All right, rabotai (gentlemen), they say all good things come to an end. This will be our last installment of a really great semester or semesters learning the most important halachot (Jewish laws), hilchot niddah (laws of niddah). They say it’s all downhill from here. These classes are obviously technical and detailed, but the next sections are more practical halachot, like berachot (blessings), and we’ll be able to breathe a little. We don’t have to worry that if we make a mistake, we’ll be involved in karet (spiritual excision), although berachah levatalah (blessing in vain) is a serious thing.
Today we actually get to the discussion of going to the mikveh (ritual bath). We finally got there. We’ve been talking for six months, and now we’ve finally finished our bedikot (examinations), everything came out good, and the rabbis give her the green light to go to the mikveh. If you got through all that? Exactly. If you made it through all those hurdles, now we get to the mikveh.
We’re going to start with the first makor (source) he brings. Could somebody give me the page? It’s kuf samech zayin, so I think it’s daf 63. A lot of material today; this is the end of the book, so we’ll go through it quickly. First is the Gemara, Shabbat samech dalet: “Mah talmud lomar vehadava benidatah, benidatah tehei ad shetavo vamayim” (What does the verse teach? She remains in her niddah state until she enters the water). The Gemara learns that she is a niddah (menstruant) until she goes into the water. Technically speaking, if a lady gets her period, counts her zayin neki’im (seven clean days), and everything comes out good, she could remain like that for 50 years until she goes to the mikveh. There’s no statute where we say, “Okay, 50 years are up, and therefore we forgot about it.” She’s not tehorah (ritually pure) until she actually immerses herself in the mikveh.
And Rashi says, “Ad shetavo vamayim litbol, ve'af al pi she'avru zayin shellah” (until she enters the water to immerse, even though her seven days have passed), “ufasak mayan” (and her flow has stopped). It doesn’t matter. The only way to make a lady kosher after zayin neki’im is for her to go into the water. So that’s the first issue.
Now he quotes the Gemara Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Talmud), and there’s a big discussion here: Is tevilah bizmanah mitzvah (immersion at its time is a mitzvah)? Put all your feelings to the side. Of course we want a lady to go to the mikveh as soon as she can so she can be with her husband, but that’s a separate issue. Is it a mitzvah (commandment) in general? Once a lady has the ability to become pure, is there a mitzvah for her to become pure at the earliest time? If you say yes, you’d call that tevilah bizmanah mitzvah. She gets a special mitzvah to be pure and not delay it and say, “I know I can go Tuesday night, but I have a wedding and other things, so I’ll go Wednesday night or Thursday night. What’s the difference?” Is she in contempt of some mitzvah that says it’s better to go at the proper time?
The Yerushalmi actually brings down that a woman should possibly take the first opportunity to go to the mikveh. The Gemara in Yoma (tractate Yoma) and the Rishonim (early rabbinic authorities) have a machloket (dispute) about whether tevilah bizmanah is a mitzvah: Is there an obligation? The issue here is that even according to the opinions that say it’s a mitzvah to go at its time, maybe that was only when ladies were able to go at the official time the Torah wanted them to go. Let’s go back to page one of this session. When did the Torah allow a lady who has a period to go to the mikveh? Seven days later. So maybe then we say tevilah bizmanah, because it’s bizmanah. Today, it’s really not bizmanah, because we added so many extra days. You have the five and the seven, and bedi'avad (after the fact), yeah, so already like lechatchilah (ideally), right? Therefore, the time has already passed. Could be there’s no such thing as bizmanah after rabbinical involvement in lengthening the zeman (time). But a lot of the Rishonim say no: that becomes the new zeman. When the chachamim (Sages) established that the earliest you can go to the mikveh is, let’s say, four and seven or five and seven, that is the zeman. Therefore, the question remains: Is tevilah bizmanah mitzvah?
Open up the Beit Yosef (House of Joseph), which is number two: “Mikol makom, nireh she’im ba’alah ba’ir, mitzvah litbol bizmanah” (In any case, it appears that if her husband is in town, it is a mitzvah to immerse at the proper time). Aha. Put this machloket to the side, whether it’s a separate mitzvah or not. If her husband is in town, it’s a mitzvah for another reason: she should go to the mikveh as soon as possible. “Sheharei matzinu beYehoshua (Joshua son of Nun), shene'enash al shebitel Yisrael miperiyah ureviyah lailah achat” (For we find that Yehoshua was punished for causing Israel to refrain from procreation for one night). We saw that Yehoshua bin Nun—“atah bati” (Now I have come), that’s right—was chastised by the angel because he caused the people to refrain from being with their wives for one night. They chastised him: “What do you mean, you stopped the people from having periyah ureviyah (having children) for one night?” So you see it’s not so simple to push off periyah ureviyah.
The question, then, would be: Certainly, if you’re in your childbearing years, the Beit Yosef is saying you shouldn’t push it off. It might not be a mitzvah as part of tevilah bizmanah mitzvah—that’s a separate mitzvah—but it’s a mitzvah to be with your husband as soon as you can, to have children. The question would be what happens bizman when a person is done having children, or she’s pregnant, or perhaps she’s nursing, or she’s on fertility and therefore there’s no periyah ureviyah. Are you going to say it’s still a mitzvah, or do we have more leeway to say, “Anyway, she’s not having children”? We’ll see that in the halachah (Jewish law).
Open up kuf tzadi zayin, boys. Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law). Kuf tzadi zayin—that’s page—“Like it falls on the Seder.” That’s right; we’ll see all those cases. Kuf tzadi zayin is 199. That helps me. We’re going to do halachah alef, kuf tzadi zayin alef, 199. “Ein hanidah vehazavah (woman with a discharge) vehayoledet (woman after childbirth) olot mitumatam belo tevilah” (A niddah, a zavah, and a woman after childbirth do not emerge from their impurity without immersion). They don’t become pure until they dip. “She’afilu achar kamah shanim,” even after many years, 50 years later, “chayav karet. Haba al achat mehen” (one who has relations with one of them is liable to karet). It’s the same karet. The karet doesn’t get any weaker because of the time that passed. “Ela im ken tavlu kara’uy bemikveh hara’uy” (Only if they immersed properly in a proper mikveh). Tevilah properly, in a mikveh that is proper.
By the way, there’s a movement in the community to help ladies who, for whatever reason, weren’t careful in the laws of niddah and have reached menopause. They’re no longer seeing niddah, but they’re still niddah because they never went to the mikveh. So there’s a movement to get them to the mikveh once. A lot of older ladies are now going to the mikveh at least once. From 55 until 85, whatever it is, when they’re with their husbands, they’ll be okay. That’s a great zechut (merit). You’re stopping more karet from taking place.
You might think, “She’s menopausal; she’s not seeing her period anymore, so it’s all over.” But she’s still niddah. “She doesn’t need bedikot or anything, just go?” She does. She would have to make a hefsek taharah (purity-confirming examination), just to start the seven-day process, and then go. “She has to do a seven-day thing?” Yes. They make it easier for her. She has a bedikah, a hefsek; maybe they won’t make a moch (cotton insert), maybe they will. They don’t want to scare the lady. She’s already—she didn’t go to the mikveh her whole life for those reasons. They don’t want to give her any excuse. They make it easier, but the minimum she has to do is hefsek, bedikat yom alef, and yom zayin for sure, and then let her go.
I’ve known ladies who have done this, and they said their mazal (fortune) changed, and so many things that were hangups and troubles in their lives changed once they did that one tevilah. They said that if they’d known the mikveh was such a blessing outside of marriage, they might have considered it. I guess karet wasn’t enough for them. The fact that it’s karet wasn’t—Had they known, “You make more money by going to the mikveh,” that might have—they would have been convinced right away. Karet is karet, you know. Tinok shenishbah (captive child). All right, they don’t know it’s karet. No, I’m just saying, karet doesn’t speak to them. They didn’t know. Give them the benefit of the doubt.
Okay, bet. Maran (our master): “Im ba’alah ba’ir, mitzvah litbol bizmanah” (If her husband is in town, it is a mitzvah to immerse at the proper time). Why? “Shelo levatel miperiyah ureviyah afilu laylah achat” (So as not to nullify procreation even for one night). That’s a very important hashkafah (religious outlook) about the mikveh. It’s more than hashkafah; it’s actually halachah. A lady shouldn’t say, “You know what? It’s cold, I’m tired. I’ll go tomorrow night, the next night.” No. There’s a mitzvah of periyah ureviyah, and it’s not so pashut (simple) to push off that big mitzvah another night because of other concerns a person might have.
