Laws of the Nine Days - Rabbi Maor Cohen shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to “Lema’an Yishme’u,” a podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 We’ll begin with the laws of eating meat and drinking wine during the Nine Days. The basic rule is that we don’t eat meat or drink wine, as ruled in Shulchan Aruch, section 551, paragraphs 9 and 11. But let’s qualify that a little. When we say meat, we don’t mean only beef; we also mean poultry. Poultry isn’t quite the same as beef, so there are cases where we can be lenient, as we’ll soon see. Nevertheless, the accepted practice is not to eat poultry either. More than that, we don’t eat a dish cooked with meat—for example, a potato cooked together with meat. On the other hand, rice or a potato cooked in a meat pot, but not cooked with meat, is permitted. Going further, if a potato was cooked near meat in the same oven, then although it is considered meat and we wouldn’t cook it with milk, it seems that we can be lenient about eating it during the Nine Days. If someone is ill, or a pregnant woman, or someone needs to strengthen their diet and could otherwise become ill, the practice is to allow poultry specifically, if possible, until 7 Menachem Av. Only until 7 Menachem Av. But if the person is actually ill, rather than merely needing to build up their strength, they may continue eating poultry throughout the Nine Days. If necessary, and the doctors say they need it, they may even eat meat. The restriction on eating meat and poultry also applies to children who have reached the age of chinuch. They, too, need to be taught the mourning practices for the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, even though they are still children as far as the mitzvah of chinuch is concerned. The mitzvah of chinuch applies to each child according to their understanding

02:12 Speaker 2 and knowledge, as the Alter Rebbe explains in Orach Chaim, section 343, and as it also says in Shulchan Aruch. That age is roughly between five and nine, and the usual practice is to be lenient until age nine, so as not to be overly strict with children about something they are not obligated in. It depends on each child’s understanding. If a child understands and doesn’t want to eat meat of their own accord, certainly we shouldn’t give it to them—unless they are weak or ill. In that case, we certainly shouldn’t be strict with them, even up to age thirteen, even regarding meat, and all the more so regarding poultry. As for wine, the restriction also includes grape juice. We drink neither wine nor grape juice throughout the Nine Days, as stated there in paragraph 9 of Shulchan Aruch. But the Rema explicitly says in paragraph 11 that other alcoholic drinks are permitted. The restriction applies specifically to wine and grape juice, not to other alcoholic drinks. As for foods seasoned with wine—for example, meat dishes with wine added, and I’m speaking about people who are ill, of course—if the person needs meat or poultry, we should try not to season it with wine. Even foods that a healthy person may eat, such as potatoes and other things, should not be seasoned with wine, as Shaarei Teshuvah writes. But if someone is ill and doesn’t need meat specifically, while wine is good for them, and they don’t need to actually drink wine but only to have it added to their food, they may certainly season their food with wine. We’ll continue with the laws of Shabbos and Motzaei Shabbos during the Nine Days. When Shabbos falls during the Nine Days, on the preceding Erev Shabbos we don’t eat meat or drink wine. We observe this just as on any other day, even though these are the Shabbos foods and we usually taste them, since “those who taste it merit life.” Nevertheless,

04:21 Speaker 2 we don’t taste them. Someone who wants to taste them only to check the seasoning may put some on their tongue and spit it out immediately, but should not swallow the food. Now, Shabbos clothing and food: on Shabbos we eat meat and drink wine, and the more, the better. We also wear Shabbos clothes, unlike the authorities who say that on this Shabbos one should make a slight change in one’s clothing. Our custom is not to change our Shabbos clothing. We wear our Shabbos clothes on Shabbos, and eat meat and drink wine freely. More than that, it should be apparent that we are not observing mourning practices on Shabbos, so a person should make a point of wearing their finest clothes, even when Shabbos falls on Tisha B’Av and the fast is postponed. Regarding Havdalah, some have the practice of making it themselves, but the Rema writes in paragraph 10 that one should try to have a child who has reached the age of chinuch drink the wine. The Magen Avraham qualifies this and says—sorry, the Mishnah Berurah qualifies it and says that this means a child who has reached the age of chinuch: they know to Whom we make a blessing and understand what they are doing when they say the blessing, but they do not yet fully understand mourning over Jerusalem. Otherwise, how could we give them the wine to drink in front of us? So we need to qualify this: we give it to a child who has reached the age of chinuch but does not yet understand mourning over Jerusalem. If there is no such child, the person making Havdalah drinks it themselves, as the Rema explicitly writes in paragraph 10. As for Melaveh Malkah, we don’t eat meat or drink wine then, according to most authorities, as Shaarei Teshuvah writes. We’ll continue with laundering clothes during the Nine Days. Because we don’t want it to appear that a person has taken their mind off the mourning, the practice during the Nine Days is not to launder clothes. Not only do we refrain from wearing freshly laundered clothes, as is customary in mourning, but we also refrain from laundering

