DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

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

      
(File size: 574 KB)
Applying a Fragrant Spray to Clothing on Shabbat and Yom Tob

The Rama (Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Cracow, 1525-1572), in the context of the laws of Yom Tob (Orah Haim 511:4), codifies the prohibition of "Molid Reha," which means making something fragrant. It is forbidden to apply a fragrant substance, such as a spray, to a garment, such as a shirt, or even a handkerchief, on Shabbat or Yom Tob. Although it is permissible to apply perfume or cologne to one’s body or hair, one may not apply a fragrant spray to his clothing on Shabbat or Yom Tob.

The Halachic authorities address the question of whether it is permissible to wrap the Etrog on Sukkot in the flax hair that many people use to protect their Etrogim, as this has the effect of making the material fragrant. The Mishna Berura (Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan, 1839-1933) rules that as long as the Etrog had already been in the flax hair before Shabbat or Yom Tob, and thus the hair was already fragrant, one may wrap the Etrog on Shabbat or Yom Tob.

These Halachot are codified by Rav Natan Ben Sanior in his Ner Le’siyon (listen to audio recording for precise citation).

Summary: Although it is permissible to apply perfume or cologne to one’s body or hair on Shabbat and Yom Tob, one may not apply a fragrant spray to one’s clothing.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Vestot – Separating From One’s Wife When She is Prone to Becoming a Nidda
Nidda – May a Woman Perform the Seventh Day Inspection After Sunset?
Drinking From One’s Wife’s Cup When She is a Nidda
Celebrating with a Bride and Groom
Bathing After Immersing in a Mikveh
Laws of Nidda: The Hefsek Tahara Inspection
May a Man and Woman Marry if Their Fathers or Mothers Have the Same Name?
Men Immersing in a Mikveh on Ereb Shabbat
Cleaning One's Teeth Before Immersing in the Mikveh
Sleeping in Separate Beds When the Wife is a Nidda and When She Can Expect to Become a Nidda
May a Husband and Wife Sit on Each Other's Bed or Use Each Other's Linens When She is Nida?
Is A Woman Permitted To Follow The Opinion Of A Doctor Who Diagnoses Her Blood As Stemming From A Wound or From Her Impurity
Celebrating With The Bride and Groom
Eating Meat on the Day of Immersion in a Mikveh; Immersing with Braces, a Retainer or Temporary Fillings
Must a Woman Lift Her Feet While Immersing in the Mikveh?
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found