Furthermore, open up Shevet Halevi (Tribe of Levi). It’s right in your books; we have to go through the sources one at a time. Shevet Halevi discusses a case in number 3. Page 63: “Nir’eh dehahiyuv eino davka mishum pu’r, periyah ureviyah, deha chiyuv litbol hu gam bime’uberet” (It appears that the obligation is not specifically because of procreation, since the obligation to immerse also applies to a pregnant woman), “umenikah,” a nursing woman, “uzkenah,” or a woman who has reached menopause, “debahem lo shayach pu’r” (because procreation does not apply to them). “Ela hu chiyuv mishum mitzvat onah (marital obligation)” (Rather, it is an obligation because of the mitzvah of onah). There’s another mitzvah: a husband has a mitzvah to be with his wife. That’s an important mitzvah, and that mitzvah, says the Shevet Halevi, also shouldn’t be pushed off.
“Lachen afilu keshe’i efshar leshamesh” (Therefore, even when marital relations are not possible), all the more so. Let’s say they can’t even have relations; one of them, the husband, isn’t feeling well. “So why do I go to the mikveh? Anyway, we’re not going to have relations.” It doesn’t matter. “Mishum beri’ut haguf, tzrichah litbol” (For the sake of bodily health, she should immerse). She should still go to the mikveh. Why? “Mishum keiruv ve’et negi’ah” (For closeness and touch): you can touch him, kiss him, hug him. And then it adds, “mishum kavod deba’alah, gam belo tashmish (marital relations) mamash” (for the honor of her husband, even without actual marital relations). Therefore, she can serve him in the proper way.
Again, you see from these poskim (halachic authorities) that the Torah’s hashkafah is that you don’t delay mikveh. For some ladies, mikveh is the fourth priority on the list of things to do. “First, I have a tennis game that night, my friend’s wedding, some other things I have to do, a class I’m taking online. If it happens to be mikveh night and none of these things are happening, then the fourth thing will be mikveh.” He’s telling you the halachah here: on mikveh night, it’s actually number one on the list, and everything else becomes secondary, so as not to miss periyah ureviyah or onah even for one moment.
“What if there’s a serious shalom bayit (domestic harmony) issue in the house?” Then you’ve got to fix that. “Well, then she’s not going to the mikveh.” I’m saying it’s not an obligation to go. “She’s going to punch him in the nose?” I don’t know. You’re saying that just because she can touch him, now that she goes to the mikveh, she can punch him in the nose? When there’s a shalom bayit issue, they work on the shalom bayit first, before she goes. She’s not going to the mikveh, that’s for sure.
“Tevilah bizmanah mitzvah mamash, though; otherwise, why would they close on Kippur and Tish’ah Be’Av and Shabbat?” No, because that’s an issur de’Oraita (Torah-level prohibition). “Because there’s no mitzvah that day. If the tevilah itself is a mitzvah, they shouldn’t close.” That’s the discussion. You can’t bathe on Kippur, but on Tish’ah Be’Av, which is deRabbanan (rabbinic enactment), tevilah bizmanah mitzvah—maybe they would allow you. That’s part of the sugya. But we’re not discussing whether tevilah is a mitzvah. Whether we hold that it is a mitzvah or not is a big debate. Maran is saying that however you come out on that, it’s still a mitzvah to go for other reasons: periyah ureviyah, onah, and all the other things.
Now we get to a major item, rabotai. Just quickly, about onah: it’s a mitzvah for a husband to be with his wife. Or for her? Whose mitzvah is it? Both. The man’s obligation—If she doesn’t want to—The man has an obligation to fulfill this mitzvah, and obviously he cannot fulfill it if she doesn’t go to the mikveh.
Again, the kelal gadol (great principle) in marriages—this I heard from Chacham Baruch many times—is that most shalom bayit does not happen on the first floor. It’s on the second floor. That’s what he said. Not in the kitchen, where she made the—It’s on the second floor. “Vehamavin yavin” (the understanding will understand).
“No, I’m saying, if it falls on the Seder, she doesn’t want to go and you’re trying to make a mitzvah and she doesn’t want to go.” Leave the Seder for a second; we’ll get to the Seder. The point is that the attitude has to be that there’s a mitzvah, and it should be mutual. “What, you don’t live with your husband? This breaks the marriage.” Make it another night. Okay, and we’ll see examples where we say maybe she can push it off, or things like that.
Now let’s discuss Friday night, because Friday night is a big item. What’s the problem with Friday night? It could be one of two problems. First, we have an issue of dipping kelim (vessel) from tum’ah (ritual impurity) to taharah (ritual purity). Let’s say you have a keli in the old days that was tamei (ritually impure), and I want to dip it in the mikveh to make it tahor (ritually pure). On Shabbat? On Shabbat. We read in Gemara Shabbat that you can’t do that, because it looks like you’re being metaken keli—fixing the keli. What does it mean that it looks like you’re fixing a keli? This keli was unusable, so for practical purposes it’s like it’s broken. When I dip it in the mikveh, now I can use it. It’s a form of making an unusable keli usable, so it looks like—I know I didn’t build anything, I didn’t—
“Besides metaken keli, bein hashmashot (between sunset and 13 and 1/2 minutes) it entered Shabbat, so then it’s forbidden because of muktzeh (object set aside)?” No, I have a mikveh in my backyard. “Why is it muktzeh?” Because you cannot use it. “Why? I could use it as a weight. I could put it on my papers so they don’t blow away.” You can use a stone for that, by the way. “No, a stone is intrinsically not a keli. I’m not teaching Hilchot Muktzeh now, but a stone is not a keli, so you’d have to be meyached (designating for use) it. A keli is a keli. Just because it’s tamei doesn’t stop it from being a keli. Can’t put food in it, because—” “Why? I cannot put my terumah (priestly offering) in it. What’s the difference? I could drink from it if I’m a Kohen (priest), Levi (Levite), or Yisrael (Israelite). The point is, I can use it for other things.” Put the muktzeh issue to the side. It’s an issue of metaken keli.
The big she’eilah (question) is: a lady going to the mikveh—is she metaken a person? She went in no good, and now she—Is there a halachah against being metaken a person? That is the subject.
Open up the halachah. The Rema (Rema, rabbinic authority) in halachah bet says, “Umuteret litbol leil Shabbat” (She is permitted to immerse on Friday night). There you go. She can go to the mikveh on Friday night. Except, “im lo yachlah litbol kodem lachen” (if she could not immerse before then). If she could have gone Thursday night and pushed it off, she shouldn’t go. “Vedavka im ba’alah ba’ir” (specifically if her husband is in town). If not, she shouldn’t go. “Ve’im hayah efshar litbol kodem lachen, kegon she-hayah achar leidah o she-lo hayah ba’alah ba’ir u-va be-erev Shabbat, yesh omrim she-asurah litbol” (If she could have immersed earlier, for example after childbirth, or her husband wasn’t in town and came on Friday afternoon, some say she is forbidden to immerse). Since she could have gone yesterday and he just showed up, sorry.
Basically, this opinion, which I see in Terumat Hadeshen (Ashes of the Offering), is a tremendous chiddush (novel insight): we don’t just let people go to the mikveh on Friday night without conditions. The conditions are that it’s the night of her tevilah, her husband is in town, and she couldn’t do it before. “Ve-chen nahagu” (and this is the custom). I’m sorry: “Yesh omrim she-asurah litbol ve-chen nahagu” (Some say she is forbidden to immerse, and this is the custom) in some places, where they follow the Terumat Hadeshen. “Aval bi-mkom she-ein minhag (custom), ein le-hachmir” (But where there is no custom, one need not be stringent). If they don’t have that custom, there’s room to be mekel (lenient), as long as her husband is in town, even though she could have gone to the mikveh earlier.
So now we have a major machloket on this issue. I’m reading: the Terumat Hadeshen rules, “Today a woman may only go to the mikveh on Friday night if two conditions are met: her husband is home, and she did not have the opportunity to go beforehand. When these two criteria are met, her tevilah is considered a mitzvah.” Then Chazal (the Sages) aren’t going to say there’s a problem of metaken, of fixing. It’s a mitzvah; they waived their rules. But what makes it a mitzvah according to Terumat Hadeshen? It’s her night and her husband is home. If one of these conditions is missing, she doesn’t go.