06:24 Speaker 2 clothes. That is the ruling of the Rema in paragraph 3. Shulchan Aruch discusses laundering clothes only in the week in which Tisha B’Av falls, because there are three levels: the Three Weeks, the Nine Days, and the week in which Tisha B’Av falls. In most matters, we are careful to observe throughout the Nine Days what is prescribed for that week, and the same applies to laundering clothes. So even if someone needs to wash clothes not for the Nine Days themselves, but intends to wear them afterward—for example, because they need to leave on an urgent trip immediately after the Nine Days—the restriction on laundering clothes still applies to them. But if someone was in mourning and could not wash their clothes earlier because they were observing mourning, they may wash clothes for use during the Nine Days. Only, as stated there in paragraph 15 of Shulchan Aruch, they should not do so with cleansing agents—what we would call laundry powder, laundry soap, or liquid detergent. They should wash them without detergent, using water, even in a washing machine. If someone has dirt on a garment and knows it could set as a stain, they still may not wash the garment, but they may spray it with a cleaning product to make it easier to wash after Tisha B’Av and prevent a permanent stain. Things that regularly get dirty—usually children’s clothes—may be washed. Children’s undergarments, which are close to the skin and absorb sweat, may certainly be washed, since young children soil them frequently. Even their outer clothes may be washed throughout the Nine Days, since children tend to get dirty. And in this matter, unless a person really has a great many clothes and has—

08:22 Speaker 2 There is a question whether one needs to launder children’s clothes at all, so one can be stringent about it. But according to most poskim, there is no particular reason to be so stringent; one may launder children’s clothes. More than that: a woman who is constantly busy in the kitchen and with the children also gets her clothes dirty. If she does not have enough clothes to change into, Nitei Gavriel cites several poskim he spoke with who say that she, too, may launder her clothes if she has nothing else to wear. One should also bear in mind that when the poskim discuss laundering children’s clothes, they say not to put adults’ clothes in the machine with them. There is no permission to get around the restriction by putting adults’ clothes in with the children’s clothes. Nevertheless, if someone has run out of clean clothes and has nothing at all to wear, the Shulchan Aruch explicitly states that this restriction applies only during the week in which Tisha B’Av falls. The poskim therefore say: yes, strictly speaking, it applies during the week in which Tisha B’Av falls. So if a person has nothing to wear and it is before that week, he may be lenient and launder the clothes he needs. More than that, if he has no clean Shabbos clothes, even if he has other clothes to wear, he may launder and even iron them before Shabbos. Although there seems to be a contradiction between the Rema and the Darchei Moshe, the later poskim write that the practice is to be lenient, following the Rema, who appears to permit it. That covers laundering clothes. As for wearing freshly laundered clothes, one certainly does not wear them during the Nine Days, because that is directly part of the mourning customs. But in honor of Shabbos, as we discussed in the laws of Shabbos during the Three Weeks and the Nine Days, on every Shabbos of the Three Weeks—even during the Nine Days, even during the week in which Tisha B’Av falls, and even on a Shabbos when Tisha

