Siman 200 — Lamdan Level: when the berakha of the tevilah is said, and how it is said covered
A single seif, and two questions that every shitah decides together — the moment, and the manner
סימן ר׳
עובר לעשייתן בטבילה, ברכה בגילוי ולבו רואה את הערוה, הכיסוי, ומנהג ספרד מול אשכנז
עיון, פלפול, שיטות הראשונים והאחרונים
⚡ For lomdim and talmidei hakhamim ⚡
✦ ❖ ✦
Pilpul and in-depth study
Sugyot, sources, the underlying chakirah, the machlokot of the Rishonim and Acharonim,
the nafka minot for practice and the examination of the shitot
The subject:
Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh De’ah, siman 200 — a single seif, which closes the הלכות נדה before the הלכות מקוואות of siman 201
with its commentaries: ט״ז (טורי זהב) · ש״ך (שפתי כהן) · באר היטב · פתחי תשובה · ערוך השולחן
The foundation of the sugya in the Shas and among the Rishonim:
פסחים ז׳ ע״ב — the general rule, and the exception of the tevilah · ברכות כ״ה ע״ב — לבו רואה את הערוה, murky water and clear water · טור and בית יוסף — the Raavad and the Rosh against the בה״ג and the ר״י
A note of method and of restraint:
This sugya touches the body and what is intimate; it is written with respect and modesty. Nothing here is a horaah: the exact moment and the manner are settled with one’s Rav, the morat kallah or the balanit, according to one’s community.
Written and studied by:
הרב יוסף חיים סממה · DAAT
📑 Table of contents
Opening the sugya — two underlying questions in the berakha of the tevilah: when (before or after) and in what manner (uncovered or covered) — the language of the Mechaber and that of the Rama, in a single seif
עובר לעשייתן in the tevilah — does she bless before, while still a niddah, against the general rule of פסחים ז׳ ע״ב; and why the tevilah would be an exception
לבו רואה את הערוה / blessing uncovered — why she does not bless naked; the חלוק, water up to the neck, and murky water as solutions
The shitah of the בעל הלכות גדולות, of Rashi and of the Ramban — to bless after the tevilah; and the practice the Rama reports: still in the water, she covers herself and blesses
Sephardi practice and Ashkenazi practice — the Mechaber (before, in the חלוק) against the Rama (after, covered) — and the conduct at the mikveh
Chakirah and nafka mina for practice
Summary tables
📜 The text of the Shulchan Arukh — the single seif
אימתי תעשה ברכת הטבילה. ובו סעיף אחד: כשפושטת מלבושיה כשעומדת בחלוקה תברך אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו על הטבילה ותפשוט חלוקה ותטבול ואם לא ברכה אז תברך לאחר שתכנס עד צוארה במים ואם הם צלולים עוכרתן ברגליה ומברכת: הגה ויש אומרים שלא תברך עד אחר הטבילה (טור בשם בעל הלכות גדולות והוא בה״ג דף פ״ה ע״ב ורש״י ורמב״ן סימן שכ״ח וש״ד) וכן נוהגים שלאחר הטבילה בעודה עומדת בתוך המים מכסית עצמה בבגדה או בחלוקה ומברכת:
summary: when she takes off her garments and stands in her חלוק, she says the berakha “on the tevilah”, then removes the חלוק and immerses. If she did not bless, she blesses after entering the water up to her neck; and if the water is clear, she stirs it up with her foot and blesses. The gloss rendered in small type is the Rama’s: there are those who say she blesses only after the tevilah, and such is the practice — after the tevilah, while she still stands in the water, she covers herself with her garment or her חלוק and blesses.
One point of reading, and it governs everything that follows: what Sefaria renders in small type inside the seif is the gloss of the Rama, not the words of the Mechaber. The Mechaber’s seif ends at עוכרתן ברגליה(שולחן ערוך יו״ד ר׳); everything after that, from הגה onward, belongs to the Rama.
1. Opening the sugya — two underlying questions in the berakha of the tevilah
This siman — which closes the הלכות נדה — is brief in its letter (a single seif) and dense in its study, for it sets against one another two demands of birkat hamitzvot that do not agree of themselves: (a) when will she bless — before the tevilah, by the general rule of עובר לעשייתן, or after; and (b) in what manner — since her body is uncovered, and one does not bless when לבו רואה את הערוה. Each shitah in the seif decides both questions together: for the Mechaber, before, and in the חלוק; for the Rama in the name of the Rishonim, after, and covered in the water. The subject of the siman is therefore a balance between two principles — the rule of עובר לעשייתן on one side, the demand of modesty and honour in a berakha on the other.
