The Questions (and Answers) of BDJ

View a printable version of this Q & A here.

Q: I've always thought of the 3 weeks (before the 9 days begin) as halachikally identical to the Omer. Are there any practical "rule-based" differences, including strictness/leniencies towards live music, hair cutting, shaving, travel etc?

Throughout my life, I've been told by various Rabbis that during the 3 weeks (and Omer) that something like going to a movie is a gray area, and depends on how "special" that is. To someone who sees one or two a year, they shouldn't go. But to someone like me who sees them every week of my life, it's no problem. It seems odd that suddenly there's a halachik framework to do things depending on your own circumstances, we certainly don't tell people that a violation of Shabbat or Kashrut is different for one person versus another, why is it so subjective here? (Perhaps it is equally subjective when dealing with someone's personal act of mourning as well?)

A (RYK): The analogy between the Omer period and the Three Weeks period (as distinguished from the Nine Days) is pretty direct. The periods are often spoken about interchangeably in halachic discussions. The only differences are that during the Three Weeks there is a custom to avoid discretionary activities that call for the recitation of the “She’heyichanu” blessing (except on Shabbat), and also a custom to avoid dangerous situations (though see more about this in the next question and answer below).

I appreciate your second question. The truth is that it is not odd at all to discover subjective / circumstances-dependent decisions in Halacha. A person’s financial circumstances are very relevant when it comes to how much she is required to spend to purchase objects that are necessary for the performance of a mitzvah, and in terms of how stringent he needs to be in determining whether a kitchen item that had become “treif” needs to be thrown away or can be kashered. A person's health circumstances regularly influence how the laws of Shabbat and the laws of fast days are applied to that person.

And this subjective consideration is especially prominent when it comes to halachic areas that are entirely about how a person feels. For example, a person who feels happy when eating meat, should do so on Yom Tov in order to fulfill the mitzvah of rejoicing on Yom Tov. A person who does not feel happy when eating meat should davka not do so! Similarly, although the Shulchan Aruch rules that a person should recite “She’hechiyanu” over the purchase of a new shirt, more contemporary poskim rule that we who own many shirts and buy new ones pretty routinely probably shouldn’t recite the bracha (as the purchase doesn't bring the same degree of joy.) We are much more lenient these days about basic, routine showering during shiva and shloshim as in our circumstances (of indoor plumbing) this activity is not associated with special luxury or joy.

This is no less true when it comes to the laws of the Three Weeks. Consider this citation from the Peninei Halacha for example: “Some authorities maintain that just as one may not listen to live music during the Three Weeks, so too one may not listen to recorded music played on home electronic devices during this period… [However] when phonographs, radios, and tape recorders were first introduced, people truly experienced joy when using them to listen to music. Today, however, when everyone listens to music on electronic devices all the time, people do not experience so much joy in doing so. Thus, it is not prohibited to listen to them during the Three Weeks.”

With regard to movies, it’s a little hard to argue that this should be prohibited during the Three Weeks to begin with, unless it is a musical. But if one were to argue for prohibition (on the grounds that a movie is akin to a celebration) it would seem reasonable to place a subjective lens on the movie question as well.

Q: Should one refrain from going to comedy shows during the three weeks?

A (RYK): Comedy shows don’t fall within the parameters of “music and dancing”, which is the term that the halachic sources use to describe the activities that we avoid during the Three Weeks. In this sense, comedy shows are permissible. I’ll add though that Rabbi Soloveitchik conceptually thought about the Three Weeks (and the Omer) as analogous to the 12 months of personal mourning, during which we avoid joining a large group for the sake of having a great “group time” together. I think then that it depends upon your larger religious approach to the Three Weeks. 

Q: Are elective medical/surgical procedures permitted during the Three Weeks/Nine Days?

A (RYK): So this is an interesting story. There is (to my knowledge) one classical rabbinic source that speaks of the Three Weeks as a dangerous time and suggests that we should avoid doing dangerous things. And this one source is not a Talmudic one, but a Midrashic one. Commenting on the phrase in Eicha, ”All her pursuers have overtaken her within the straits (“"בין המצרים) and invoking a Midrashic tradition that this phrase refers to the three weeks between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av, the Midrash (Eichah Rabba 1:29) describes this period as one in which the destructive demon known as Ketev Meriri is prevalent, in particular in the midday hours, as it says: “Nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction [ketev] that lays waste at noon” (Psalms 91:6). The Midrash further recommends that teachers not strike their students (oy) during the Three Weeks, and perhaps not even hold classes at all between the fourth and ninth hours of the day during this period lest they strike their students, for in the presence of Ketev Meriri such striking could have particularly terrible consequences. The Shulchan Aruch cites this as law, and adds that people should try to avoid walking alone during these hours.