10:23 Speaker 2 B’Av is postponed—one may wear freshly laundered and ironed clothes. Beyond that, the poskim discuss a leniency: one may put on a freshly laundered garment on Shabbos and change clothes over Shabbos. The Ben Ish Chai gives this advice both in Rav Pe’alim and in Ben Ish Chai, Parshas Devarim: one can wear one garment in the evening, another on Shabbos day, and another at Shabbos Minchah, wearing each for two or three hours, as he writes there. But Nitei Gavriel explains at length that even half an hour is enough. He demonstrates this from another option he gives for someone who did not do this on Shabbos: one can also place the clothes on the ground—not on a paved surface, but specifically on bare earth. The laundering and ironing of the garment will no longer be apparent. Its fresh appearance will no longer be noticeable, and apparently half an hour is enough for the garment no longer to be considered freshly laundered. So he says that half an hour is enough on Shabbos too, and that is the common practice. If a person changes his clothes on Shabbos day, it is enough to wear them for half an hour, and he can then use them for the rest of the Nine Days. He should just be careful not to say aloud that he is doing this so he can wear them during the week, so it will not be so obvious that he is preparing from Shabbos for the weekday. Clothes worn against the body that absorb perspiration may be worn even when freshly laundered. In any case, people do not generally iron them, so this concerns only laundering, which is permitted. Using freshly laundered bed linens is also forbidden during the Nine Days. And just as we were lenient about laundering children’s clothes, one may also be lenient about laundering

12:18 Speaker 2 such linens and putting them on the beds, because they get dirty frequently. One may not send clothes to a laundry during the Nine Days, even to a non-Jewish launderer, because the laundering is being done for one’s benefit. But if he gave the clothes to the non-Jewish launderer before the Nine Days, it does not matter if they are returned during the Nine Days. Of course, one does not wear them during the Nine Days. A Jew who owns a laundry should try as much as possible not to take in clothes during the Nine Days. But if this is his livelihood, the Pri Megadim says that, strictly speaking, he may work as much as he needs to earn a living. This is particularly true if his shop is in a non-Jewish area—say he has a laundry in New York and non-Jews bring their laundry there too. Strictly speaking, he may work to earn his living, though during the week in which Tisha B’Av falls, it is proper for him to stop working. If that would cause him a very substantial loss, he should consult a rabbi about that week in particular. When do the restrictions on laundering and wearing freshly laundered clothes end? Only after midday on 10 Av, unless Tisha B’Av was postponed. In that case, as soon as the fast ends on Sunday, one may launder clothes. Ironing clothes: one may not iron clothes, just as one may not launder them. The Shulchan Aruch, in section 551, discusses whether our laundering and ironing today are comparable to laundering and ironing in earlier times, and concludes that they are prohibited just as they were then. As for washing a wig, which is somewhat similar to laundering, one does not wash it throughout the Nine Days. During the Three Weeks one may readily be lenient about this, but during the Nine Days one is stringent, even with a simple, nonprofessional washing. As for polishing shoes, Nitei Gavriel discusses this at length and explains that it is not considered laundering or scrubbing. Therefore,

14:24 Speaker 2 one may certainly color and polish shoes in honor of Shabbos, but during the rest of the Nine Days it is proper to be stringent about this as much as possible. We will continue with mending and sewing clothes during the Nine Days. The custom is not to sew new clothes or even finish sewing new clothes during the Nine Days. But a new garment is not the same as a torn garment. A torn garment may be repaired during the Nine Days. That is not considered laundering or ironing a garment, nor is it considered making the garment new. One may simply sew it, and therefore one may also sew buttons back onto a garment. More than that, strictly speaking, a bride and groom may marry for the mitzvah of having children. Although we are stringent and do not hold weddings throughout the Three Weeks, if clothes are needed for a groom, for a Shabbos Chassan, and there is no other way to obtain them, one may buy and sew clothes for the wedding. Someone who works as a tailor or seamster, or has a business like that and depends on it for his livelihood, may work during the Nine Days to earn his living; he needs to be stringent only during the week in which Tisha B’Av falls. Again, if he sees that he would suffer a very substantial financial loss that week, he should consult a rabbi about whether he can be lenient in such a case. We will continue with bathing and swimming during the Nine Days. The Shulchan Aruch writes in section 551, paragraph 16, that the custom is not to bathe for pleasure—that is, to bathe in hot water for enjoyment. The Rema adds that the custom is to be stringent and not bathe even in cold water from Rosh Chodesh Av until after midday on 10 Av—that is, throughout the Nine Days. But the later poskim write that in hot places, such as Eretz Yisroel, and generally in places where people perspire a great deal—and some say even for particularly sensitive people who are bothered by perspiration in cold countries—if it is to remove

