Ask The Rabbi

B'shaa tova - wonderful news! You are not a niddah because you only saw the "little drop/spots" of blood on a pantyliner and a tissue which are items that are not susceptible to Tumah. Wishing you all the best!

Shalom, thanks for reaching out to PUAH! Assuming she removes the nuvaring every month and the period comes a few days later, she would not need to check/abstain on the onah beinonis. The reason is because vestos in general (onoah beinonis, vest hachodesh, vest haflagah) are only relevant when a period comes naturally. The period on the nuvaring, however, doesn't come naturally; it is manipulated by the removal of the nuvaring. Therefore, the only days to abstain are the days that she would typically see her period following the removal of the nuvaring. The halachos of vestos are birth control can be complicated - please feel free to call our hotline if you have any more questions about this. 718-336-0603. Kol tuv!

It is recommended to perform a thorough cleaning of the vaginal area to clean and remove residual blood before the hefsek tahara, but not for the subsequent bedikot. In order to make sure there is no confusion, let me review the different terms. The Hefsek Tahara refers to the bedika that is typically performed on the 5th day of the period (day 4 for Sefardim). The objective of this bedika is to confirm that the period has ended and allow the woman to begin counting her 7 clean days on the following day. There is another bedika called the Moch Dachuk, which is the bedika that is inserted following the hefsek - but still before sunset - and it remains in the woman for approximately 40 minutes. Assuming both the Hefsek and the Moch do not contain blood, the following day marks the first of her seven clean days. In other words, if an Ashkenazi woman’s period began on Sunday, she would attempt for a Hefsek Tahara and Moch Dachuk on Thursday before sunset. If neither of those 2 bedika clothes have any blood on them, then she is able to begin counting her 7 clean days on Friday and her projected Mikvah night would be the following Thursday night. Back to your question about cleaning the area before the hefsek tahara. The cleaning can be done in whatever way is comfortable for the person, with either a wet cloth or any other way that’s comfortable. One may also perform multiple attempts for a clean hefsek tahara, but it’s important to make sure that one doesn’t do it too many times, as not to irritate the area. Therefore, it’s a good idea to wait in between each Bedikah so that the area has time to recover, remoisten and won’t get too dry which would lead to bleeding when irritated. The truth is there are some Poskim who require one to wait a little bit between each attempted Hefsek Taharah, but others don’t require this wait time, especially if a Moch Dachuk will be used.

The Mirena is a hormonal IUD which may affect your cycle; a delay of your period is completely normal and there is no issue at all. Menstruation may be reduced or disappear completely with the device (sometimes it can push it off for a year!). For some people, the delay or disappearance of the period is actually one of the biggest benefits in using Mirena because it extends your “pure” status and permits you to your husband.