However, Chacham Ovadia ruled according to the second opinion: a lady can always go on Friday night as long as her husband is home. There’s no problem if she delayed it and pushed it off for whatever reason. “If the husband isn’t home, you’d say no?” Yes. “Even if he’s coming home Saturday night?” He’s not home—we’ll get to another issue, going to the mikveh when the husband isn’t home. Exactly, which we’ll see now. If the husband isn’t home, she shouldn’t go to the mikveh. But if he is home, even though she could have gone before, Chacham Ovadia is lenient.
“Even if it delays the start of dinner?” Even if it delays the start of dinner. “Even though people are going to find out?” There’s no makeup. We’ll discuss that. “What’s the inyan (point) of people going late Friday afternoon, then?” We’ll get to that now.
Aside from the question of whether a woman may immerse in the mikveh, we have another issue, rabotai. This is a big controversy. You’re not allowed to go into a hot bath on Shabbat. The rabbis made a decree: you cannot go into a hot bath on Shabbat, even if the water was heated before Shabbat. Let’s say a person filled his bathtub with hot water before Shabbat because on Shabbat morning he wants to sit in the bath. It doesn’t matter that you didn’t touch the water on Shabbat; it’s forbidden. Whether you’re in Israel or Panama, you cannot take a hot bath on Shabbat, even if you set the water out before Shabbat. That’s a gezeirah (decree) the Chachamim made.
Now we have an issue. The prime time for a lady to go to the mikveh on Friday night, or any night, is tzet hakochavim (when the stars come out). By then it’s dark; it’s Shabbat. The mikvaot are hot. They’re boiling hot—comfortably hot. So how can a lady go to the mikveh on Friday night? She’s in violation of the hot-water issue.
Men usually don’t go Friday night at 8:30 p.m. Men usually go Friday afternoon—wait, attack, wait, attack—before Shabbat. If you have tzaddikim (righteous people) who go Friday morning, that’s already a chasidut (pious practice); they don’t do it. A lady has to go to the mikveh on Friday night; that’s her tevilah. The question is that the mikvaot are hot. For men, you have options: find a cold mikveh. A lady is a little more sensitive. You can’t tell a lady she has to go to a freezing-cold mikveh or delay until tomorrow night, which she can’t do, so it’s more of a question for a lady.
Did you ever guess I’d have a loophole for the ladies? Open up Shulchan Aruch. He doesn’t bring this material here; it’s in shin-chaf alef, one in Orach Chayim (Path of Life): one is not allowed to bathe in hot water on Shabbat, even if the water was heated before Shabbat. Chazal were worried you might come to heat it on Shabbat. So how can a woman immerse in the mikveh on Friday night?
The Pitchei Teshuvah (Gates of Repentance), bet—first one on the next page—says, “Ve-ayen be-Shut Chacham Tzvi (Chacham Tzvi)” (See the responsa of Chacham Tzvi). First line: “Yesh omrim she-asur le-nashim litbol be-leil Shabbat be-chamin, mishum de-asur lirchotz kol gufo be-chamin be-Shabbat” (Some say women are forbidden to immerse in hot water on Friday night, since bathing one’s whole body in hot water on Shabbat is forbidden). It says in Orach Chayim, siman shin-chaf-vav, and he wrote that a woman who goes to the mikveh in hot water on Friday night has certainly transgressed a prohibition and may be called a sinner. So when she comes home from the mikveh, you say, “Welcome home, sinner!”
“U-mah she-horah chacham echad ve-hitir lahem litbol be-erev Shabbat be-od yom” (As for what one rabbi ruled, permitting them to immerse on Friday while it is still day)—here you go, Howie—one rabbi said to go early, Friday afternoon, on the seventh day. “Vadai lav shapir avid, ve-avar a-derabbanan” (He certainly did not rule properly and violated a rabbinic prohibition). He discusses this at length and concludes: “Ani omer she-ein lahen litbol be-chamin be-leil Shabbat, ve-lo be-erev Shabbat be-yom shevi’i shelahen” (I say that they may not immerse in hot water on Friday night, nor on Friday, their seventh day).
So what’s the option? You can’t go Friday afternoon, and you can’t go Friday night in hot water. “Ela titbolnah be-tzonen leil Shabbat” (Rather, they should immerse in cold water on Friday night). Go to a cold mikveh! Or “be-hafagat tzinatan bilvad,” lukewarm, as long as you don’t call it hot. Or delay the tevilah until Motza’ei Shabbat. Chacham Tzvi isn’t giving you any leeway: push it off, use cold water, or lukewarm water, and that’s it.
Afterward, Chacham Ben Tzion told me that the custom in Jerusalem was that when they returned from the synagogue at Arvit, the women had already returned from the mikveh. “That’s how it was?” “An example today?” “Yes.” We’re at the beginning of the sugya; we haven’t reached Chacham Ben Tzion, alav hashalom (peace be upon him). Sorry. We’ll get there. I haven’t ruled; I’m just reading so you’ll know how serious the prohibition is before we get to the leniencies. There are many leniencies, but if people don’t understand the seriousness of the prohibition, they’ll think it’s an easy leniency. There’s a lot of hesitation about this.
“Ve-im i efshar be-chol ha-amur” (If none of the above is possible)—let’s say tomorrow night isn’t an option—“yatiru lahem litbol bein ha-shemashot,” let them immerse bein hashmashot, between sunset and 13 and 1/2 minutes. “Ve-lo tavo’nah le-vateihen ad ha-lailah” (They should not come to their homes until night), so they don’t see their husbands before the time. “Ve-yoter mi-zeh ein be-yadenu le-hatir klal” (Beyond this, we have no power to permit it). Chacham Tzvi says, “Enough! I gave you all the options. Don’t ask me for Friday afternoon. I’m giving you Friday at sunset for 13 and 1/2 minutes, and that’s all I can give you.”
“So you make all the ladies go into the mikveh at the same time?” Let your wife go first. “But there are 20 ladies at the same time.” They don’t know; only we know. Only the guys who came to the shiur know this. Only the guys of Semichat Chaver know it. The regular SYs don’t know it; they’re going to come late. I hear your point. It’s impossible. They’re going to dip like chickens, 15 and like, that’s like the men. Make it cold on purpose.
Anyway, he has a whole teshuvah (responsum) here. The question is, what do we do? There’s a Korban Netanel (Offering of Netanel). I don’t know if he brings it here; maybe you’ll see it. The Korban Netanel famously brings down that women are allowed to immerse in a hot mikveh on Shabbat because when Chazal forbade bathing in hot water, they did not forbid bathing for the sake of a mitzvah. A very important Korban Netanel. The Mishnah Berurah (Mishnah clarified) rules there, in the halachah about bathing, that it is best to immerse in a mikveh with lukewarm water—not hot, but warm. The Sha'ar HaTziyun (Gate of the Sign) rules that besha'at hadechak (in a pressing circumstance), a woman may rely on the Korban Netanel.
Look at number four in Ohel Sarah; that’s where we are in the book: “Umah tov im hamayim shebamikveh yihyu rak poshrin, ve-lo chamim, kemo bish’ar yemot hashavua, she-asur litbol lirchotz kol haguf beShabbat uveyom tov bechamim, ve’ulam eleh shetovlim bemikveh cham beShabbat uveyom tov yesh lahem al mah sheyismochu” (It is best for the mikveh water to be lukewarm, not hot, as on the other days of the week, when bathing the whole body in hot water on Shabbat and Yom Tov is forbidden; nevertheless, those who immerse in a hot mikveh on Shabbat and Yom Tov have something on which to rely). What is this rabbi relying on? The Korban Netanel.
Now let’s see what Chacham Ovadia holds. Number five. “Would the Korban Netanel help men too?” Everything, everybody. Tevilat mitzvah. And he holds that immersion for men is a mitzvah as well. “Any time you have takkanat Ezra (Ezra’s enactment), yes?” Yes, takkanat Ezra is a mitzvah. That’s what most Ashkenazim rely on, by the way, when they don’t cool down the mikvaot: the Korban Netanel, and that’s what they take from the Mishnah Berurah, and so on.
“Ve-im hamayim shel hamikveh chamim, lechatchilah nachon lenasot litbol bein hashmashot” (If the mikveh water is hot, ideally it is proper to try to immerse during twilight). Here is Chacham Ovadia. He says bein hashemashot, meaning within 13 and a half minutes after sunset, and she should make sure not to get home until tzet hakochavim, because they don’t want her to be with her husband. “Ve-lo titbol lechatchilah beleil Shabbat bemayim chamim o befoshrin” (She should not ideally immerse on Friday night in hot or lukewarm water). Chacham Ovadia is against ideally dipping on Friday night in hot water, not even warm water. Even if you take the chill out, you still have the decree.