16:32 Speaker 2 To wash off sweat, one may shower in cool water—even water that is not actually cold, but lukewarm—as long as one does not enjoy the warmth of the water. One may wash in such water to remove the sweat. And if soap is needed to remove the sweat, as is customary today, that too is permitted. Still, washing off sweat is not the same as going to the sea or a swimming pool. Although, strictly speaking, going to the sea or a pool is permitted during the Three Weeks, as we learned, during the Nine Days the custom is to be stringent and not go to either one, even with small children, because mourning practices are observed more strictly at this time. The Ben Ish Chai writes in Rav Pe’alim that one may not take swimming lessons during the Nine Days, and that appears to be the practice. The custom not to send children for swimming lessons has spread through most Jewish communities, primarily because of the danger and also because of the mourning. If a person needs to bathe for medical reasons, it is certainly permitted even in hot water, since the restriction during mourning concerns bathing for pleasure. As we learn in the laws of Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av themselves, bathing for medical reasons is permitted even on those days. A woman who has given birth is considered ill, so she may certainly bathe as she normally does. Small children who get dirty may always be washed, even on Tisha B’Av and Yom Kippur; all the more so during the Nine Days. That is not bathing for pleasure. Bathing for a mitzvah, such as a woman’s immersion in a mikveh, is certainly permitted during the Nine Days. But a man who immerses in a mikveh—and a man is also permitted to immerse—should not sit in the mikveh for pleasure, but only for the immersion he is doing in preparation for davening or for some other purpose. He should not be there for enjoyment. Also, immersion on Erev Shabbos or on any other day is permitted specifically for someone who regularly immerses in a mikveh. But someone who does not immerse in a mikveh on a

18:37 Speaker 2 regular basis should not go out of his way to immerse before Shabbos specifically this week. The later halachic authorities write that the permission applies specifically to someone who regularly immerses. That is what the Mishnah Berurah says in section 551. If a woman needs to immerse in the mikveh on the night after Tisha B’Av—or even if her immersion night falls on Tisha B’Av itself—then, since marital relations are prohibited, her immersion will be on the night after Tisha B’Av. It is proper for her to make her preparations only then, not on the preceding evening. But if necessary, she may certainly prepare on Erev Tisha B’Av as well. And for a hefsek taharah, she may certainly wash as usual, even in hot water on Erev Tisha B’Av. During the Nine Days, a woman may also trim her hair for reasons of modesty or in preparation for her immersion night. The Pri Megadim says she may trim hair in all areas where modesty is a concern, at the temples, for example, and the like. A woman may use perfume throughout these Nine Days. A man may use deodorant to deal with sweat, and a woman may apply perfume to her body so that she will not become unattractive to her husband. As for cutting nails, we learned that no halachic authority prohibited it throughout the Three Weeks. During the week in which Tisha B’Av falls, however, the Taz writes that it is proper to be stringent. Earlier, he was not concerned about it, because, as stated in section 394 regarding mourning, nail-cutting is not treated with the same stringency there as it is on the festivals, such as Chol Hamoed, and is permitted. But in the week in which Tisha B’Av falls, the Taz says it is proper to be stringent. Our custom is therefore to take the Taz’s view into account and not be lenient, even though the Magen Avraham is lenient. Our custom is to be stringent during the week in which Tisha B’Av falls. Someone who needs to do so for a mitzvah, however, may cut their nails—a mohel, the father of a baby at a bris, or a woman who needs to immerse.

