A woman who sees blood on account of relations — she becomes a נדה, and, if it recurs three times, the concern that it comes from the מקור (forbidden to this husband); distinguishing the מקור from a מכה / the צדדין; the בדיקת שפופרת of old and today's medical diagnosis; the ne'emanut « מכה יש לי »; the Rama's gloss on seif 1 (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 187 — 14 se'ifim). A matter both halachic and medical: referral to the Rav and to the physician.
אִשָּׁה שֶׁרָאֲתָה דָּם מֵחֲמַת תַּשְׁמִישׁ — מְשַׁמֶּשֶׁת שָׁלֹשׁ פְּעָמִים וְרוֹאָה, וְאַחַר כָּךְ אֲסוּרָה לְשַׁמֵּשׁ עִם בַּעְלָהּ זֶה, מִפְּנֵי הַחֲשָׁשׁ שֶׁמָּא הַדָּם בָּא מִן הַמָּקוֹר. הגה: וי״א שאין אנו בקיאין איזה מיקרי מחמת תשמיש כי אין בקיאין בשיעור הנזכר ולכן כל שרואה ג״פ סמוך לתשמיש מקרי לדידן מחמת תשמיש ונאסרה על בעלה.
A woman who saw blood on account of relations (מחמת תשמיש) — after it occurred three times, she becomes forbidden to this husband, out of concern that this blood comes from the מקור (the uterine source). Rama's gloss on that same seif: no longer expert in the measure of immediacy, any woman who sees three times close to relations falls under the rule and becomes forbidden to her husband — the criterion is therefore widened, provided the three times are consecutive.
Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 187:1 (excerpt, with the Rama's gloss)LEVEL 01
Hebrew text of the 14 se'ifim with a fluent English translation. The woman who is רואה מחמת תשמיש (forbidden to this husband after three times), the distinction מקור / מכה / צדדין, the בדיקת שפופרת and today's medical diagnosis, the ne'emanut « מכה יש לי » and the Rama's gloss on seif 1 — set out with dignity and sobriety, with practical cases referring to the Rav and the physician.
📖 StudyLEVEL 02
In-depth pilpul: מקור vs צדדין / מכה, the heart of the siman; the mechanics of the בדיקת שפופרת (Taz sk5, שיעור אבר בינוני); what may be attributed (a וסת, a מכה) and the Rama's ספק ספיקא reasoning (se'if 5); the ne'emanut « מכה יש לי » (se'if 6); the חזקת ג׳ פעמים and the sequence of husbands (« לפי שאין כל אצבעו׳ שוו׳ », Taz ס״ק ב); the Noda BiYehuda's nuances (PT — a later וסת קבוע, שפע דם, עיבור / הנקה).
📖 StudyLEVEL 03
Comparative tables (מקור / מכה / צדדין, what may be attributed, with or without a וסת קבוע and the ספק ספיקא, the ne'emanut), golden rules, classic pitfalls and cross-references (sim. קפ״ד, קפ״ו, קפ״ח, ק״צ, קצ״ו); memorization of the 14 se'ifim of ro'ah machmat tashmish.
📖 StudyLEVEL 04
Two parts: the approach of Chabad and the shitah of the Tzemach Tzedek (Daat HaRav, in principle), then the halacha lema'asse of the other poskim — Beit Yosef, Rama, Shach, Sidrei Tahara, Chochmat Adam, Aruch haShulchan, Noda BiYehuda, Taharat haBayit, Shevet haLevi, Nishmat Avraham (the medical angle) — always referring to the Rav and to the physician.
📖 StudyThe siman addresses, with gravity, the woman who sees blood on account of relations (רואה מחמת תשמיש). Two things are bound up in it: on one hand she becomes a נדה; on the other, if it recurs three times in a row, a concern arises that this blood comes from the מקור (the uterine source), which would render her forbidden to this husband (Shulchan Aruch 187:1). The whole concern is therefore to determine the source: if the blood is from the מקור, there is a prohibition; if from a מכה (a wound) or the צדדין (the walls), it does not carry that prohibition. It is precisely this distinction that, most often, allows one to be lenient. Such a case is never decided alone: it calls for an imperative referral to your Rav and to a competent physician.
The Shulchan Aruch (187:2) describes the בדיקת שפופרת: a tube (שפופרת) holding a מכחול wrapped in מוך, inserted to where relations reach; if blood is found at its end, it is attributed to the מקור and she is forbidden; if not, it is attributed to the צדדין and she is permitted. This is the forerunner of an approach that remains valid in principle: establishing where the blood comes from. Today this diagnosis belongs to medicine: a physician (gynecologist) looks for a cause at the cervix or the walls — a polyp, an ectropion, a micro-lesion — that is, a מכה / צדדין rather than the מקור, whence, often, the leniency. Never by self-diagnosis: the source is determined with a physician, and the halachah that follows, with your Rav.
The Mehaber writes in seif 1 that after three consecutive times she is forbidden to this husband — « אסורה לשמש עם בעל זה אלא תתגרש ותנשא לאחר ». The Rama's gloss on that same seif does not soften this: no longer expert in the measure of immediacy, « for us, any woman who sees three times close to relations is deemed to see from relations, and she becomes forbidden to her husband » — the criterion is therefore widened, provided the three times are consecutive. How this rule applies today is not treated in this siman and belongs to the Rav. Moreover, the Shulchan Aruch (187:6) recognizes the woman's ne'emanut: if she says « מכה יש לי » (I have a wound there) or « ברי לי » (I am certain this blood is not from the מקור), she is believed and remains טהורה. That ne'emanut is real, yet it applies within a framework: its application is decided with your Rav, after the source has been clarified by a physician.