Harchakot of Niddah: Difference between revisions
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'''Harchakot''' (Hebrew: הרחקות, tran. ''separations'') are supplementary Rabbinic restrictions intended to prevent a couple from excessive intimacy which could lead them to | '''Harchakot''' (Hebrew: הרחקות, tran. ''separations'') are supplementary Rabbinic restrictions intended to prevent a couple from excessive intimacy which could lead them to biblically forbidden conduct during the niddah period. Couples tend to have a certain level of familiarity, routine, and habitual rapport, therefore, the Sages - with their psychological understanding and insight - saw the need for these additional restrictions. Accordingly, these precautions only apply to married couples and does not pertain to interactions with women whom a man invariably may not touch.<ref>Shabbat 13a, Responsa Rosh (no. 47) and Responsa Rashba (vol. 1, no. 1188). See Rama (Even HaEzer 21:5) for various modesty ethics that must be practiced while interacting with women in general. </ref> | ||
These precautions commence with the wife's menstruation and extend until the culmination of her purification process: immersion.<ref>Shulchan Aruch and Rama (Yorei Deah 195:1), Torat HaTaharah (p. 95), Taharat Yosef (3:1) </ref> This prohibition remains even if a woman reached menopause, when she no longer experiences menstrual cycles, and in the past has not followed the requisite steps to purification; she must unfetter herself with a count of [[Hefsek Tahara and Shiva Nekiyim|hefsek taharah, seven clean days,]] and immersion.<ref>Taharat Yosef (3:2) | These precautions commence with the wife's menstruation and extend until the culmination of her purification process: immersion.<ref>Shulchan Aruch and Rama (Yorei Deah 195:1), Torat HaTaharah (p. 95), Taharat Yosef (3:1) </ref> This prohibition remains even if a woman reached menopause, when she no longer experiences menstrual cycles, and in the past has not followed the requisite steps to purification; she must unfetter herself with a count of [[Hefsek Tahara and Shiva Nekiyim|hefsek taharah, seven clean days,]] and immersion.<ref>Taharat Yosef (3:2) | ||
