DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 780 KB)
Preparing Clothes Before the Week of Tisha B'Av

Halacha imposes several restrictions during the week of Tisha B'Av to remind us of the destruction of the Bet Ha'mikdash. These restrictions apply from the Motza'ei Shabbat preceding Tisha B'Av through Tisha B'Av itself.

One of these restrictions is a prohibition against doing laundry during this week, which includes sending clothes to the cleaners (Shulchan Aruch 551:3). Additionally, it is forbidden to wear freshly-laundered garments during this week. Therefore, one must prepare ahead of time, before the week of Tisha B'Av, to ensure that he has enough changes of clothing that are not freshly washed. One does this by wearing all the garments he will need during that week for a couple of minutes (the time he takes to sweat) before the Shabbat preceding Tisha B'Av. A person must therefore ensure to begin wearing ahead of time all the clothes he will need during the week of Tisha B'Av. This Halacha applies as well to tablecloths, towels, bed sheets, handkerchiefs and suits. It does not, however, apply to shoes, and thus one may wear a new pair of shoes during the week of Tisha B'Av.

As for shining shoes on Tisha B'Av, Chacham Bentzion Abba Shaul (Jerusalem, 1924-1998) writes in his work Or Le'Tziyon (vol. 3, chapter 27) that the prohibition against washing clothing was not intended to include shoes, and thus one may shine his shoes during the week of Tisha B'Av.

Summary: From the Motza'ei Shabbat preceding Tisha B'Av through Tisha B'Av, it is forbidden to wash clothing, send clothing to the cleaners, or wear freshly laundered clothes. Therefore, one must ensure to wear whatever garments he will need for a couple of minutes (after he sweats if it is hot, otherwise 20 minutes) at some point before the week of Tisha B'Av. One may wear new shoes or polish shoes during the week of Tisha B'Av.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Lag Ba’omer – The Reasons for Celebrating; Reciting Yehi Shem, Visiting Meron, and Other Customs
The Custom of Giving a Boy His First Haircut at Age Three
Visiting Meron on Lag Ba’omer
Lag Ba’omer – Shaving on Friday When Lag Ba’omer Falls on Sunday; The Reason for Celebrating; Fasts, Eulogies and Tahanunim on Lag Ba’omer
Shaving and Haircutting on Lag Ba'omer That Occurs on Friday
Is It Permissible for Sephardim To Take A Hair Cut On The 33rd Day Of The Omer When The 34th Day Falls Out On Shabbat
Sefirat Ha'omer – A Person Who is Unsure Whether He Counted
May Women and Children Take Haircuts During the Omer Period?
Sefirat Ha'omer – May Women Count the Omer?
If a Person Reads a Text Message Informing Him of the Omer Counting, May He Still Count with a Beracha?
Sefirat Ha’omer – The Proper Way to Respond if Somebody Asks Which Day to Count
Guidelines for One Who Forgets to Count the Omer or Cannot Remember if He Counted
Sefirat HaOmer: If One Counted the Days but Not the Weeks
Sefirat Ha’omer – If a Person Counted Either the Days or Weeks Incorrectly
If One Forgets or Doesn't Remember If He Counted The Omer
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found