He says, “Umitzvah lehasbir labalaniyot, sheyiftechu sha’areihen be’erev Shabbat mibe’od yom” (It is a mitzvah to explain to the mikveh attendants that they should open the mikveh on Friday while it is still day), to give the ladies a chance to get there early. Right at sunset. If the mikvaot don’t open until 15 minutes after sunset, you miss the time. So what use are the Chachamim’s enactments?
Then he continues in Taharat HaBayit, next paragraph: “Uvechol makom, im i efshar litbol beven hashemashot, mishum she’ein hamifakchot shel hatevilah notnot lah”—if it’s not possible to immerse during twilight because the attendants don’t let her—“lo tidcheh tevilatah le-Motza’ei Shabbat” (she should not delay her immersion until after Shabbat), either because of the mitzvah of onah, periyah ureviyah, or because, God forbid, the husband may have hirhurim (thoughts) or shikhvat zera levatalah (emission of seed in vain). These are all concerns. “Veyecholah lismoch bish’at hadechak litbol bemayim poshrin” (She may rely in a pressing circumstance on immersing in lukewarm water). I don’t know the measurement of our mikvaot. I assume they lower the temperature, but maybe not.
“Ve-im i efshar, gam zeh efshar bish’at hadechak litbol gam bemayim chamim,” if even that isn’t possible, in a pressing circumstance she can also immerse in hot water, because of the Korban Netanel. “Ve-im i efshar—ve’im efshar, I’m sorry—tov she’al kol panim titbol betoch shi’ur gimmel milin ureviah, lismoch bish’at hadechak al svarat Rabbeinu Tam” (If possible, it is best in any case to immerse within the measure of three and a quarter mil, relying in a pressing circumstance on the opinion of Rabbeinu Tam). Amazing. He says you should dip during the first 58 and a half minutes after sunset. There’s an opinion called Rabbeinu Tam. Rabbeinu Tam says, when is tzet hakochavim? When are the stars considered to have come out? 72 minutes after sunset. That means bein hashmashot according to Rabbeinu Tam starts 58 and a half minutes after sunset. Unbelievable shittah (legal opinion).
Let me explain. Let’s say sunset is 6:00. We start Shabbat at 6:00. Anyone who is mechallel Shabbat (desecrating Shabbat) at that point is considered to be desecrating Shabbat. 6:00 is sunset. From 6:00 to 6:13 and a half, we call it bein hashemashot; it’s a safek (doubt), and since it’s a safek, we have to be stringent and not desecrate Shabbat. Rabbeinu Tam says that sunset actually doesn’t start until 6:58 and a half. He holds that sunset is 58 and a half minutes later than what we call sunset. If you went to Rabbeinu Tam’s place in Germany at 6:15 on Friday afternoon, he’d be riding in his car, buying at the fruit store. At 6:30, you’d be in shul (synagogue) already making kiddush (Shabbat sanctification), while Rabbeinu Tam would say it’s 6:30, 6:40, 6:50. Almost an hour after you started Shabbat, Rabbeinu Tam would have no problem. Mind you, he’s also going to end Shabbat an hour later, when you’re at the movies. It goes both ways.
But Chacham Ovadia has a trick here. He says to tell the lady to dip in the first 58 and a half minutes. Then at least you have one opinion that holds it isn’t Shabbat yet. When she’s dipping in the hot water, we can say that according to Rabbeinu Tam it isn’t Shabbat, so she doesn’t transgress the—Now, obviously, he’s pulling it on both ends, because if it isn’t night yet, she’s going to the mikveh early. For the issue we need, we can at least bring in Rabbeinu Tam: you have a kind of safek sefeika (compound doubt). There’s a safek according to the Korban Netanel, who says it isn’t a problem at all. Even if you say it is a problem, perhaps we follow Rabbeinu Tam, who says it isn’t night yet, and therefore we can rely on that.
Most ladies on a Friday are going to go within the 58 and a half minutes. Usually the mikveh is only open for an hour on Friday night. “Unless they have to go at 10:00 or 11:00.” I have no problem with that. Most ladies—I just—Can they do that? Listen, according to the halachah, Chacham Ovadia will tell you it should preferably be cold. I don’t know if our mikvaot offer a cold option, which I doubt, because why would a lady want to go to a cold mikveh? If that’s not the case, then he says you can rely on the poskim, and then he says, look, hot water. At the end of the day, Chacham Ovadia isn’t going to tell a lady not to go to the mikveh at 11:00 at night if it’s hot, but he’s going to tell you to try to catch the six o’clock time.
You have to remember that with these laws, you can’t make the bedi'avad lechatchilah. That’s the nature of it: “Oh, so there’s a way out? Okay, let’s do it.” No. You do it if all three options didn’t work. Plan C. Exactly. But most people, when they hear plan C, think, “Well, if plan C works, it’s no different from plan A, because at the end of the day it works.” There is a concept of lechatchilah (ideally) and bedi'avad, and in niddah especially, where people are looking for loopholes, it’s a big yetzer (inclination) to make plan D plan A without actually having the necessary circumstances.
It also depends on people who hold Rabbeinu Tam all year round. “So they pray Minchah (afternoon prayer) in that—” That for sure! “But they have a problem going to the mikveh because they’re going in the day.” Right, they’ll wait. They have a worse problem: they’ll wait until five, six, 6:50. They wouldn’t go because it’s day for them. It’s day for them, so it’s the seventh day; they have to wait until bein hashemashot according to Rabbeinu Tam.
“The Avenue S mikveh, I don’t think they open at sheki’ah Friday night.” They do. Sheki’ah is when they open. The Ashkenazim won’t be open at that time. “King’s Highway?” King’s Highway is the opposite. King’s Highway closes at sheki’ah. It opens Thursday. You want to go after sheki’ah at King’s Highway, you have to make an appointment. The Ashkenazim won’t be open early. If Syrians go to an Ashkenazi mikveh, it won’t be open that early. Just Friday night, so early.
Rabotai, on Friday night, again, this is something people miss: the hot water is an issue, so you have to navigate the hot-water issue. Lechatchilah, if she can go bein hashemashot, without the lines, obviously—that’s a question of logistics—if she can get into the mikveh bein hashemashot, that would be the best thing. Get there early and let her go. If she can’t go bein hashemashot, and there’s a lukewarm option, better to take it. If not—listen, there’s a mahalach in the mikveh. The chacham is on top of it. They’re dealing with these issues. It’s not, what do you call it? “Ippcha.” At the end of the day, the chacham is giving you a safek sefeika between the Korban Netanel and Rabbeinu Tam. I don’t know what the heter (permission) is, or what they rely on or exactly what they do.
“Aseh docheh lo ta’aseh” (a positive command overrides a prohibition). What does the aseh docheh? The mitzvah of periyah ureviyah and onah. “And therefore, go ahead—” “The hot water.” Maybe that was the argument of the Korban Netanel: they would never make a decree against a mitzvah. Miderabbanan (rabbinically), I don’t know if that’s exactly how aseh docheh lo ta’aseh works here. The point is, they would not make the decree, and therefore they would not make the decree against the ambati (bath). But it’s still something to be concerned about.
Now let’s get to the next subject. Let’s go to the famous Shevut Ya’akov. What if a lady has to go to the mikveh and her husband is away on a trip? There’s a big discussion about whether she should go to the mikveh and sleep in the house alone without her husband. This is a regular Tuesday night. The kabbalists bring down that it’s dangerous for a lady to go to the mikveh and sleep without a husband: sakanah (danger). There are some shedim (demons) around, and you’re putting yourself into—Now, I don’t know the kabbalistic problems here. It’s Monday night, it’s summer. Exactly. He’s in Brooklyn, she’s over there. All right, he’s got his own shedim in Brooklyn, but that’s another story. We’re talking about the shedim in Deal. Shedim at both ends. Anyway, the question is whether we follow this.
Amazingly enough, open up Chacham Ovadia in number six. Look at number six: “Af bimkreh she’ein ba’alah ba’ir, im balailah sheyachazor yiksheh litbol” (Even in a case where her husband is not in town, if it will be difficult for her to immerse on the night he returns). Let’s say he comes back the next night, but it will be hard for her to go to the mikveh then. He’s away Monday night; on Tuesday night it will be hard for her to go, because she has a family wedding or something, so the mikveh is going to be pushed off another night. “Adif shetitbol bizmanah” (It is preferable that she immerse at the proper time), let her go to the mikveh when she has to. “Ve’ad sheyavo, tishan im tinok (infant), o im bigdei ba’alah, o im sakin tachat hakar, mishum chashash sakanah” (Until he comes, she should sleep with an infant, or in her husband’s clothes, or with a knife under the pillow, because of concern for danger).