The underlying chakirah — which yields to which: עובר לעשייתן or ערוה? Two rules meet in the berakha of the tevilah, and each Rishon decided for one of them:
First side — עובר לעשייתן prevails (the Mechaber’s shitah): the berakha must precede the mitzvah, and so she will bless before immersing; the difficulty of the uncovered body is solved because she still stands in her חלוק, or else because she enters the water up to her neck and stirs it up.
Second side — the concern of blessing uncovered prevails (בה״ג, Rashi, Ramban, as the Rama names them): as long as she has not immersed, the berakha has no place; and so she will bless after the tevilah, still in the water, covered.
There lies the root of the machloket: does the status of the before — that she is still a niddah — block the berakha, or does the rule of עובר לעשייתן hold, the difficulty of the uncovered body being settled otherwise? The pilpul that follows does not decide this question; it shows where each side draws its strength from.
“כשעומדת בחלוקה” — the Mechaber’s precision: the Mechaber did not simply write “before”; he named a moment. Not before she takes off her garments — she does not yet stand before the mitzvah — nor after she has taken them all off — she would then be uncovered — but precisely כשפושטת מלבושיה כשעומדת בחלוקה תברך(שולחן ערוך יו״ד ר׳). That is the middle instant: she has already removed her clothes and is about to immerse, so the berakha is close to the mitzvah; and the חלוק still covers her, so the difficulty of being uncovered does not arise. The Mechaber sought to hold both demands within a single window. The Beit Yosef says it in one line, and gives no other reason than that:
« פשוט שהוא משום דכשהיא ערומה אסורה לברך » (בית יוסף יו״ד ר׳)
The source of the sugya — פסחים ז׳ ע״ב, ברכות כ״ה ע״ב, and the division in the טור: the general rule is that of Rav Yehudah in the name of Shmuel, in פסחים ז׳ ע״ב; the prohibition of blessing when לבו רואה את הערוה and the solution of murky water are in ברכות כ״ה ע״ב. The טור divides the Rishonim: the בה״ג and the ר״י on one side (bless after), the ראב״ד and the רא״ש on the other (bless before, in the חלוק); the בית יוסף gathers the shitot and decides to bless before, and the רמ״א glosses according to Ashkenazi practice. For practice — ask your Rav, the morat kallah or the balanit.
2. עובר לעשייתן in the tevilah — and is the tevilah an exception
The rule of עובר לעשייתן and the status of the “before”
The Mechaber’s language — כשפושטת מלבושיה כשעומדת בחלוקה תברך(שולחן ערוך יו״ד ר׳) … ותפשוט חלוקה ותטבול(שולחן ערוך יו״ד ר׳) — means before the tevilah, by the general rule that the gemara states in the name of Shmuel. Facing it, the Rama: ויש אומרים שלא תברך עד אחר הטבילה(רמ״א יו״ד ר׳) — the shitah of the בעל הלכות גדולות, of Rashi and of the Ramban, for whom one does not bless the tevilah עובר לעשייתן, but after it.
The chakirah — why does the tevilah separate itself from the other mitzvot? At first sight the tevilah is a mitzvah like any other, and one blesses before — that is the Mechaber’s shitah. Whence, then, do the בה״ג, Rashi and the Ramban exclude it? The gemara itself knows of this exclusion, and gives its reason in four words:
Two readings of that exclusion are offered, and they do not coincide:
First yesod — the status of the “before”: before the tevilah the person is not yet fit — גברא לא חזי — and the Beit Yosef reports that Rashi extends this reason to all immersions. The berakha then bears upon the taharah that comes through the tevilah, and the taharah comes only afterwards.
Second yesod — no division was made between immersions: the Taz gives the reason of those who hold “after” in so many words, and it is not the impurity of this particular woman, but a uniform institution.
« טעמייהו דכיון דבטבילת גר אין שייך שיברך קודם הטבילה דעדיין עובד כוכבים הוא לא חילקו חכמים בין הטבילות » (ט״ז יו״ד ר׳ ס״ק ב)
Which of the two readings carries the shitah? The question is left open in the commentaries, and the nafka mina appears in the following paragraph.