20:47 Speaker 2 Certainly, where there is some basis for leniency and a particular need, one may cut one’s nails. Moreover, if it is the week in which Tisha B’Av falls and Tisha B’Av falls on Shabbos, the custom is not to cut nails throughout the preceding week. But if Tisha B’Av falls on Sunday, the preceding week is not called the week in which Tisha B’Av falls, and nails may therefore be cut throughout that week. Let’s continue with mitzvah meals during the Nine Days. In principle, all mitzvah meals are permitted during the Nine Days—at a bris or a pidyon haben, for example. The meals are held at their proper time with meat and wine, and everyone may eat. All the guests may have meat and wine there. But during the week in which Tisha B’Av falls, although these mitzvah meals are still held with meat and wine, the custom is as the Rema writes in subsection 10: to invite a more limited group. That is, at a bris or a pidyon haben, specifically ten guests are invited to eat meat and drink wine. The other guests, who come more to pay their respects and eat, have other foods, not meat and wine. Who may have meat and wine? Relatives and close friends. “Relatives” means fairly close relatives—uncles and aunts, and even cousins, and certainly anyone closer. “Close friends” means people who would have come to the bris even if there were no food. Moreover, people who come mainly for the food should not have meat and wine during the week in which Tisha B’Av falls. Things have been written about this, and it is certainly very advisable to avoid it. Regarding a bar mitzvah meal, the Rebbe also addresses having meat and wine at it, while, of course, holding it without dancing or musical instruments, since our custom is not to have musical instruments at any of these meals. But specifically when the bar mitzvah is held on the day the boy turns thirteen, it is advisable

22:52 Speaker 2 to be particular, the Rebbe says, that the bar mitzvah meal be held on that very day, when the bar mitzvah boy also recites a maamar of Chassidus. Then it is considered a mitzvah meal, and meat and wine are eaten at it. Although the bar mitzvah is considered a mitzvah meal, it is very advisable not to dance excessively or, as mentioned, play musical instruments. Instead, it is advisable to have a farbrengen and sing without instruments. The larger bar mitzvah celebration, however, should be postponed. The Rebbe instructed that as many tractate completions as possible be held during the Nine Days. During the Three Weeks, it is specifically advisable not to go out of one’s way to hold tractate completions or a hachnasas Sefer Torah. During the Nine Days, however, the Rebbe specifically asked for as many tractate completions as possible, even on Tisha B’Av. On Tisha B’Av, one should complete tractates that are customarily studied then, such as Moed Katan and the like, which may be studied even on Tisha B’Av. Someone who cannot attend a tractate completion during the Nine Days should listen by phone or Zoom, and so on. Strictly speaking, meat and wine are permitted at meals celebrating a tractate completion, as the Rema himself wrote, but it is related that the Rebbe Rashab did not eat meat or drink wine at those meals. We’ll continue with the subject of business during the Nine Days. The basic law stated in the Shulchan Aruch is that business activity is reduced during these days, but it is unclear which days that means. Is it all of the Three Weeks? Only the week in which Tisha B’Av falls? Or the Nine Days? Regarding our practice, the Mishnah Berurah discusses this at length and says it refers to the Nine Days. There are two ways of defining the restriction, and the Beis Yosef also discusses it extensively. What exactly is the business activity that must be reduced? According to the two principal views, the more stringent view is that all business activity should be reduced. That is, even a person who earns a living should try

25:01 Speaker 2 One should reduce business dealings for a living during these Nine Days and engage only in what one needs. But the Mishnah Berurah also says that nowadays all business is considered necessary for one’s livelihood, so the custom is to follow the lenient opinion. According to that opinion, one reduces specifically business dealings connected with rejoicing. This also appears to be the plain meaning of the Shulchan Aruch there: for example, one does not build wedding halls or undertake building projects intended simply for comfort. The business dealings mentioned there likewise refer to matters connected with rejoicing. What sort of things are these? For example, buying new items that bring a person great joy: jewelry, silver and gold articles, and the like. Buying a new car also brings a person joy—he is now driving a new car. But there are qualifications even here. Certainly, if he has found these things at a lower price now and needs to buy them, he may buy them during the Nine Days. Moreover, if a person needs one of these things—for example, a car for his livelihood—he may certainly buy it during the Nine Days. Things a person needs not for the joy of buying them but for bodily comfort and ordinary needs, such as a refrigerator, air conditioner, kettle, or the like, may be bought during the Nine Days in the first place; there is no need to be stringent about this. As we mentioned, the custom regarding commerce is to follow the lenient opinion. One may conduct business of any kind during the Nine Days, and this is permitted in the first place. If a bride and groom need wedding items, including their wedding clothes for after Tisha B’Av, and they will not have another opportunity to buy them, they may do so even if the price will not be lower now—all the more so if it will be lower. In the first place, one does not buy shoes during these Nine Days, even the shoes one will need, will need

