Thank you to Rav Abadi and the team here for making halacha and the answers so accessible. My question is regarding the opinion of ‘hargashot’ in the context of Taharat Hamishpacha, especially in Sephardic Halacha.
I am Sephardi and have been using Rabbi Abadi’s booklet on Niddah. I was initially told years ago that women today no longer experienced the ‘hargasha’ that is mentioned in Halacha. But as I attended different refresher courses over the years, the concept and definition of hargashot seemed to differ greatly from person to person. And when I tried to find out more from seforim regarding this, it got even more confusing, especially when they said something about actual hargashot not being experienced by women today, but certain sensations being a hargasha rabbinically. I thought the only rabbinical enactments of becoming a niddah were through ketamim. Then I realized that Rabbi Abadi’s booklet on Niddah did not mention anything about Hargashot at all, and that perhaps I was worrying about it needlessly.
My question is this: What is Rav Abadi’s position on the concept of hargashot in the context of Taharat Hamishpacha today?
The typical hargasha is not there normally. However, when there is a full Nida, it’s clearly Nida and would be at least as strong as if there was a Hargasha. Additionally, during a bedika it doesn’t require hargasha.
A Ketem (stain) is also an issue without a hargasha, however it’s derabanan and much less strict.
And yes, you don’t need to worry about it. I don’t believe it will change anything, if you’re following the Nida Booklet. It’s ok to listen to shiurim and lectures on the subject, but you might want to tune out some of the chumras.
Let me share a little of the history surrounding my father as we were children growing up. There were so many Rabbis who would add all these extra rules and issurim to hilchot Nida. My father would get so frustrated. Many couples would follow these Rabbis and feel the need and importance of being super machmir on such important and stringent laws. Unfortunately, the side effects of that are often a problem having children. Often those same Rabbis would suggest that the couple would need to be even more strict, in order for God to provide children.
Eventually, they would end up at my father’s study and he would teach them the proper halachot and help them spend more time together especially during the crucial ovulation period. In a very short time they would have a child. They often would consider it a miracle, and my father would just laugh to himself, knowing that the miracle was that they finally came here and we were able to help. There are dozens if not hundreds of children that arrived into this world from these stories.