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...
Hanukah – Lighting the Candles With Genuine Joy; Lighting With a Wax Candle
Hanukah – Spinning the Dreidel; Giving Gifts to Children and Teachers
The Custom Among Some Syrian Jews to Light an Extra Candle on Hanukah
Hanukah Candles – Arranging the Candles in a Straight Line; the Proper Place for Lighting
Chanukah- Should One Skip Al HaNissim To Catch Up for Nakdishach
Proper Handling of Leftover Oil and Wicks from the Hanukah Lights
Chanukah- Fasting, Eulogies and Mourning on Chanukah
Hanukah – If the Wrong Section From the Torah Was Read on Hanukah
If One Travels on Hanukah to a Place Without a Jewish Community
Hanukah – Must One Light the Candles Again if They are Extinguished After Lighting?
Hanukah – The Use of Floating Wicks
Hanukah – Reciting Hallel in a House of Mourning; Reciting “Mizmor Shir Hanukat Ha’bayit”
Hanukah – Does One Recite Shehehiyanu the First Time He Lights if He Did Not Light on the First Night?
Hanukah – The Halachot of Candle Lighting for Travelers
Hanukah – Is it Preferable to Use New Wicks Each Night, or to Reuse the Wicks From the Previous Night?
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found