There are three options to get around this: put a knife under the pillow to scare away the shedim, probably her husband the next night, and sleep in her husband’s shirt. Take one of her husband’s shirts. “Is it a T-shirt, beged, or whatever?” An undershirt or something like that could go both ways. Or sleep with a child in the room. That gets rid of the sakanah. That’s a chiddush. Close the windows, lock the doors. “Would a baby or even a young child work? What’s the cutoff? What about a two-year-old?” I can’t answer; I don’t know the reason so well. It says tinok. I know. He’s already a tinok, right? Turn it there, you guys. You already had it from before. You had to put a new one.
Now we get to the main offering of the day, which everybody always wants to know the halachah about: going to the mikveh during the day. There are two days we could be talking about: the seventh day, early, or, if she didn’t immerse on the seventh night, going on the eighth day, the next morning, or the ninth day, whatever it is. “On the wedding day they go during the day, right?” I don’t know what we do; we’re going to discuss that now: a lady going to the mikveh before nighttime.
Open up the Gemara on page seven: “Ki detanya, kol chayevei tevilot, tevilatan bayom” (As it was taught: all those who are obligated to immerse immerse during the day)—a zav (man with a discharge), a zavah (woman with a discharge); their immersion is during the day. “Niddah veyoledet, tevilatan balailah” (A niddah and a woman after childbirth immerse at night). The Gemara says: “Detnan detanya, yachol tehe tevilatan mibe’od yom, talmud lomar shivat yamim tehe venidatah, kol shiv’ah” (One might think her immersion may be during the day; the verse teaches that she remains in her niddah state for seven days, all seven). She has to keep her niddah status for the seven complete days, and only after the complete days are over can she go to the mikveh. So the Gemara clearly says that tevilat niddah is at night.
Rashi says: “Keivan desiymah lah sefirah, tavlah, uvetchilat hayom altah lah sefirah” (Once she completes her counting, she immerses; the beginning of the day counts toward her count). She counted the seventh day in the morning. However, “aval niddah de’oraita, she’einah soferet nekiyim, ela shiv’ah im yemei re’iyatah, einah tovelet ad sheki’at hachamah shel shevi’i” (A niddah according to Torah law, who does not count clean days but counts seven from the days of her flow, does not immerse until sunset on the seventh day). Even though we treat her like a zavah, she’s really a niddah, and therefore niddah has to follow niddah law. Even though for a zavah we say she can go during the day, since she is a niddah on whom we impose the law of a zavah, she has to take the stringency of niddah and can only go to the mikveh at night.
Turn the page. “Amar Rav”—not “Rav Niddah,” just “Amar Rav.” Add the comma. “Niddah bizmanah, einah tovelet ela balailah” (A niddah immersing at the proper time immerses only at night). Good. “Veshelo bizmanah, tovelet bein bayom bein balailah” (If it is not at the proper time, she may immerse either during the day or at night). Once she has passed the time, she can go whenever she wants: the eighth day, eighth night, or ninth day. However, Rabbi Yochanan says, “Bein bizmanah, bein shelo bizmanah, einah tovelet ela balailah mishum serach bitah (concern for her daughter)” (Whether at the proper time or not, she immerses only at night, because we’re worried about her daughter). Famous law: serach bitah.
What is serach bitah? If we allow her to go to the mikveh on the eighth day, consider a simple case: she couldn’t go on the seventh night, but now she’s good because seven days have passed and she couldn’t go at night. Rabbi Yochanan says she cannot go on the eighth day. Why not? We’re worried about her daughter. Her daughter might see her mother coming home from the mikveh during the day and think, “You’re allowed to go to the mikveh during the day.” When she gets older, she’ll go to the mikveh on the seventh day, which you’re not allowed to do. Because of this gezeirah called serach bitah, a mar’it ha’ayin (appearance to the eye), it will lead to a mistaken understanding of mikveh, and therefore it’s problematic.
“What about the ninth day?” Look at the Beit Yosef, number nine: “Umah shekatav, velo od ela, afilu rotzah lehamtin ad yom shemini o yom teshi’i litbol, einah yecholah mishum serach bitah” (What he wrote is not all: even if she wants to wait until the eighth or ninth day to immerse, she cannot, because of concern for her daughter). That means any day. Bottom line, when they see her going during the day, there’s always a problem of the daughter. The next paragraph says that Rabbeinu Yerucham likewise wrote that even on the eighth or ninth day, or later, the Chachamim forbade her to immerse except at night because of serach bitah.
Open up the Shulchan Aruch, rabotai. It will be in gimel. But before that, let’s go to the famous question of the Rashba, number 10, in Torat Habayit (Household Law). “Ve’eimatai hazavah tovelet?” (When does a zavah immerse?) “Beyom hashevi’i” (On the seventh day). She can go during the day. “Shesfirah, mishenetz hachamah (sunrise)” (She counts from sunrise). A zavah, not a niddah, can go during the day. “Dichtiv, ‘Vesafrah lah shiv’at yamim,’ ‘ve’achar tithar’” (As it is written, “She shall count seven days,” and “afterward she shall be pure”). “Umiktzat hayom kekulo” (part of the day counts as all). Once she counts part of the day, the seven days are considered complete, and she’s okay. According to Torah law, the zavah is immediately permitted to be with her husband, but we don’t allow it.
The Chachamim forbade her from doing so, lest she have relations on the seventh day, see blood that day, and invalidate her entire count. Then retroactively she would be a zavah at the time of relations. The Chachamim made an enactment: she can go to the mikveh during the day, but she must wait to have relations, just in case she sees. Once they forbade relations, they also forbade her to immerse. They said, “Don’t even go to the mikveh, because why go through all that? Just don’t do it.” Then they made a gezeirah on a zavah that she can only go to the mikveh at night.
“Ucheivan she’asru litbol, she’im tachzik atzmah betohorah…” (Once they forbade immersion, if she considers herself pure…) she could end up having relations. It’s forbidden to do so, as explained there. “Ve’af al pi shegezeirah ligezeirah hi” (Even though this is a decree upon a decree). What is the gezeirah ligezeirah (a decree upon a decree)? “Mipnei karet shebah hechemiru aleha” (Because of the karet involved, they were stringent with her).
What does that mean? We’re telling a regular lady, who is a zavah and has the strict requirement of zayin neki’im, that she cannot go during the day. Why can’t she go during the day? Because she might see, which would be a problem, so we say, “Go at night.” Now we’re saying she can’t go on the eighth day. Why? Because her daughter might make a mistake and think she can go on the seventh day. But according to Torah law she can go on the seventh day; it’s only forbidden because of a gezeirah. The question to the Rashba is, “You’re making a gezeirah ligezeirah? The eighth day is forbidden because of the seventh, and the seventh is only forbidden because of a gezeirah. Why make a gezeirah ligezeirah?” The Rashba says: good question. Because you’re dealing with karet, gezeirot ligezeirot are fine. That’s the concern: karet. Therefore, we’re strict when it comes to these halachot.
Given that background, the Rashba asks the following glaring question: Biblically, a zavah may go to the mikveh and be intimate with her husband on day seven. Chazal forbade relations on day seven lest she see blood, which would nullify her shiv’ah nekiyim. Chazal forbade not only relations, but also going to the mikveh, lest that lead to relations. On top of that, Chazal forbade going to the mikveh on day eight lest her daughter see and go to the mikveh on day seven. Why? It’s a gezeirah ligezeirah—a decree upon a decree. Chada gezeirah.
Look at gimel in the Shulchan Aruch, boys. It says a very important halachah: “Asurah litbol beyom hashevi’i” (She is forbidden to immerse on the seventh day). She can’t go on the seventh day. “Ve’afilu im mamtenet militbol ad yom shemini o teshi’i, einah yecholah litbol bayom, mishum serach bitah” (Even if she waits until the eighth or ninth day, she cannot immerse during the day because of concern for her daughter).
“What if she doesn’t have children?” It doesn’t matter. Once we say serach bitah, it’s forbidden whether she has daughters or not, or whether she’s alone somewhere without children on vacation. “All the ladies who are doing it at night told me they only go at night. Those you were talking about at the beginning—” No, there’s no mitzvah bizmanah anymore. That could be for menopause during the day, like a bride. But for regular tevilah mitzvah, the question is: based on what we’re reading, tevilah is only at night. What if it’s dangerous? What if the place is dangerous?