The tevilah of a niddah and the tevilah of a ger — are they one thing? The comparison must be weighed. For the ger it is explicit that he blesses after immersing, since before the tevilah he cannot say אשר קדשנו במצותיו — he is not yet of Israel; that is exactly what the Taz writes, and it is what the טור already reports in the name of the ר״י:
« וכן פר״י דאגב טבילת גר שאי אפשר לו לברך אלא אחר הטבילה תקנו בכל הטבילות לברך אחריהם » (טור יו״ד ר׳)
But the niddah is a daughter of Israel even in her impurity, and she is בת מצוה from the outset: where, then, is the likeness? Two paths. The path of likeness: since there exists one immersion where one cannot bless before, no division was made, and all immersions follow the same form — that is the ר״י as the טור reports him, and the Taz after him. The path of distinction: the Geonim, as the רי״ף reports them, confine Rav Chisda’s statement to the ger’s immersion alone.
« אבל הרי״ף כתב בשם הגאונים דלא אמר רב חסדא אלא בטבילת גר בלבד » (בית יוסף יו״ד ר׳)
« חייבי טבילות מברכין עובר לעשייתן חוץ מן הגר » (בית יוסף יו״ד ר׳)
It is upon this division that the gap between the Mechaber and the Rama rests among the Rishonim. This page does not decide it.
Nafka mina:
For the Mechaber (Sephardi practice) — she blesses before the tevilah, standing in her חלוק.
For the Rama (Ashkenazi practice) — she blesses after the tevilah, still in the water, covered.
She forgot to bless beforehand, according to the Mechaber → she blesses after entering the water up to her neck, and stirs the water with her foot if it is clear. The Mechaber himself provides for this: ואם לא ברכה אז תברך לאחר שתכנס עד צוארה במים ואם הם צלולים עוכרתן ברגליה ומברכת(שולחן ערוך יו״ד ר׳)
For practice — ask your Rav, the morat kallah or the balanit.
Rishonim and Acharonim on עובר לעשייתן (פסחים ז׳ ע״ב; בה״ג; ר״י; רי״ף בשם הגאונים; רמב״ם; ראב״ד; רא״ש; טור; בית יוסף; ט״ז): the rule is that of פסחים ז׳ ע״ב, and Rav Chisda’s exception is stated on the same page. The shitah of “after” comes from the בה״ג and the ר״י, whom the טור reports, and the רמ״א adds רש״י and רמב״ן to them. The shitah of “before” is that of the ראב״ד and the רא״ש, likewise in the טור; the רי״ף in the name of the גאונים and the רמב״ם give its foundation, and the בית יוסף holds by it. The ט״ז ס״ק ב explains the reason of those who bless after. For practice — ask your Rav or the morat kallah.
3. לבו רואה את הערוה / blessing uncovered — the covering and the stirred-up water
The Mechaber’s language gives three ways of covering, and a single reason: כשפושטת מלבושיה כשעומדת בחלוקה תברך(שולחן ערוך יו״ד ר׳) for the first; then, if she did not bless — ואם לא ברכה אז תברך לאחר שתכנס עד צוארה במים ואם הם צלולים עוכרתן ברגליה ומברכת(שולחן ערוך יו״ד ר׳). The Rama, for the practice he reports, gives a fourth, after the tevilah: מכסית עצמה בבגדה או בחלוקה ומברכת(רמ״א יו״ד ר׳). The common reason is the one the gemara raises against the mishnah of one who goes down to immerse:
The yesod — לבו רואה את הערוה, and what “covering” means in a berakha:
The mishnah in ברכות allows one who has gone down to immerse to cover himself with the water and to recite; the gemara objects that his heart then sees the ערוה, and answers by confining the mishnah to murky water:
And a baraita on the same page gives the two courses the Mechaber will repeat word for word — to enter up to the neck, or to stir the water with the foot:
It is from here that the three ways of the seif come: the חלוק, the water up to the neck, and the stirred-up water. In other words, לבו רואה את הערוה is the engine of every detail of the seif.
“עוכרתן ברגליה” — and the Taz’s צריך עיון: the Taz’s first entry on this siman does not explain the Mechaber’s course: it puts it in difficulty. In אורח חיים סימן ע״ד the Shulchan Arukh ruled that a woman may pray dressed in her חלוק even without a separation below the heart; why require here that the water be stirred up?
