Niddah 12: Examinations Before and After Intercourse

Today's daf focuses on how often a woman should examine herself for blood to ensure that she is a niddah.  If she finds blood, she is a niddah and ritually pure items become ritually impure.  This includes her husband - if intercourse with his wife leads him to have touched her menstrual blood, he is now ritually impure and must bring a sin offering.

Rabbi Zebra says that she should examine herself before intercourse.  Rav Yehuda disagrees, suggesting that her husband might become insecure about her status which could affect his desire to be sexually intimate with his wife.  The rabbis debate about examinations both before and after intercourse.  Modest women were said to check themselves before intercourse if they were fully awake.  Men are not permitted to have intercourse with their wives if their wives are asleep (Nedarim 20b).  However, women might be groggy and not examine themselves.

The rabbis also speak about women who are have irregular cycles.  The rabbis argue about whether or not they are always required to examine themselves before and after intercourse, even though this might affect husbands negatively.  Some women might use the same cloth to check themselves before and after intercourse, which would not be as "modest".  

The Rema reminds us that women who have set menstrual cycles need not check themselves before and/or after intercourse.