Now we have to analyze whether there’s ever a heter for a lady to go to the mikveh during the day. Here we get to the most controversial part of the whole Semichat Chaver since we started, because this is the big question. People want to go during the day for convenience. Summer is coming. “Right, so shut the recorder.”
Open up number 11, the next page. We’re moving through the sources. “Atkin Rav”—Rav made a—“Rav Idi, biNrash.” Rav Idi made a takanah in Nrash, a place, “lemitbal beyoma detemanya” (to immerse during the day on the eighth day), “mishum aryavata.” Because of what? The lions. Lions? Yes. What was happening? Lions were eating the women. Like Alex said, it was sakanah at night. Ladies were afraid to go out because there were wild animals.
So he made a takanah and said that if there’s a sakanah preventing her from going at night, and the same thing happens on the eighth night—the lions don’t only come out on the seventh night; they come out every night—then what? “So they want her to go; go on the seventh.” “Why not do seven, Alex?” “Eight!” Interesting, chazak ubaruch. He didn’t say to go early on the seventh. Very good, Alex. He told her to go on the eighth day, because she had passed the time. It’s better to be past the time than to go before. You get a double gezeirah now. That’s what he said.
Open the famous Tur (the Tur). This is the Tur everybody relies on here. “Rabbeinu Tam hayah omer she’ein tzrichah lehachmir kol kach ulehamtin ad shetechshach bayom hashemini” (Rabbeinu Tam would say that she does not need to be so stringent as to wait until it gets dark on the eighth day). She doesn’t have to wait until it gets dark; “rak shetitbol samuch lachasheichah” (she need only immerse close to nightfall). Let her immerse right before it gets dark, “vetavo leveitah mishetechshach” (and come home when it gets dark). He wasn’t lenient about going in the morning on the eighth day.
What’s the problem? It’s already the eighth day. The problem is serach bitah. So he says that when we were lenient about the eighth day, don’t think we meant, “Go when it gets dark,” because you have the same problem. Let her go a little before it gets dark, and then let her get home when it’s dark. “Her daughter sees her when she comes home—” Right, so you don’t have the serach bitah issue. She’s home with her husband, and she won’t see. We don’t have a problem with the husband because it’s the eighth day; she’s already passed the seventh. The point is, you don’t have a problem of serach bitah, because she comes home at night. Or her daughter doesn’t know the days; she just sees her coming home at night. The Tur says, “Leika serach bitah” (There is no concern for her daughter). Rabbeinu Tam clearly says there is a serach bitah issue even on the eighth day, but we let her go a little early so she won’t be afraid, and then she can come home when it’s dark.
Now watch. Rashbam would say, “Shetzerichah lehamtin ad shetecheshach” (She must wait until it gets dark). Even though she comes home only after it gets dark, “dehatam ika serach bitah” (there is still concern for her daughter), because she might calculate: “How long did it take her to get home? I know when she went to the mikveh, and she’s home two minutes later? That can’t be; she must have gone during the day.” She’ll make that calculation, and therefore it’s a problem.
Open the Shulchan Aruch, daled: “Heicha de’ika ones” (Where there is an unavoidable circumstance), for example, she’s afraid to immerse at night. Why? “Machamat tzinah” (because of the cold)—it’s freezing; remember, in those days they used to go into lakes—“o pachad ganavim” (or fear of thieves), “vechayotzei bo,” or the city gates are locked. Covid! They’re closing the cities. Or BLM, there are riots in the streets, so you can’t go out. “Yecholah litbol bashemini mibe’od yom” (She may immerse during the day on the eighth day). Maran says to go to the mikveh during the day on the eighth day. “Aval bashvi’i lo titbol mibe’od yom af al pi de’ika ones” (But on the seventh day she may not immerse while it is still day, even if there is an unavoidable circumstance).
Maran is reading it inside. He’s saying, “Let’s go on the eighth day,” like Rabbeinu Tam. He isn’t worried about her daughter here. But Maran doesn’t say to go later. The question is whether day seven is an option. He says here that the Shulchan Aruch rules that in a case of ones, she can go to the mikveh during the day, or even close to sunset; there are different ways of understanding it. On day seven, she cannot.
Look at the Rema in se’if heh. “Uvechol makom lo tesamesh afilu bashemini ad halailah, vetastir tevilatah miba’alah ad halailah” (In every case, she should not have relations, even on the eighth day, until night, and she should conceal her immersion from her husband until night). He doesn’t want her to be with her husband until it gets dark on the eighth day. It’s a typical thing: you can’t have relations during the day, so wait, and don’t change the normal way of having relations. That’s what the Rema writes.
Now watch this. Open up Sidrei Taharah (Orders of Purity), yod-gimmel. “Yecholah litbol beyom mishum serach bitah” (She may immerse during the day despite the concern for her daughter). Why can we go during the day? Because of serach bitah, even on the seventh day? “Mishum kach, bimkom she’i efshar litbol balailah, kegon shemekom hatevilah hu michutz la’ir, vedaltot ha’ir nin’alot me’eimat halailah, mutar litbol samuch lachashechah” (Therefore, when it is impossible to immerse at night, for example, if the mikveh is outside the city and the city gates are locked from the beginning of the night, it is permitted to immerse close to nightfall).
What he’s saying is that even though technically she can go on the eighth day, we’re talking now about the seventh. Even though technically she can go on the eighth day, nevertheless, since there would be a loss of one night of onah if she immerses on the eighth day, she may immerse on the seventh. All of a sudden, we found day seven! The issue on the seventh day is still serach bitah. Nothing is going to happen; she’s going on the seventh day and waiting until sunset. She hasn’t gotten her period in between, so there’s no issue of karet. The issue is still serach bitah. We push aside that concern, even on the seventh day, because of the mitzvah of onah. Losing one night of onah is also an ones.
The same applies when she cannot immerse close to evening, because the mikveh is far from her house. I was in Azerbaijan, in the city of Baku, on a trip. It’s a beautiful place. They showed us the women’s mikveh. Right next to the pool, there’s a beautiful suite, like a hotel suite. “Whose suite is this? It’s nicer than my hotel.” They said, “The women come from 400 miles away, 300 miles away. It’s the only mikveh in that whole region.” It takes them four seven hours to drive, so they can’t drive seven hours. They sleep at the mikveh. The husbands come with them; they go to the mikveh, and they have the room next door. It’s like a mikveh-hotel. They have everything there. It’s amazing.
Rav Moshe will discuss cases in the United States too. We’ll see it in Rav Moshe. Some ladies, let’s say, have to drive 200 miles on Friday. Some used to take airplanes to Texas to go to the mikveh because the closest mikveh was there. They had to take an early flight Friday morning, immerse in the mikveh in Dallas, and then come home. In that case, Rav Moshe said that as long as the husband isn’t home, they can let her go on day seven, because that’s considered an ones.
It’s true that we didn’t see that in the Shulchan Aruch here. In the Shulchan Aruch, all we saw was day eight. Look at Maran here: “Im avrah vetavlah bashmini bayom belo ones” (If she passed the time and immersed during the day on the eighth day without an unavoidable circumstance)—let’s say she went on the eighth day without an ones—“afilu hachi altah lah tevilah” (even so, her immersion counts). You shouldn’t think the rabbis took away the tevilah. “Vechen im avrah vetavlah bashvi’i bayom, altah lah tevilah” (Likewise, if she passed the time and immersed during the day on the seventh day, her immersion counts). So all you see from Maran is that if she immersed outside the proper time, we’re not going to—Now, we’re not talking about day six. Day eight, for sure, because she’s past the time; and even early on day seven, as long as she waits until day seven is over, we’re not going to take away the—
“How does it work with the check?” She checks before—She can check in the afternoon already. “Can she check on day seven in the afternoon?” Yes. In the morning, technically, she can check too; we learned that. “There are two checks, morning and—” Technically, one check is enough, bedi'avad. “But then you wouldn’t have the seven full days.” No, you will. She’ll wait to be with her husband. “No, no, but to immerse?” Exactly. What’s the shiur (measure) of seven days? She counted. “Miktzat hayom kekulo” (part of the day counts as all of it); you have seven days. “The whole purpose of the seven days is to be with her husband. I counted seven days. How did I count? As a zavah. I counted seven clean days. I counted the seventh day. Miktzat hayom kekulo. At seven, you’re immersing on the seventh day.” Right, but my seven days were counted in the morning already. Miktzat hayom. So I counted seven days. I can’t be with my husband, true, but I counted.
