How to Calculate a Mikvah Calendar
The Torah mandates that married Jewish women immerse in the mikvah, a pool of water that cleanses and purifies the body, each month after their menstruation ends. Only after immersion do they resume marital relations with their husbands. Written and oral Torah Law combines to provide a precise reckoning of how a woman calculates her correct immersion day. A menstruating woman or a woman who just finished her menstruation cycle but did not yet immerse in the mikvah is a "niddah," in a state that her husband refrains from touching her.
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Instructions
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Mark the date on the calendar when your menstrual bleeding began. Hebrew days begin the previous evening, so, for example, if your bleeding begins on a Monday afternoon, consider that your first day as a niddah began on the previous evening, Sunday night.
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2
Set your calendar to begin counting your seven "clean days" at the end of your initial five days, if your bleeding has ceased. If your bleeding continues beyond the first five days, wait to count your seven clean days until you no longer experience any menstrual bleeding. If your period began on a Monday afternoon, begin counting your clean days on the following Friday evening if your bleeding has finished.
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3
Check yourself each morning and evening with a white cloth, a "bedikah cloth," to ensure that you have no additional blood flow or spotting. If you find signs of spotting, start calculating your seven clean days from the beginning. You must complete seven days where you experience no bleeding or spotting before you schedule your visit to the mikvah.
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Schedule your visit to the mikvah on the night following a minimum of 12 days of niddah status. Women only immerse in the mikvah at night following a period of niddah, while men and individuals undergoing conversion can go to the mikvah either during the day or the night.
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Track 30 days from the date you began your last period of niddah. Separate from your husband on the 30th day in anticipation of your next menstrual cycle. An observant Jewish couple will wish to avoid any accidental contact in case the woman unknowingly becomes a niddah.
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Note three days on the calendar for this "onot perishah" or "time of separation." If your menstrual cycle does not begin after three days you can resume relations with your husband as usual.
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