Search results for: ""Nine Days""

Nine Days: Swimming
For laws on swimming during the Nine Days, see Three Weeks: Swimming.
Nine Days: Painting Your House
You may not paint your house during the Nine Days. Ask a rabbi for possible exceptions.
 
Nine Days: New Projects or Investments
You should not start new projects or make investments during the Nine Days if they can be delayed without incurring a loss.
Reason The Nine Days are considered to be an inauspicious time for Jews.
 
Nine Days: Kiddush Levana
If you are not likely to see the moon on any of the days from the 10th to the 14th of Av, you may say kiddush levana during the Nine Days.
 
Nine Days: Court Cases
Try not to be involved in a court case opposing a non-Jew during the Nine Days.
Reason The Nine Days are considered to be an inauspicious time for Jews.  But if you cannot avoid it, it is not forbidden and you may proceed.
Nine Days: Restrictions
Restrictions during the Nine Days before Tish'a b'Av are the same as for Three Weeks, plus:
  • You may not eat meat or drink wine.
    Exceptions
    1. You may drink wine on Shabbat (but not on Rosh Chodesh Av or erev Shabbat.)
    2. You may drink wine for havdala (but ideally give the wine or grape juice to a child between ages 6 and 10).  
    3. You may eat meat or drink wine at a brit, siyum, or pidyon ha'ben.
  • You may not wear freshly laundered clothes, or wear or buy new clothes.
  NOTE You may wear clean socks and underwear. Ideally, throw them on the floor
  first but, b'di'avad, it is OK to wear them even if you did not.
  • You may not wash yourself for pleasure.
    Note Showering or bathing to clean one's soiled body is permitted (except on Tish'a b'Av).  So you may bathe or shower during the Nine Days if you are dirty, sweaty, or smelly.
  • You may not do any activities that involve luxury.
  • You may not say she'hecheyanu except on Shabbat.
    Note Therefore you should not buy new fruits or new items that you will enjoy during the Nine Days.  But if you DO eat a new fruit or buy something new, you must say she'hecheyanu anyway.
Kiddush Levana: When To Say: Custom not To Say
It is customary not to say kiddush levana:
  • During the Nine Days before and including Tish'a b'Av;
  • On Friday night, and
  • On the evening of a Jewish festival.
Many people also have the custom not to say kiddush levana during the first 10 days of Tishrei.
However, you should do so if you do not expect to see the moon on any other night (due to weather or other factors), rather than miss the chance to say it that month. If you do say kiddush levana on Friday night or the after nightfall of a Jewish festival, say only the blessing, not the Psalms and other phrases that are normally said.
Three Weeks: Swimming
If you are swimming for:
  • Pleasure, you may swim during the Three Weeks but not during the Nine Days.
  • Exercise (you don't particularly enjoy swimming or you are not doing it for fun or to cool off), you may be permitted to swim even during the Nine Days. Consult a rabbi.
Leather or Synthetic Shoes in Halacha
In Jewish law, only leather shoes are considered to be “shoes” for purposes of the Nine Days, mourning, Yom Kippur, shiv'a, or ritual impurity. Non-leather shoes may normally be worn during those periods.