The chiddush of Maran is that she shouldn’t do it, but if she did, it counts. Now, who is the rabbi here—Sidrei Taharah? “No, Sidrei Taharah is one of the books—” No, he’s one of the Acharonim (later authorities). Sidrei Taharah rules, against the Shulchan Aruch, that in a location where a woman can never go to the mikveh at night because the city is closed, she is allowed to go to the mikveh during the day even on day seven. Not according to the Shulchan Aruch. The Shulchan Aruch said to let her go—
I know who goes with him. This is based on the above Rabbeinu Tam in the Tur, who rules that a woman can go to the mikveh close to nightfall on day seven. Although the Rashbam said day eight, some understand Rabbeinu Tam as permitting day seven too. There’s a machloket in the Tur: if she has an ones, she can go early on day eight. Some say the same applies to day seven. Some Acharonim interpret Rabbeinu Tam as permitting tevilah shortly before sheki’ah on day seven.
This is where we take Rabbeinu Tam, who said she can go early on day eight, and say the same applies to day seven. Maran didn’t take that position, because Maran clearly said that if she has an ones, we let her go on day eight, like Rabbeinu Tam. But Sidrei Taharah said even day seven. The Beit Yosef understood Rabbeinu Tam as even allowing immersion early in the day if she doesn’t return home until nightfall. The Beit Yosef brings that opinion down, although he didn’t bring it down in the Shulchan Aruch. This is also the opinion of Chatam Sofer (Seal of the Scribe) in Pitchei Teshuvah, se’if katan tet. Look at se’if katan tet in Pitchei Teshuvah so you have it in your records. Page resh-gimel, the first one, gimel—right on top, second paragraph. “Afilu be’erev vegomar miyom laylah hainu davka.” Fine, fine. “Eizeh min gezeirah bishvi'i? Tartei desatrei samuch lebein hashemashot. Yesh shegorsim shetifsok betohorah gam beyom daled, okay, dehayah erev Shabbat, vetavo leveitah ad halailah, bimkom keshe'ein davar... erev Shabbat, hashehiyah beveitah aval tavo leveitah, okay, fine.” I don’t see it immediately, but that’s the one he’s quoting.
He’s quoting the opinion that, lema’aseh (in practice), a woman should only go to the mikveh on the night after shiv’ah neki’im. She should not push off mikveh night, because it’s a mitzvah. If she misses the seventh night, she should go on the eighth night. If an ones prevents her from going to the mikveh at night for whatever reason, she may go during the eighth day, but she may only be intimate with her husband after nightfall. In some dire situations, some Acharonim, like Sidrei Taharah, let her go even early on day seven.
But on the list of options, day seven is the worst. By “day seven,” we mean early on day seven. The best time to go is the seventh night. After that, the eighth night is best. After the eighth night, the eighth day. After the eighth day, some say the seventh day. That’s the order. It’s on the less-preferred end. You’ll see how, magically, the less-preferred option always rises to the top, because that’s what people do in niddah. They find the heter on level four, and level four becomes level one.
Now the cases. Shibat Tzion, number 14. Look at this case. They asked Maran Chazon Ish, zatzal (of blessed memory), about a woman who wanted to travel on a cruise. The ship was scheduled to leave on the seventh day of her clean days, before nightfall. There was no mikveh on the boat. She could jump in the ocean, I guess, but that wasn’t an option. They didn’t want to travel while she was tame’ah; they didn’t want her to be tame’ah for the whole vacation. They asked the Chazon Ish if she could go to the mikveh early, before the cruise.
“Who says Friday’s—” Seventh day, now. “And the place would have allowed her to immerse on the seventh day while it was still day, but delayed until nightfall. Let her go to the front of the boat, the back of the boat, until—until this is it. Until she gets home.” Since it was a big test to wait a couple of weeks, two weeks on a boat while she was niddah, the Chazon Ish was stringent. The Shibat Tzion says, “I considered permitting it, and in practice I would only permit it in such a case where they are going away for a long time, several weeks, but not for a few days.” Rebook, exactly. My point is that for the seventh day, you really have to persuade the rabbi. Ones. Rav Moshe is next.
Number 15, Rav Moshe: “Keshe’einah yekholah litbol balailah shum ones, yesh lehatir litbol be-zayin be’ofen shetavo leveitah achar shechashchah” (When she cannot immerse at night because of an unavoidable circumstance, it is permitted to immerse on the seventh day in a way that she comes home after dark). Let her come home after it gets dark, like Sidrei Taharah says. Even a simple ones that causes the loss of one night of onah is considered an ones. He brings this from one of the rabbis there, and also from Chatam Sofer, to permit it.
But what about the delay until she gets home? If an ones like this arises and she can’t immerse at night, she should immerse as close to sunset as possible. “Titbol besamuch im efshar vetimshoch et nesi’atah baderech, let her stay in the car ad halailah” (She should immerse close to sunset if possible and extend the drive so she stays on the road until night). But most cases of ones are on Shabbat and Yom Tov. What do you do on Shabbat and Yom Tov? She can’t stay in the car. “So what is she going to do, walk around the block?” She still has to come home to light her candles. So in that case, let the husband go to shul. Let him go to the Ben Ish Chai (Son of the Living Man) class. Let him come to the Ben Ish Chai class that week, and he’ll be in shul at 5:15. When you see a guy coming at 5:15 who isn’t normally part of the class, you can tell him, “We know exactly what you’re doing. You can’t scratch us.” The regulars, we know they’re regulars. But the guy who isn’t a regular: “Good luck tonight. You know your wife is at—”
Look at the next one. This next one is amazing, because everybody quotes this Rav Moshe. Rav Moshe allowed it because basically he has an ones. So go Friday afternoon, and even missing periyah ureviyah for one night is considered a problem. Whatever the issue was that prevented her from going the next day or night, it sounds like he gave this heter.
Masoret Moshe (Tradition of Moshe) is a sefer about Rav Moshe’s rulings and how he actually instituted or carried them out. “Shamati”—look at this case. They asked Rav Moshe about a kalah (bride) with chupat niddah (At her wedding, she was niddah). She needed to immerse on Friday night during one of the nights of sheva berachot (seven wedding blessings). She wanted to get dressed up with makeup, but she couldn’t put makeup on during Shabbat; she didn’t want to come to the sheva berachot without makeup—she’d be the ugliest one there, and she was the bride. The question was whether they could let the bride who needed to attend the sheva berachot immerse early on Friday, on the seventh day, put on her makeup, and come looking like a lady. This was before bi’ah rishonah (marital intercourse), so she was still like a bride before nisu’in. They had all these reasons to be lenient.
Rav Moshe answered that before the wedding, when a bride goes early, they aren’t concerned that she might secretly go to her husband, since they aren’t married yet. But during sheva berachot, who would know if she hurried off to her husband that evening? If you let her go early, nobody would be concerned. They’d say, “Where are the chat an vekalah (groom and bride)?” “They’re upstairs.” Would anyone suspect anything? They’re married. Meanwhile, he’s upstairs because he’s going to be with her, since she went early. Therefore, Rav Moshe said, “Ulefikach ein lehakel” (Therefore, one should not be lenient).
Look at this. Basically, she has to leave in the middle of the sheva berachot. Where did the bride go? She had to excuse herself. She comes to the sheva berachot with all her makeup on—all night, I guess not, because she can’t put on makeup on Shabbat. In the middle, she disappears for half an hour, comes back with wet hair—she puts on a wig, I guess. The point is, they open the mikveh early. It’s not just about opening the mikveh; look at what she had to go through, and Rav Moshe won’t give her a heter to dip early, even though he’s the one who gave the heter. “Oh, I think she has a new couple. I don’t feel well. She went home, and don’t come back!”
“So, can make berachot, that’s—” “So, cause you need a hakalah there.” Look at Rabbi Ephraim Greenblatt, next one, 17. “Uvechol zeh yera’eh da’ati aniyah de’eini matir, to go on the seventh day, aval be’ofen shel bushah vechadomeh yachol latzet michshol va’ani maskim lehatir shetitbol lifnei Shabbat kodesh” (In all this, my humble opinion appears to be that I do not permit immersion on the seventh day; however, in a situation involving embarrassment or something similar, one may remove the obstacle, and I agree to permit her to immerse before Shabbat).