« צ״ע דבא״ח סימן ע״ד פסק בש״ע שהנשים יכולות להתפלל כשהן לבושות החלוק » (ט״ז יו״ד ר׳ ס״ק א)
« ולמה הצריך כאן עכירת המים ובסמוך יתבאר דאפי׳ מים צלולים הוה כלבישת החלוק » (ט״ז יו״ד ר׳ ס״ק א)
The Taz thus refers to his third entry, where he holds that the water — even clear — already covers:
« אלא פשוט דכל שערותו מכוסה במים אע״פ שהם צלולים מכל מקום אין שם גילוי עליהם » (ט״ז יו״ד ר׳ ס״ק ג)
The Shach, on the same line of the Rama, goes the same way and rests it on the same sugya in ברכות:
« ונ״ל דבמים צלולים ליכא משום גילוי ערוה » (ש״ך יו״ד ר׳ ס״ק א)
« והלכך מברכות במים צלולים שעיניהם חוץ למים ומנהגן תורה היא » (ש״ך יו״ד ר׳ ס״ק א)
Who is speaking, and about whom: in this entry the Taz argues at length against the דרישה, and he separately mentions the view of his father-in-law — that is what מו״ח denotes — of whom the Shach, for his part, speaks under the name ב״ח. Neither is to be confused with the Taz himself:
« ומו״ח ז״ל ס״ל דבעומדת אין שום איסור משום גלוי ערוה » (ט״ז יו״ד ר׳ ס״ק ג)
« וגם הב״ח בקונטרס אחרון השיג על הא״ח » (ש״ך יו״ד ר׳ ס״ק א)
The view discussed on both sides is the one the Taz and the Shach denote by the siglum הא״ח, which the Beit Yosef reports in אורח חיים סימן ע״ד; neither of them expands that siglum, and this page will not expand it either. Note in passing that the same siglum א״ח denotes, in these very lines, the section אורח חיים when it is followed by a siman number.
Nafka mina:
One does not bless the tevilah naked and uncovered — but with a covering: the חלוק, or the water.
She blesses in the water → up to the neck; and if the water is clear → she stirs it with her foot and blesses, by the letter of the Mechaber.
The Taz holds that water, even clear, already covers, and nonetheless advises a separation with the arms: אלא שלכתחלה יש לעשות חבוק ידים כמו שאמרנו דאין פקפוק על זה(ט״ז יו״ד ר׳ ס״ק ג)
For the practice the Rama reports → after the tevilah she covers herself with her garment or her חלוק and blesses.
For practice — ask your Rav, the morat kallah or the balanit.
Rishonim and Acharonim on blessing with the body uncovered (ברכות כ״ה ע״ב; רשב״א and ראב״ד via the בית יוסף; טור; בית יוסף; ט״ז; ש״ך; ערוך השולחן): the sugya is in ברכות כ״ה ע״ב; the בית יוסף reports it here and ties the ראב״ד’s course to it. The ט״ז ס״ק א and ס״ק ג examine the requirement to stir the water and the scope of the covering; the ש״ך ס״ק א maintains that clear water is no גילוי ערוה, and reports the רשב״א and ר״ר יונה along the way. The ערוך השולחן sums up the two reasons put forward: והטעם כדי שלא תראה לבה את הערוה(ערוך השולחן יו״ד ר׳:ג), and the other: אלא נראה הטעם דאף דאינו לעיכובא מ״מ אין מדרך כבוד שמים להזכיר השם בשכל גופה נראה ערום(ערוך השולחן יו״ד ר׳:ג)For practice — ask your Rav or the morat kallah.
4. The shitah of the בעל הלכות גדולות, of Rashi and of the Ramban — blessing after the tevilah
“וכן נוהגים” — still in the water, she covers herself and blesses
The Rama’s gloss holds in two movements. First the shitah: ויש אומרים שלא תברך עד אחר הטבילה(רמ״א יו״ד ר׳) — which the Rama attributes to the טור in the name of the בעל הלכות גדולות, then to רש״י and רמב״ן. Then the practice: וכן נוהגים(רמ״א יו״ד ר׳), שלאחר הטבילה בעודה עומדת בתוך המים(רמ״א יו״ד ר׳) — מכסית עצמה בבגדה או בחלוקה ומברכת(רמ״א יו״ד ר׳). In other words: she immerses first, without a berakha; then, still standing in the water, she covers herself and blesses. The Rama’s gloss stops there: the second immersion the Acharonim describe does not appear in it, and it will be read in §5 with its source.
