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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.
    – Y     e     z
    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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