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...
Must One Wear A Head Covering Even While Stationary
Does A Synagogue Lose Its Sanctity If A Serious Transgression Took Place There
Purchasing or Selling Toy Dolls
Is It Permissible To Follow A Rabbi's Direction After The Rabbi Strayed From The Right Path ?
Halachot that Reflect the Required Balance Between Joy and Fear
Must The Synagogue Chose Someone Who Is Married To Be Chazan
Moving Ovens or Stoves, Sealing Windows or Doors, and Blowing out Candles
Is It Required To Situate The Bimah In The Center of The Synagogue
May The Congregation Return An UnKosher Torah To The Hechal
May One Take a Pebble from the Western Wall as a Souvenir?
Some Laws Regarding A Tzedaka Box In One's House
Is It Permissible To Hang a Bag of Bread on a Hook
Calling a Child to Check a Sefer Torah with a Questionable Letter
Magic and Hypnotism in Halacha
Accepting A Job Even If It Is Beneath One's Dignity
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found