DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

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

      
(File size: 894 KB)
May a Woman Apply Makeup During Abelut?

Is it permissible for a woman to wear makeup while she is observing Abelut (mourning) for a deceased family member, Heaven forbid? And is there a difference in this regard between the seven-day Shiba period and the thirty-day Sheloshim period, or between a single girl and a married woman?

Rav Shemuel Pinhasi (contemporary), in his work Haim Va’hesed (p. 192), writes that if a new bride is observing Abelut, Heaven forbid, within a month after her wedding, she may nevertheless wear makeup, even during the week of Shiba. As she is a newly-married bride, it is important for her to beautify herself for her new husband, and this overrides the prohibitions of Abelut. Likewise, an unmarried girl who has already begun the process of Shidduchim (dating in search of a marriage partner) may wear makeup during Abelut, in order that she can look her best. Rav Pinhas notes that this ruling applies only to women who had never been married; a divorcee or widow may not wear makeup during Shiba, even if she has begun the process of Shidduchim.

Young girls who have not begun dating, and married women, may not apply makeup during the seven days of Shiba. After the conclusion of Shiba, they may wear makeup, even though they are still within the period of Sheloshim. (This is especially so for Sepharadim, who follow the view that bathing becomes permissible after Shiba, and there are no restrictions against bathing whatsoever during Sheloshim.) This is the ruling of Hacham Ovadia Yosef, in his Yabia Omer (vol. 4, Y.D. 32) and in Yehaveh Da’at (6:35).

The Shulhan Aruch rules that it is permissible for a mourner to comb his or her hair, even during the Shiba period. This applies to both and women. Even though it is forbidden to take a haircut or shave during Shiba, combing is allowed.

Summary: A woman may not apply makeup during the seven-day Shiba observance, unless she is a new bride within thirty days after her wedding, or a single girl who has never been married and is in the process of looking for a marriage partner.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Aseret Yime Teshuva- The Statement of 'Michok Berachamecha' in the Avinu Malkenu
Insight Into Shabbat Shuva
The Beracha of Shehehiyanu on the Second Night of Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah – “Yom Terua”, and “Zichron Terua” if on Shabbat
Staying Up On Rosh Hashana Day, Must One Wake Up at Dawn on Rosh Hashanah?
Rosh Hashana- One Who Cannot Eat the Traditional Rosh Hashanah Foods
Rosh Hashanah – The Custom to Eat Sweet Foods, Pomegranates and Apples
Rosh Hashanah – The Importance of the Special Rosh Hashanah Foods
Rosh Hashana- Candle Lighting If On Shabbat or Saturday Night
When Rosh Hashanah Falls on Shabbat
Rosh Hashana- Se’uda Shelishit When Rosh Hashanah Falls on Shabbat
Does One Recite Shalom Alechem, Eshet Hayil and Azamer Bishbahin When Yom Tob Falls on Friday Night?
Rosh Hashana- The 1st Mitzvah on Rosh Hashana Night and Saying Meen Sheva on Shabbat Rosh Hashana
Rosh Hashana- Fasting on Ereb Rosh Hashanah
Applying Oil to One’s Skin on Shabbat
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found