The chakirah — what is the motive for the delay: the taharah or modesty? The shitah that blesses after the tevilah can be understood in two ways, and the difference is not merely verbal:
First motive — on the side of the taharah: as long as she has not immersed, the berakha has no object; it bears upon the taharah that comes through the tevilah, and the ger’s immersion is its model. The gemara’s own formulation — that the person is not yet fit — goes this way, and the Taz takes it up by speaking of a uniform institution. This motive places the difficulty on the moment.
Second motive — on the side of modesty: one does not bless while standing naked to immerse; she will therefore bless afterwards, when she is covered by her garment, still in the water. This motive places the difficulty on the manner.
The Rama’s own language — the practice he reports is both after the tevilah and covered — suggests that the two motives join in the conduct. Which one comes first remains an open question. Note only that the Taz and the Shach, both on this very word of the Rama, attest that in their day women no longer covered themselves — which shifts the question without deciding it (§3 and below).
“בעודה עומדת בתוך המים” — why not once she has come out? The Rama specified the place: שלאחר הטבילה בעודה עומדת בתוך המים(רמ״א יו״ד ר׳), and not after coming out and dressing again. There is something here to stop at. If the motive is the taharah, she is already pure as soon as she has come up; if the motive is modesty, a dry garment would cover better than a wet one worn in the water. What the precision adds is therefore something else: the berakha is kept close to the mitzvah. Were she to wait until she had come out and dressed, it would move away from the act — and one finds again, in the other direction, the very demand for proximity of which עובר לעשייתן is the ordinary form. This reading is the page’s own, not a word of the commentaries: the Taz, on this word, takes another direction and notes that the practice has changed since the Rama.
« ואע״ג שרמ״א כתב כאן שנוהגים לכסות בבגדה או בחלוקה אפשר שבימיו נהגו כן אבל עכשיו לא נהגו כן » (ט״ז יו״ד ר׳ ס״ק ג)
Nafka mina:
For the practice the Rama reports → she immerses first without a berakha, then, still in the water, covers herself and blesses.
The berakha is said while still in the water, and not once out and dressed — close to the tevilah, and covered.
The Taz attests that in his day the practice of covering with a garment was no longer kept, and that there is nonetheless ground to rely on; he advises the separation with the arms: ודאי מהני ההפסק שהיא עושה בידיה בין לבה לערותה(ט״ז יו״ד ר׳ ס״ק ג)
For practice — ask your Rav, the morat kallah or the balanit.
Rishonim and Acharonim on blessing after the tevilah (בה״ג; רש״י; רמב״ן; ר״י; טור; בית יוסף; רמ״א; ט״ז; ש״ך; באר היטב; ערוך השולחן): the shitah comes from the בה״ג and the ר״י, reported by the טור, and the רמ״א glosses it as a practice while joining רש״י and רמב״ן to it. The בית יוסף sets it out before holding by the other. The ט״ז ס״ק ב gives its reason, and his ס״ק ג describes the practice of his day; the ש״ך ס״ק א defends the women’s conduct; the באר היטב sums up the two and reports the של״ה; the ערוך השולחן describes the widespread practice. For practice — ask your Rav or the morat kallah.
5. Sephardi practice and Ashkenazi practice — the conduct at the mikveh
The Mechaber (before, in the חלוק) against the Rama (after, covered)
The two courses, and the root of the machloket: all the decisions of the seif fall into two practices, and each practice decides both underlying questions together — when, and in what manner.
The point
Sephardi practice (Mechaber)
Ashkenazi practice (Rama)
When she blesses
Before the tevilah (עובר לעשייתן)
After the tevilah (no division was made between immersions)
Where she stands while blessing
Out of the water, in her חלוק
In the water, after the tevilah
The covering
The חלוק; and if she forgot: the water up to the neck, stirred up if clear
She covers herself with her garment or her חלוק
The root of the shitah
ראב״ד and רא״ש, via the טור; רי״ף בשם הגאונים and רמב״ם
בה״ג and ר״י, via the טור; רש״י and רמב״ן according to the רמ״א
The root is a single one: does the status of the “before” block the berakha? For the shitah the Rama holds by, yes — hence the delay; for the Mechaber, no — hence the berakha beforehand, as for the other mitzvot.
