DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 1006 KB)
A Bride’s Requirement to Make “Bedikot”

Before a girl gets married, she must remove her Nidda status by going through the standard procedure that married women must go through after becoming a Nidda. This means that she must ascertain the cessation of bleeding through the "Hefsek Tahara," and then make two Bedikot (inspections) each day (morning and afternoon) for seven days. At the end of the seven days, she immerses in a Mikveh. The only difference is that a bride may immerse on the seventh day, whereas a married woman may immerse only after nightfall.

This information is well-known and taught in standard marriage preparation classes, but it has recently come to my attention that some people are under the misconception that a bride preparing for her wedding does not have to make internal inspections. This is entirely incorrect; a bride must make the same Bedikot as married women. It is true that a girl who had never been married might be physiologically unable to check herself the same way a married woman does. However, Halacha requires her to inspect to the extent that she can. If, for whatever reason, she is unable to make both daily inspections each of the seven days, she should consult with her Rabbi for guidance. In some situations, there is room to permit a woman to make fewer inspections. But a bride is certainly under the same obligation to make Bedikot as married women.

It is unclear where this misconception comes from, but it might have originated from the Bet Yosef (Yoreh De’a 192), who does not mention Bedikot when discussing a bride’s preparations for her wedding. However, the Bet Yosef was likely referring to the times when even single girls would immerse in the Mikveh after menstruation, and therefore a bride before her wedding could have already been Tehora (ritually pure). As such, Bedikot were unnecessary. Nowadays, however, girls do not immerse in a Mikveh until before their wedding, and thus their process of purification is required on the level of strict Torah obligation. Hence, their Bedikot are obligatory. This Halacha is mentioned explicitly by Hacham Ovadia Yosef, in his Taharat Ha’bayit (vol. 1, p. 471; listen to audio recording for precise citation).

Summary: Before a girl’s wedding day, she must perform Bedikot for seven days just as a married woman does after becoming a Nidda. If a bride cannot, for whatever reason, make all the required inspections, she should consult with her Rabbi for guidance.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Should One Pray Minha Ketana Without a Minyan Instead of Minha Gedola with a Minyan?
Halachot Concerning the "Mesader" Who Calls Congregants to the Torah
Is A Person Required To Stand During Chazara (Repetition of the Amidah)
Is One Required to Miss Work to Pray with a Minyan?
“Barechenu” and “Barech Alenu” Between 7 Marheshvan and the Beginning of December for Travelers to and From Israel
“Mesuve Ve’Ose” – The Unique Challenge of Accepting Obligation
One Who Realizes During the Amida That He is Facing the Wrong Direction; Facing Northeast or Southeast During the Amida
Does a Kohen Who Serves as Hazzan Recite Birkat Kohanim?
Facing the Kohanim During Birkat Kohanim
How Many Kaddishim are Recited When Three Sifreh Torah are Read in the Synagogue?
The Tefilah of ‘Hodu’ Before Baruch SheAmar
Arranging the Torah Scrolls on the Teba When Two or More Scrolls are Read
Idle Chatter During Pesukeh De’zimra
How To Make Up Missed Shacharit and Musaf in Minha of Shabbat
Reciting the Amidah With the Chazan When One Comes Late to the Synagogue; Other Situations Where One Recites Kedusha During the Silent Amidah
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found