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In general, a niddah should not postpone immersion.

According to current universal custom, after observing a disqualifying stain, a niddah must observe 7 clean days before immersion, whereas a tehorah must wait at least 5 days before observing 7 clean days.

Consider these two scenarios:

  1. Rochel finishes counting 7 clean days, and diligently immerses that night. The next morning she finds a disqualifying stain, and must wait at least 5 + 7 = 12 days in order to immerse again.
  2. Leah finishes counting 7 clean days, and laxly postpones her immersion. The next morning she finds a disqualifying stain, and must wait only 7 days in order to immerse again.

Why is the diligent being punished?

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    Because sometimes, life isn't fair? // Is Leah required to keep doing bedikot and taking other measures that make finding such a stain more likely? In that case, it's quite possible that the same stain that would make Leah count another 7 days would be undetected by Rochel, so she'd wait 0 days.
    – Isaac Moses
    Commented Dec 29, 2014 at 16:18
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    @IsaacMoses Leah is NOT required to continue bedikos. See last line of first link: "If one has finished counting the shivah neki'im but is postponing immersion, it is no longer necessary to wear white underwear or do bedikot."
    – Adám
    Commented Dec 29, 2014 at 16:21
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    What causes a concern to wait 5 days is only relevant for a Tehora. It isn't a קנס.
    – Yishai
    Commented Dec 29, 2014 at 18:37
  • Note that 5 days is not a universal custom. Plenty of non-Ashkenazim do not have that practice.
    – Double AA
    Commented Feb 9, 2015 at 6:26
  • @DoubleAA That is news to me. Can you tell me what other practice there is out there? Less than 5 days? Some other criteria?
    – Adám
    Commented Feb 9, 2015 at 18:10

1 Answer 1

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The diligent is not being punished. The waiting 5 days is not a result of being tehora - it is a result of having cohabited with (or having been able to cohabit with) her husband, and therefore having a concern of discharging shichvas zera, which invalidates the counting of those days. The woman who went to mikvah has a concern of discharge, and the other woman does not. It is not a result of being tehorah, even if it is a consequence.

Someone who consumed meat for their Yom Tov seudah cannot have a glass of milk, while someone who did not have meat can. The one who consumed meat is not being punished for having made a nicer Yom Tov meal (assuming they both like meat) - he is merely subject to the consequences of having eaten meat, which is incidental to the mitzvah of seudas Yom Tov. This is the same thing.

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    Note further that if a Niddah did sleep with her husband during the seven clean days she'd have to wait five days to resume her count.
    – Double AA
    Commented Dec 30, 2014 at 4:38
  • @DoubleAA Really? What is the source for that?
    – Adám
    Commented Dec 30, 2014 at 15:06
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    @NBZ same source as the waiting 5 days before starting - poletes shichvas zera can't start counting because the Sh"Z is soseir yomo. It will be soseir yomo in the middle just as well as at the beginning. Commented Dec 30, 2014 at 18:27
  • @DoubleAA Look at Shach on 196. He points out that even according to the Remo one would only wait 4 days in such a case seeing as it is a rare case the stringency of the Terumas Hadeshen (that maybe they had Biah Bein Hashmashos) was not said there
    – Moz
    Commented Oct 5, 2023 at 21:35

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