The Beit Yosef’s decision — why did he not fear the impurity? The Beit Yosef reports the shitah of the בה״ג and that of the ר״י, and yet decides to bless before. His reason is not a sevara about the nature of the berakha: it is a reading of the gemara. The רי״ף in the name of the גאונים confines Rav Chisda’s statement to the ger’s immersion alone, since he cannot say וצונו before entering the people; the רמב״ם writes the same. And the ר״י himself, on the Beit Yosef’s reading, said no more than this: one does not rebuke those who bless afterwards.
« אומר ר״י דאין לגעור בנשים שמברכות אחר הטבילה כיון דאיכא טבילת גר דלא מצי לברך לא חילקו » (בית יוסף יו״ד ר׳)
« אבל הבא לימלך נראה דמודה הוא דמורין לו כדברי הגאונים לברך לפני טבילה » (בית יוסף יו״ד ר׳)
It is this last word that carries the decision: one who comes to ask is taught to bless before. The Mechaber therefore did not set aside the concern of impurity by a sevara; he followed the גאונים, the רי״ף and the רמב״ם on the scope of the exception.
The yesod — two practices, and a conduct that holds them together:
On the side of halakha, two shitot stand before us: Sephardi — before, in the חלוק; Ashkenazi — after, covered in the water.
On the side of practice, the ערוך השולחן describes a conduct that satisfies both, and he calls it a fine practice: to immerse a first time, to bless, then to immerse a second time.
« ודע דנשים שלנו מנהגן שטובלות פעם אחת ומברכות ואחר כך טובלות פעם שנית ובזה יוצאים כל הדיעות שתהיה הברכה קודם הטבילה ואחר הטבילה ומנהג יפה הוא » (ערוך השולחן יו״ד ר׳:ד)
The באר היטב reports the same conduct in the name of the של״ה (באר היטב יו״ד ר׳ ס״ק א); the ערוך השולחן notes it too in the bracket that closes his seif. That sentence of the באר היטב does appear in the text Sefaria serves, but its search engine does not index it — so it is reported here without being given as a verbatim quotation.
This is not a ruling of this page: the practice followed, the exact moment and the manner belong to one’s community and to the teaching of one’s Rav — and at the mikveh, the balanit or the morat kallah directs the conduct.
Nafka mina:
Sephardi → according to one’s community (before, in the חלוק, or the conduct in two immersions); Ashkenazi → after, covered in the water.
The פתחי תשובה reports from the הר הכרמל a distinction not to be forgotten: even where one blesses before, a Shabbat is different.
« דאף במקום שאין נוהגין כן אלא מברכות קודם הטבילה היינו דווקא בחול אבל בשבת כשטובלת יש לאשה לנהוג כן לברך אחר הטבילה או קודם טבילה בלחש בין שפתיה » (פתחי תשובה יו״ד ר׳ ס״ק א)
The exact moment and the manner → the balanit or the morat kallah teaches, according to one’s community and the teaching of one’s Rav.
For practice — ask your Rav, the morat kallah or the balanit.
Rishonim and Acharonim on the practice of the berakha (בה״ג; רש״י; רמב״ן; ר״י; ראב״ד; רא״ש; רי״ף בשם הגאונים; רמב״ם; טור; בית יוסף; רמ״א; ט״ז; ש״ך; באר היטב; פתחי תשובה; ערוך השולחן): the two shitot are that of the Mechaber (before, in the חלוק) and that of the רמ״א in the name of the בה״ג, of רש״י and of the רמב״ן (after, covered). The בית יוסף gathers them and holds by the first. The ט״ז and the ש״ך explain both and describe the conduct of their day; the באר היטב sums them up and reports the של״ה; the פתחי תשובה brings the teshuvot of the Acharonim on the moment of the berakha; the ערוך השולחן describes the widespread practice. For practice — ask your Rav or the morat kallah.
The overall chakirah of the siman: what is the berakha of the tevilah — when is it said, and in what manner?
When — עובר לעשייתן (before, Mechaber) against the delay (after, בה״ג, רש״י, רמב״ן and the רמ״א) (§2, §4).
The status of the “before” — does her still being a niddah block the berakha? For the shitah of the Rama, yes; for the Mechaber, no, as with the other mitzvot (§2, §5).
The tevilah of a niddah and that of a ger — are they one thing, and hence the delay for all; or does the exception concern only the ger, as the גאונים and the רמב״ם write (§2)?