What was the case? Look at the case above: a bride’s counting got messed up and she had to start again. Her mikveh night was Friday night. She wanted to immerse before Shabbat, before the sheva berachot, but the rabbi forbade it. She left in the middle of the sheva berachot, a half-hour drive each way, and at the time of her immersion she was upset and they asked her to make a berachah; it was embarrassing for her. He says, “You know what? If it’s embarrassing, I might have been lenient.” The point here is that I also heard from Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl that he was lenient besha’at hadechak, allowing her to immerse close to sunset, in a pressing circumstance.
Now the big question is: What is considered sha’at hadechak? That’s the big she’eilah, because we’ll see that a few rabbis were lenient about dipping early. The question is what counts. He writes these cases here. We saw the boat case. In the summer of 2020, there were Black Lives Matter protests throughout the U.S. Many cities, including New York, LA, and Chicago, had mandatory curfews. Even in cities without mandatory curfews, many women feared going out alone at night. The same thing happened in Israel in the summer of 2021, when Arabs rioted in cities with mixed Jewish-Arab populations. Ukraine, during the summer spring of 2022. What is the halachah in such situations? When could religious women living in these cities go to the mikveh?
The answer is that these cases clearly fit the criteria for the halachah in Shulchan Aruch, se’if daled: women may go during the day on eight or nine because of thieves or rioters. But to go into the mikveh on day seven, Rav Schachter was machmir (stringent) and did not allow it, though some poskim were lenient, relying on Rav Moshe in Igrot Moshe (Letters of Moshe). Lema’aseh, many rabbanim rely on this teshuvah of Rav Moshe, although Rav Reuven Feinstein said he doesn’t remember an instance where his father was practically lenient. So in theory you could do it, but Dad never let anybody do it.
That seventh day early—now we really have to open up Chacham Ovadia, alav hashalom. He doesn’t bring that down here, but we have it. Let me bring you Chacham Ovadia, and then we’ll make a—Here, Chacham Ovadia writes in Taharat HaBayit: “Sha’at hadechak, yesh lehatir litbol gam beyom hashevi’i samuch lishki’at hachamah” (In a pressing circumstance, it is permitted to immerse on the seventh day, close to sunset), “be’ofen shelo tashuv leveitah,” if she won’t return home, or if the husband isn’t home.
He also ruled in Taharat HaBayit according to the words of Avodat HaGershuni (Service of the Gershuni): when the city gates are closed and she can’t immerse at night, and there are men around during the day so she won’t immerse on the eighth day, “tov yoter shetitbol beyom hashvi’i be’ofen shetashuv leveitah achar hachashechah, me’asher shetitbol bashmini be’od hayom gadol bimkom sheshechichim rabim” (it is better for her to immerse during the day on the seventh day and return home after dark than to immerse on the eighth day while it is still fully daytime in a place where many people are present), because she needs to keep her immersion private.
Chacham Ovadia says that someone who lives in a village, and the mikveh is in a city far from her house, and she can’t get home until it’s dark anyway, if her tevilah falls on Friday and she won’t be able to drive home because it will be Shabbat, she can immerse during the day on the seventh day. Let her drive 200 miles, go to the mikveh during the day, and drive back; by the time she returns, it will be dark.
“Vechen kava beSeder Tohorah” (He likewise established this in Seder Tohorah). Look in Taharat HaBayit, where he writes—look in the Aruch HaShulchan (Set Table)—that in villages where there is no mikveh, women have to travel to cities that have mikvaot, and there’s no transportation to take them back at night. It’s simple that they can immerse during the day on the eighth day, since it’s an ones. Even on the seventh day, it is proper to consider relying on Rabbeinu Tam, if she will not return home until night. We don’t know what Chacham Ovadia said there; that was the Aruch HaShulchan. That could be a situation where she can go because there’s no mikveh nearby and no way to get home at night. Maybe we’ll allow her to go on the seventh, when she’ll get home after dark.
So he says: look at the opinions here. In a situation where the city gates are closed, there’s an inyan to keep the tevilah private. If it will cause the lady embarrassment, perhaps that itself is an ones. That’s where you get into the Friday-night case: she has company, and now what? She leaves in the middle; where is she going? She has her mother and kids there too. “Where are you going?” So the question is whether that’s enough of an ones.
He says that according to Avodat HaGershuni, when the city gates are closed, she can’t immerse at night, and she can’t immerse on the eighth day because there are men around, it’s better for her to immerse during the day on the seventh and return after dark than to immerse on the eighth while it’s still daytime, when many people are present. She needs to conceal her immersion, and she is frightened and hurries to immerse. If she immerses quickly on the eighth day, she won’t immerse properly because she’s nervous that people might catch her. Therefore, in that case it’s better for her to go on the seventh day—not necessarily close to nightfall; even earlier is permitted, as long as she can get home after dark, after sheki’ah. Even if she could get home quickly, as long as she spends time eating and doesn’t reach home until it’s dark, that’s fine. But on the seventh day, it doesn’t help for her to stay at her own house or at a friend’s house; that’s still a house.
It continues here. “Tevilah lechallah”—we don’t have that. “Heicha de’ika ones, kegon sheyere’ah litbol balailah mechamat tzinah o pachad ganavim” (Where there is an unavoidable circumstance, such as fear of immersing at night because of cold or fear of thieves). Maran said she can go on the eighth day, but not on the seventh. Chacham Ovadia comes along and says, “Litbol bayom hashevi’i keshelo tuchal achar kach.” Taharat HaBayit writes that on the seventh day of her counting, even in a place of ones, she should not immerse during the day. But if there is an ones that will prevent her from immersing at night on the eighth day, and also on the eighth or ninth night she won’t be able to immerse at night at all, then she may ideally immerse during the day on the seventh and conceal her immersion.
So Rav Ovadia is being very stringent here. On the seventh day, even in an ones, she should not immerse; that was Maran. But if there’s an ones where she won’t be able to go on the seventh, eighth, or ninth night, then there’s room. “Ra’uy lachashash issur”—it is proper to be concerned about the prohibition. Rav Ovadia isn’t so lenient on day seven. So you have to know what the rule is. He’s saying it’s better to go on the eighth or ninth night, but if you definitely won’t be able to go, then yes. “But those aren’t our cases.” Then yes, but those aren’t our cases.
What about a case where she can go, which is most cases? What about the Shabbat case, where you have hot water? Rav Ovadia gave a heter for hot water, not—The point is the question of going early. Early for Rav Ovadia was after sunset. “That’s not early. They’re going an hour before sunset.” What are we learning here that gives them the heter? Even Rav Moshe and all these chachamim—they wouldn’t go. So therefore, they’ll go on the sixth day. Are you turning bedi'avad into lechatchilah? Now that you’ve seen it inside, what are we missing? I don’t know who. I’m not naming mikvaot, but whoever does that—If she’s going on the beach, that’s their own. I’m not worried about people who do it on their own, but institutionalizing it in the community—Okay, I can’t stop people.
“What about going tomorrow? Motza’ei Shabbat?” Even Motza’ei Shabbat would be during the day, because they’re afraid to go at night. Oh, because it’s also scary. It’s the same thing. They don’t go on Motza’ei Shabbat either. But those are rare cases.
“But is it enough to allow a lady to put on makeup? To do her nails? Is it to allow—” When? “Friday afternoon. Why not? It’s the seventh day. She wants to go early to put on makeup, to put on lipstick. Is that a heter?” The seventh day? She says she’s embarrassed. She says she goes home with her makeup and people know. If she calls the rabbi bedi'avad and says, “Hi, Rabbi, I want to go to the mikveh early,” the rabbi asks, “What’s your reason?” “Thieves?” “No, nothing like that, but it’s easy for me to drive there, and I want to drive home. Walking there is a headache.” What would you answer?
If there’s embarrassment, there’s someone to rely on. If she’s going to be embarrassed, maybe something like that. But her husband has to go to shul early. Okay, fine, we know that. What’s the problem with her wearing makeup? She already went to the mikveh; she’s tahor. No, she wants to put on makeup for Shabbat. Why is she—she went early. I’m asking whether that’s a reason to allow a lady to go early, so she can put on makeup.
“Wait, how did Rav Moshe—” How Rav Moshe? They never used it. They never used it. I said, “How Rav Moshe?” Did I tell you? No. They said no. Rabbi said for sure only if there are some cases, like a kalah, a girl—But he told her no! Exactly. Rabbi, when we were talking before about the reason, if it’s seven days for the bride—