This week, Rabbi Mansour shall be in South Florida. On Tuesday, March 20th through Thursday March 22nd, the Rabbi shall give the Daf class each morning at 6:00 AM from The Safra Synagogue in Turnberry. Rabbi Mansour shall be speaking on Tuesday night March 20th at 8:15pm at Netive Ezra.
In his absence, Rabbi Mansour is proud to have Rabbi Veisman speak on Monday night March 19th in Brooklyn on the topic of the Bible Code. The class will be at 8:30 PM sharp a Har HaLebanon on the 2nd floor.
** We would like to inform our listeners of a new publication just written by Rabbi David Sutton. The book, "Stories of Spirit and Faith" contains over 130 fascinating stories about our ancestors in Aleppo. The stories are heartwarming, wholesome, spiritual, clever and witty.
Click "Stories of Spirit and Faith" to order it directly from its publisher ArtScroll at a special 20% discount. You can also order the Sephardic Heritage Haggadah co-authored with Rabbi Eli Mansour at the same 20% discount. For the discount, use the promotion code "yadyosef" when you check out. **
Today’s Halacha…
Is it permissible to play musical instruments on Hol Ha'mo'ed? For example, if somebody hosts a holiday celebration, Berit Mila or Siyum and wishes to have music played, may he or another Jew play instruments at the affair?
The Rabbis forbade playing musical instruments on Shabbat and Yom Tov out of concern that one might as a result fix a broken instrument, which would constitute a Torah violation. The work Sha'ar Efrayim (Siman 36) ruled that this Halacha applies to Hol Ha'mo'ed, as well, and thus according to this view, one may not play musical instruments during Hol Ha'mo'ed. However, Chacham Avraham Antebe (who served as the Rabbi of Aram Tzova), in his work Chochma U'musar, recorded the practice of the community in Aram Tzova to allow playing musical instruments on Hol Ha'mo'ed, and this indeed appears to be the consensus among the Halachic authorities. Chacham Ovadia Yosef thus rules in his work Chazon Ovadia (p. 210) that it is permissible to play musical instruments on Hol Ha'mo'ed.
The Rabbis forbade haircutting on Hol Ha'mo'ed, in order to ensure that people would cut their hair before Yom Tov in honor of the festival, rather than wait until Hol Ha'mo'ed. The Gaon of Vilna (Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna, 1720-1797), in his notes to the Shulchan Aruch (546), writes that this prohibition applies equally to men and women. Chacham Ovadia Yosef (Chazon Ovadia, p. 211) rules accordingly, that both men and women are forbidden from taking haircuts during Hol Ha'mo'ed.
Is it permissible for a woman to apply makeup during Hol Ha'mo'ed?
Applying makeup on Shabbat and Yom Tov is clearly forbidden, and in some instances, such as with regard to lipstick, applying makeup on Shabbat and Yom Tov transgresses a Torah violation (unless the special "Shabbat makeup" is used, which avoids the Halachic problems of makeup). Instinctively, one might argue that this should be forbidden on Hol Ha'mo'ed, as well, due to the same concern mentioned above regarding haircutting, as a woman might not apply makeup before Yom Tov, leaving it instead for Hol Ha'mo'ed. Chacham Ovadia Yosef, however, rules that this concern does not arise with regard to makeup, because women generally apply makeup every day. Hence, unlike haircutting, it is indeed permissible for women to apply makeup on Hol Ha'mo'ed.
Summary: It is permissible to play musical instruments on Hol Ha'mo'ed. Although it is forbidden for both men and women to take haircuts on Hol Ha'mo'ed, it is permissible for women to apply makeup on Hol Ha'mo'ed (but not on Shabbat and Yom Tov).