Blessing with the body uncovered — לבו רואה את הערוה forbids it, and the covering (חלוק / water up to the neck / stirred-up water) is the seif’s solution (§3).
What “covering” means — the Taz and the Shach hold that water, even clear, already covers; the Mechaber nonetheless required stirring it, and the Taz opens his commentary with a צריך עיון on this very point (§3).
Sephardi and Ashkenazi practice — the Mechaber (before, in the חלוק) against the רמ״א (after, covered in the water), and the conduct in two immersions that the ערוך השולחן describes (§5).
Nafka mina for practice, as the seif and its commentaries give it:
The text of the berakha: אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו על הטבילה(שולחן ערוך יו״ד ר׳)
One does not bless naked and uncovered — but in the חלוק, or in water up to the neck, or in stirred-up water (Mechaber).
Sephardi practice (Mechaber) — she blesses before the tevilah, in her חלוק; if she forgot — after entering up to her neck, stirring the water if it is clear.
Ashkenazi practice (Rama) — she blesses after the tevilah, still in the water, covering herself with her garment or her חלוק.
The conduct the ערוך השולחן describes, and which the באר היטב reports in the name of the של״ה — immerse, bless, immerse again — holds both shitot together; the balanit teaches.
On a Shabbat, the פתחי תשובה reports from the הר הכרמל a particular conduct, even where the practice is to bless before (§5).
For practice — ask your Rav, the morat kallah or the balanit.
Table — the two shitot on the moment of the berakha
The shitah
When she blesses
The reason / the root
The Mechaber (Sephardi practice)
Before the tevilah, in her חלוק
The rule of פסחים ז׳ ע״ב, the exception being confined to the ger (רי״ף בשם הגאונים, רמב״ם)
בה״ג, ר״י — and, according to the רמ״א, רש״י and רמב״ן (Ashkenazi practice)
After the tevilah, covered in the water
No division was made between immersions, since there is one where one cannot bless before (ט״ז ס״ק ב)
Table — the ways of covering for the berakha
The covering
When
What the siman says of it
The חלוק
For the Mechaber — lechatchilah, before the tevilah
The Beit Yosef gives no reason other than the prohibition of blessing naked
Water up to the neck
If she did not bless before — she enters and blesses
That is the course of the baraita in ברכות כ״ה ע״ב
Stirring the water with the foot
If the water is clear
Required by the Mechaber; the ט״ז opens with a צריך עיון on this requirement
Garment or חלוק in the water (רמ״א)
For Ashkenazi practice — after the tevilah
The ט״ז ס״ק ג attests that in his day the practice had changed
Table — machlokot and definitions in the siman
The point
One side
The other side
The moment of the berakha
Before — עובר לעשייתן (Mechaber)
After — no division between immersions (בה״ג, ר״י; רמ״א)
The scope of Rav Chisda’s exception
All immersions (רש״י, according to the בית יוסף)
The ger’s immersion alone (רי״ף בשם הגאונים; רמב״ם)
Does clear water cover?
The Mechaber requires stirring it
The ט״ז and the ש״ך hold that it already covers
The separation with the arms
The ט״ז advises it lechatchilah
He writes that failing that, there is ground to rely on
The conduct at the mikveh
According to one’s community
Immerse, bless, immerse again (ערוך השולחן; של״ה via the באר היטב)
Table — the sources of the sugya
Gemara: פסחים ז׳ ע״ב — the general rule, Rav Chisda’s exception and the baraita of one who immerses and comes up · ברכות כ״ה ע״ב — לבו רואה את הערוה, murky water, and the baraita of clear water
Rishonim: בעל הלכות גדולות · רש״י · רמב״ן · ר״י · רי״ף בשם הגאונים · רמב״ם (הלכות ברכות פרק י״א) · ראב״ד · רא״ש · טור · בית יוסף
Acharonim: רמ״א · ט״ז (טורי זהב) · ש״ך · דרישה · ב״ח · באר היטב · של״ה · פתחי תשובה (הר הכרמל; פנים מאירות; חתם סופר; מור וקציעה) · ערוך השולחן
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תלמיד חכם · מעביר שיעורים בהלכה ובחסידות סימן ר׳ · Level 2 — Lamdan · פלפול ועיון בדין ברכת הטבילה daattorah.com
⚠️ This content is written for study and examination only. For any practical application (לְמַעֲשֶׂה) — ask your Rav, the morat kallah or the balanit, according to the practice of your community.