Distancing On the Expected Menstruation Date
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Question
On the expected menstruation date (Veset period), should all the distancing laws of Niddah be observed or not? יש
Answer
One should avoid hugging and kissing, and sleeping in the same bed. (There is no need to distance 50 cm, a smaller distance suffices.) All other distancing practices, such as leftovers of food or passing objects, should not be strictly observed during the Veset period, as long as she has not seen blood.
Source
Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah, Laws of Niddah, Siman 184, Paragraph 2: "During her Veset, one must abstain from intimacy for one night, but not from other closeness, only from marital relations." This is also the ruling of the Shach and the Pitchei Teshuva, that there is no need to abstain from hugging and kissing during her Veset. However, the Bach wrote that one who is stringent will be blessed, and the Taz in Siman 3 wrote that it is forbidden by law, as in the case of mourning. The poskim also instructed to avoid hugging and kissing during her Veset.
Other distancing practices are certainly permitted, as even those who prohibit, only prohibit hugging and kissing and do not require other distancing. However, regarding sleeping in the same bed, the poskim instructed that since there is a concern she might see blood at this time, and at night she might not feel her Niddah status, and it will be found that he is sleeping in the same bed with a Niddah, as mentioned in Shabbat 13, where Elijah the Prophet said: "Blessed is the place that killed the righteous who did not observe the prohibition of sleeping in the same bed with a Niddah." Therefore, one should be stringent not to sleep in the same bed, but distancing the beds is due to the concern he might touch her clothing, and this certainly is not a concern during her Veset.
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