Cleansing before Immersion

Cleansing before Immersion

Cleansing before Immersion







In order for the immersion to remove the woman’s niddah status and allow
for the resumption of sexual relations, the water of a kosher mikveh must
come into contact with every part of the woman’s body. Therefore if there
is any such intervening substance, (hasisa), such as dirt, bandages,
jewelry on the woman’s body they must be removed before the immersion.1.



1. Before going to the mikveh a woman must shower and make sure that she
is clean and that her hair is knot-free since these prevent the absolute
permeation of water.




2. The woman must wash her armpits and any other covered places with
water.



3. She must comb her hair very well so that no hairs are stuck
together.



4. She must also check her whole body to make sure that nothing dirty is
stuck to it. This examination should take place just before the
immersion.



5. Shampooing may not be done in cold water since cold water knots the
hair, the water may be warm or hot.



6. This cleaning should be done close to the time of her immersion. The
best suggestion would be to start bathing and shampooing while it is
still daytime in order to finish her preparations around night time, then
she should immerse after sunset.



7. If she did the preparations at home it is suggested for the woman to
comb her hair again at the mikveh.



8. When it is otherwise impossible to bathe and shampoo before night
time, like on Saturday night, the woman may do the preparations at night
as long as she does them thoroughly and not in a hasty careless fashion
way in her desire to quickly resume physical intimacy with her husband.



9. If a woman must immerse on Saturday night it is suggested that she
bathe well on Friday and cut her nails and do any time-consuming
preparations then so that on Saturday night a minimal amount of
preparation is required.



10. When a woman must immerse on a Friday night she should do all of her
preparations during the day. It is suggested that all of the preparations
which can be done early in the day on Friday be finished as early as
possible, this is because in the rush before Shabbat a woman might not
properly prepare for immersion. Showering and shampooing should be done
right before Shabbat since these need to be done just before immersion.



11. If a woman must immerse on a Saturday which happens to be a Yom Tob
(holiday), or if she must immerse on the second evening of a holiday
which is Yom Tob, she should comb her hair well before Shabbat or Yom Tob
and keep it tied the whole time until she immerses in order to make sure
that her hair does not become knotted.



12. Under such circumstances the woman should be careful not to get
sticky or dirty things on her, like food. She should wash her hands
whenever they get dirty so that substances will not be stuck to her when
she immerses.



13. When this woman finally immerses she should check her whole body and
her hair well to make sure that nothing is stuck to her that will stop
the complete permeation of water.



14. When a woman immerses on a Shabbat which follows Yom Tob or on Yom
Tob she should wash all of her covered places, eg. underarms or under the
breasts. She may wash with water which was heated on Yom Tov.



15. If a woman did not bathe, shampoo, and comb her hair, even though
she checked her body, her immersion is invalid. If she combed her hair
but did not check her whole body the immersion is invalid.



16. After a woman has bathed and combed she should be careful not to deal
with any sticky substances before she immerses since if she immersed with
anything stuck to her the immersion is invalid. A woman should therefore
check her body before she immerses. If she immersed without checking, her
immersion is invalid and she must do it again.




1. The laws of this chapter are adapted from Shulkhan ‘Arukh Yoreh De’ah
chapter 199


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