26:59 Speaker 2 for Tisha B’Av. But if one did not buy shoes for Tisha B’Av, one may buy them during the Nine Days after the fact. If a person needs to sign a contract during the Nine Days, he may do so, because waiting could lead to a loss. In this context, a loss does not mean only that he will actually lose money; even being unable to find the same low price later is considered a loss. We will continue with the laws concerning homes and rejoicing during the Nine Days. In general, already during the Three Weeks, we try not to engage in construction for joy or added comfort. But if a person buys a home, or wants to buy one, and even move into it, because he needs it as his personal residence—and all the more so if it is a home he is renting—strictly speaking, he may move in at any point during the Three Weeks, even during the Nine Days, though it is preferable to avoid doing so. But if someone wants to build only to add comfort, or even to plaster and paint beautiful designs on the walls, one certainly refrains from doing so during the Nine Days. If, however, he needs to make repairs—to paint over stains, fill holes with plaster, or make any other repairs to the home—that is certainly permitted throughout the Nine Days. One may certainly call a plumber and the like during the Nine Days. The custom is also to be stringent about not planting new trees or gardens where there were none before, unless one needs to tend to existing ones and restore them to health; that is permitted. Moreover, the custom is also to be stringent about not washing the floor excessively. In other words, cleaning should be done when the house has become dirty, and wherever it has become dirty, one may certainly wash the floor. But if the washing is just because... as with people who are accustomed to washing the floor all the time, it is advisable to wash it a little less during these days. But

28:58 Speaker 2 people who do not wash the floor every day, but only when the house gets a little dirty, may certainly wash it. In honor of Shabbos, one may wash the floor as much as one wishes in any case. There are additional practices observed during the Nine Days. As we mentioned regarding the Three Weeks, the custom is not to go on outings because of danger. During the Nine Days themselves, one does not go on outings, and certainly does not go to places for swimming. Certainly not on outings that involve danger. It is very advisable to try not to enter dangerous places during these Nine Days, and not to get angry with children. Getting angry is never good, and it is worth being even more careful about this now. This is a time to strengthen ourselves in not getting angry, and certainly not in hitting. Regarding shechitah, since eating meat and drinking wine are generally prohibited during these days, the Rema writes in section 9 of siman 551 that it is proper to put away the shechitah knives, so they are not even in the area. But if the shechitah is for someone who is ill, a woman who has given birth, or seudos mitzvah, the knives may certainly be used. In slaughterhouses where work is carried out regularly—without which there would not be enough meat for people who are ill, for hospitals, and for all those places—the work may continue as usual. This is both for the reason I mentioned earlier, concerning people who are ill, and for the livelihood of the shochtim who work there, so they do not lose their income. If it is possible to be more stringent during the week in which Tisha B’Av falls, all the better, but strictly speaking, the work may continue then as well. Shabbos clothes on weekdays: the custom is not to wear Shabbos clothes on a weekday. If a person regularly wears a sirtuk on weekdays during the Nine Days, he may continue to wear it. But if he does not normally wear one and has a special event, then if it is not a bris or, as we mentioned, sheva brachos, and he is not one of the people central to the event, it is preferable

31:03 Speaker 2 that he not wear the sirtuk, except for those people we mentioned. Regarding cutting nails, too, we said that one may cut them, but during the week in which Tisha B’Av falls, we are careful to follow the stringent opinion of the Taz. An exception is a woman who needs to immerse, or any special mitzvah need or medical need. A mohel may therefore certainly cut his nails for a bris, even during the Nine Days and even during the week in which Tisha B’Av falls. We mentioned that when Tisha B’Av falls on Shabbos, the custom is not to cut nails throughout the preceding week. By contrast, if it falls on Sunday, the preceding week is not considered the week in which it falls, and one may cut one’s nails. If someone’s nails have grown long and extend toward the flesh, then even during the week in which Tisha B’Av falls, it is proper for him to cut them because of the danger associated with this according to Kabbalah. Another point the Rema mentions in section 8 concerns Kiddush Levanah: it is preferable to postpone it until after Tisha B’Av, rather than recite it on the Shabbos in between.