch YD 183:1, Pitchei Teshuva 183:1
  5. ↑ Pitchei Teshuva YD 183:1 citing the Nodeh Beyehuda YD 55 and Chavot Daat 190:1 who hold that a feeling of a liquid flow is a hargasha, while the Chatom Sofer 145, 153, 167, 171 argues. Taharat Habayit v. 1 p. 14 agrees with the Chatom Sofer that essentially this isn't a hargasha.
  6. ↑ Rambam Isurei Biyah 5:17, Pitchei Teshuva 183:1
  7. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 190:1
  8. ↑ Aruch Hashulchan 183:61 writes that woman do still experience hargasha even if they testify otherwise. Igrot Moshe YD 4:17:12 writes that it is possible for woman to have a slight feeling of a hargasha and miss it. Either way he says that if a woman knows it is her flow she is a Niddah but if she finds blood and doesn't have any feeling of any hargasha it is only a ketem.
  9. ↑ Igrot Moshe YD 4:17:13
  10. ↑ Igrot Moshe 4:17:14
  11. ↑ See Sidrei Tahara 183:1
  12. ↑ Taharat Habayit v. 1 p. 17
Retrieved from "http://localhost:80/index.php?title=Hargasha&oldid=22111"