MO Woman

Kallah Companion Website

Nishmat has created yet another impressive website through their Yoatzot Halacha program. The site, a companion to kallah classes, was put together by Dr. Deena Zimmerman, author of A Lifetime Companion to the Laws of Jewish Family Life. Here is a description:

We’d like to draw your attention to Kallah Companion, our new internet service. Kallah Companion is a comprehensive online curriculum in taharat hamishpacha designed especially for brides. Intended to supplement traditional personal instruction, the course enables kallot to prepare and review what they learn with their teachers, and to explore questions they might not otherwise encounter. It is also helpful for kallah or classroom teachers to use to supplement their instruction.

The course includes:

• Clear, friendly, practical instruction in the laws of taharat hamishpacha
• Explanations of the conceptual and logical framework underlying the halacha
• Interactive review questions following each lesson and each unit
• Helpful guidance for shalom bayit
• Straightforward information on women's health and intimacy
• Unlimited opportunities to ask questions and discuss issues with a yoetzet halacha (a female advisor certified in the area of taharat hamishpacha)

Kallah Companion, a not for profit project, was created under the direction of Dr. Deena Zimmerman, the author of A Lifetime Companion to the Laws of Jewish Family Life, who is both a yoetzet halacha and a practicing physician. Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin, author of four volumes of halachic responsa B'nai Banim, provides expert halachic supervision and guidance for all aspects of the course. A sample lesson can be viewed here.

Niddah for Doctors

Over the past few years the Modern Orthodox community has been transformed by the creation of the Yoatzot Halacha program at Nishmat. Their interactive website and hotline allows women to ask halachic questions, often of a private or intimate nature, in an anonymous way.

I have heard a number of women say that until the creation of the Yoatzot program they were too shy to ask some of their questions and opted to be more machmir (strict) in their observance of hilchot niddah than they might have needed to be. For many women it is just more comfortable to talk to another woman about such sensitive topics.

The Yoatzot recently launched another exciting website called Jewish Women's Health. This site is geared toward medical professionals and provides information on halachic issues relating to women's health (such as gynecological procedures, contraception, infertility, etc.)

One particular topic which caught my eye, and which is often a source of confusion for women, is the question of whether or not a woman can become a niddah after a "Pap smear" exam. Here is an example of the sensitive yet informative answer found on their site:

Use of the spatula, cotton tipped applicator, or brush for this test does not cause sufficient cervical dilation to render a woman niddah, even according to the most stringent opinion. The bleeding that sometimes accompanies this procedure is due to confirmed trauma to the outside of the cervix. Therefore, this exam should not render her a niddah according to almost all authorities.

Women's Health and Halacha Day

Nishmat's next Women's Health and Halacha Day will take place this Sunday May 15th in Woodmere, NY. Here are the details.