Ketamim

From Halachipedia

On a Torah level a woman is only tameh if she has a hargasha when she sees blood.[1] There is a major dispute as to what this includes and even further dispute nowadays when these signs aren't usually observed today. Nonetheless, the poskim agree that today woman do become tameh on a Torah level even though she isn't sure that she had a hargasha at all.[2] Either way, the rabbis declared that any time a woman sees blood from her body she is tameh.[3] Additionally, if she sees the blood after it came out and is found as a stain it will also make her tameh.[4] In the halachot of niddah a stain is called a ketem and the plural is ketamim.

What is a Hargasha?

  1. The most accepted definition of a hargasha is that if a woman feels that her mekor (usually defined as the uterus) opened that is a hargasha and when blood comes out that will make her tameh.[5]
  2. Alternatively, another definition of hargasha given by the poskim is feeling something liquid moving and exiting the body.[6]
  3. Lastly, some poskim think that if the woman feels her body trembling that is considered a hargasha.[7]
  4. There are also a few occurrences which chazal state could be confused with a hargasha. Therefore, if blood is found at one of these times according to many poskim there is a concern that there was a hargasha even if she didn't feel one. These examples include: going to the bathroom, doing an internal bedika, and having tashmish.[8]

If there is a Hargasha without any Blood

  1. If a woman felt her mekor open and didn't find any blood she is nonetheless tameh.[9] if she's not sure if she had such a hargasha she's tahor.[10] If she checks immediately and doesn't find any blood there is a dispute if she is tahor.[11]
  2. If a woman felt a liquid exiting her body or a trembling of her body and didn't find any blood she is not tameh.[12]

Hargasha Nowadays

  1. Most woman today do not feel the hargasha described by earlier poskim. Some do feel the movement and exiting of liquid. Additionally, some poskim think that feeling an ache or the like prior to having a period, which is common, is a type of hargasha.[13] However, the poskim conclude that nonetheless woman today are tameh on a Biblical level for a few reasons.
  2. Some poskim hold that today we do have the same types of hargasha though we just don't realize it.[14]
  3. Some poskim hold that every woman is automatically tameh on a Biblical level. If she usually has a hargasha and one time doesn't then she's not tameh on a Biblical level, however, since woman today never have a hargasha they are automatically tameh on a Biblical level.[15]
  4. Some poskim hold that today the hargasha is defined by a normal type of seeing blood for a period, which is usually a normal amount of blood. However, if a woman is on a Mirena IUD she might still be a niddah on a Biblical level even if she only sees a drop each month since for her that is the normal way of her period.[16]

Leniencies of Ketamim

  1. If a ketem is smaller than a garis it is tahor.[17]
  2. If a ketem is found on something that doesn't contract tumah it is tahor.[18]
  3. If a ketem is found on something colored it is tahor.[19]

Sources

  1. ↑ Shmuel in Gemara Niddah 57b. See also Mishna Niddah 58b.
  2. ↑ See Pitchei Teshuva 190:1
  3. ↑ Shach 190:1
  4. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 190:1
  5. ↑ Trumat Hadeshen 246, Shulchan Aruch YD 190:1, Taharat Habayit v. 1 p. 334
  6. ↑ Nodeh Beyehuda YD 1:55 holds that feeling a liquid exiting the body is a type of hargasha while the Chatom Sofer 1:145 argues that it isn't a type of hargasha.
  7. ↑ Pitchei Teshuva 183:1 based on Rambam Isurei Biyah 5:17
  8. ↑ Niddah 57b, Pitchei Teshuva 183:1 citing the Chavot Daat 190 and Sidrei Tahara
  9. ↑ Trumat Hadeshen 246, Shulchan Aruch YD 190:1
  10. ↑ Nodeh Beyehuda YD 2:118, Taharat Habayit v. 1 p. 334
  11. ↑ Pitchei Teshuva 190:5 quotes the Kereti Upeleti as holding that she is tahor and the Chavot Daat as holding that she is tameh.
  12. ↑ Chacham Adam 113:1 (cited by Pitchei Teshuva 190:3) writes that if a woman trembles and checks and doesn't find any blood she doesn't need to be concerned that she is tameh. Sidrei Tahara 190:3 adds that even for the hargasha of feeling a liquid exit the body it is possible that one can assume it was mey raglayim since that's more common than blood. Therefore, Taharat Habayit v. 1 p. 334 rules that the stringency of the trumat hadeshen that automatically a hargasha renders a woman tameh doesn't apply to the body trembling or feeling a liquid exit the body.
  13. ↑ Rav Moshe Feinstein in Igrot Moshe YD 4:17:12, Maharam Shik YD 177, 184 based on Rambam Isurei Biyah 8:2
  14. ↑ Aruch Hashulchan YD 190:61, Rav Moshe Feinstein in Igrot Moshe 4:17:12
  15. ↑ Rav Elyashiv in Kovetz Teshuva 1:84
  16. ↑ Rabbi Mordechai Willig (Niddah Shiur 83) on YUTorah.org
  17. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 190:5
  18. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 190:10
  19. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 190:10
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