Tish'a B'Av: Pre-Fast Meal
You may say birkat ha'mazon with a mezuman or with a minyan during the Nine Days.  But you may not do so at the meal preceding Tish'a b'Av (se'uda ha'mafseket).
Reason Only bread dipped in ashes and a hard-boiled egg should be eaten and that is not a meal for socializing or togetherness.
Three Weeks: Moving into New Dwelling
You may move into a new home or apartment, whether owning or renting, during the Three Weeks before Tish'a b'Av. Ideally, you should not move into a new place during the Nine Days but if necessary, it is permitted.
Tish'a B'Av: What To Do after 12 Noon
After halachic midday on Tish'a B'Av, you may do any activities except the five activities forbidden on Tish'a B'Av (washing, anointing, eating/drinking, marital intercourse, wearing leather shoes) or the Nine Days.  But you may not greet anyone, or reply to someone else's greeting to you, including saying “hello,” “good morning,” “how are you,” etc., until after dark.
Seventeenth of Tamuz to Tish'a B'Av: Three Stages of Mourning
Before Tish'a b'Av we are in a type of mourning so the laws are similar to mourning for a parent. There are three stages:
The “Three Weeks”: The least severe stage starts three weeks preceding the Ninth of Av
The “Nine Days”:  The next-most severe stage begins on Rosh Chodesh Av.
“Week” of Tish'a b'AvThe most severe mourning is during the “week” of Tish'a b'Av (beginning after Shabbat preceding Tish'a b'Av).
Havdala: Who Drinks the Beverage
For men: No one should drink the havdala beverage except the person saying havdala. This is a non-binding custom, not a halacha.
For women: This custom does NOT apply to women. Women who say havdala for themselves may give their havdala beverage to someone else to drink.
Note During the Nine Days, the person saying havdala may drink the wine.
Introduction to Fast Days
Introduction to Fast Days
The purpose of Jewish fast days is to make us reflect on our behavior and improve it by:
  • Eliminating negative actions and thoughts, and
  • Taking more care in our observance of the commandments.
God told the Jewish people on many occasions that He did not want their pointless sacrifices or fast days but rather wanted the Jews to improve their behavior. If people fast but still have reprehensible behavior, the people have missed the point and purpose of bringing sacrifices and having fast days.
All fast days may be circumvented for health reasons. Consult a rabbi.

Fast days come in several varieties:
  • Major fast days: Yom Kippur and the Ninth of Av (Tish'a B'Av). 
  • Minor fast days: There are four minor fast days; see below.
  • Fast for First-Born
  • Individual Fasts

The Major Fasts
Yom Kippur and the Ninth of Av begin before sunset and are both slightly longer than 24 hours. Yom Kippur is a festive day while, on the Ninth of Av, Jews mourn for the destruction of both Jerusalem Temples (the first was destroyed by Babylonians; the second, by the Romans). On both fasts, it is forbidden to:
  • Eat or drink.
  • Wear leather shoes (but you may wear any other clothing made of leather).
  • Bathe (or even to wash anything more than fingers; you may not use a deodorant--not even a spray type--since it is similar to washing).
  • Have marital relations.
  • Use cosmetics or body scents.

The Minor Fasts
The four minor fasts begin 72 minutes before local sunrise. They technically end at dark but functionally end after ma'ariv (and for the Fast of Esther, after hearing the megila). Unlike most times in the Jewish calendar, this 72 minutes is normal time and NOT based on the current length of the day (sha'a zmanit):
  • Fast of Esther (Ta'anit Esther): Day preceding Purim (or sometimes earlier).
  • Fast of Gedalia (Tzom Gedalia): Usually the day after Rosh Hashana.
  • Tenth of Tevet (Asara b' Tevet):
  • Seventeenth of Tamuz (Shiv'asar b'Tamuz): Beginning of the Three Weeks of semi-mourning beforeTish'a b'Av.
On all fast days, eating and drinking are forbidden. The Tenth of Tevet and the Seventeenth of Tamuz additionally have the same restrictions as the Nine Days. So you may wash or bathe on the Fast of Esther and on Tzom Gedalia but not on the Tenth of Tevet and the Seventeenth of Tamuz. (See Nine Days: Restrictions).
Note On a fast day that has been delayed for Shabbat, there may be leniencies for:
  • The mohel, sandak, and father of a baby getting a brit mila to eat after mincha.
  • Pregnant or nursing women (this leniency applies to eating throughout the day).
Fast for First Born
Fast for first-born males 13 years old and older, on the day before Passover. This includes first-born cohanim and Levites (levi'im). The fast begins 72 normal minutes before sunrise and ends with kiddush at the seder. However, the widespread custom is to attend a siyum on the day before the first seder so that the first-born men do not need to fast on that day.
 
Personal Fasts
Fast by a groom and bride on their wedding day is an example of personal fasts. This fast begins 72 normal minutes before sunrise and ends with drinking wine under the chuppa.