Many contemporary writers of Halacha, apply the above in terms of

(1) being extra sure to follow all regular safety guidelines while engaging in routine activities (such as swimming or boating or hiking),

(2) avoiding expressly dangerous activities, and

(3) avoiding scheduling elective surgery during this period.

All I would add is that a person should check in with his or her doctor before making decisions about whether a particular procedure is necessary or elective.

While one could legitimately debate how seriously we ought to take laws that are based upon the existence and activity of demons, I’d suggest that being mindful of this Three Weeks custom helps us to understand how this period was experienced by generations of Jews from the days of the Babylonians and for millenia beyond. (As I write this here in Israel on Sunday afternoon, I am literally thinking “b’li ayin hara”.)

Q: Many people have the custom to override the custom of not eating meat during the nine days by making or attending a siyum. Is there a definition of what amount of learning constitutes something as siyum-worthy? Generally it’s a mesechta of Gemara or a seder of mishnayos, but is that really required? What about Tanach, midrash, sifrei halacha, etc.?

A (RYK): So first, a little editorial. While the Shulchan Aruch 100% lists a siyyum (the meal celebrating the completion of a unit of Torah study) as “seudat mitzvah”, a “mitzvah meal” at which meat could be served even during the Nine Days, the question as to whether one should intentionally schedule a siyyum to fall during the Nine Days so as to obviate the restriction on eating meat is an altogether different thing. Mishna Brurah (551:73) says that it is improper to do this, and Aruch haShulchan is astonished that while other religious communities seem to have no problem maintaining religious periods of abstinence, we would desecrate the memory of our destroyed Temple and city through deliberately deploying a technical workaround. (On the other hand, of course, we do deliberately aim siyyums at the Fast of the Firstborn on Erev Pesach, though on the third hand the latter is much more loosely based to begin with than the Nine days are.)

Now there are arguably instances when it might be deemed necessary to deliberately plan a siyyum for the Nine Days, for example when one is running a sleepaway camp for hundreds of active, hungry children whose dietary needs you are responsible for. Simply to create an excuse for a barbeque seems like not a good example. The rabbinic maxim that comes to mind is that those who mourn over Jerusalem will merit to see its joy.

That said, the question as to the completion of what “unit of study” qualifies as a siyyum, with the accompanying celebratory meal being classified as a “mitzvah meal” is an important one, with numerous halachik ramifications, including of course for the Nine Days. So there is no doubt that, traditionally, a siyyum is typically made at the completion of either a tractate of Talmud or of a Seder of Mishna. However, in a responsum on this topic, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (Igrot  Moshe OH 1:157) proposed that the joy at the completion of study is actually a subcategory of the joy at the completion of any mitzvah that required a sustained effort over time. This being the case, the study of a book of Tanach (which was the question to which Rav Moshe was responding) also qualifies for a siyyum presuming that the study was done in-depth, and that a significant amount of effort was invested over a significant length of time. The same could also presumably be said for a long, complex Masechet of Mishna, or a lengthy sefer of Halacha. To be sure, Rav Moshe’s category lacks precise objective metrics and sound judgment should be employed, but his analysis clearly widens the set of accomplishments that could be celebrated with a siyyum that qualifies as a Seudat Mitzvah. You can hear Rav Moshe’s position summarized in this mini-lecture by Rabbi Dov Linzer. 

Q: Is there any way for people who are VERY sensitive to hygiene to brush their teeth on a fast day like Tisha B’av (or Yom Kippur obviously, but that is not this week’s topic). I was under the impression that you can’t because it is likely you will consume some water, toothpaste, or something like that. BUT, obviously my intention isn’t to satisfy hunger.

A (RYK): The Shulchan Aruch discusses the issue of washing out one’s mouth on a fast day (OH 567:3) and while he doesn’t regard doing so as a violation of the fast, he regards it as “not kosher” to do so (a very unusual turn of phrase!). His concern is presumably over the possibility that a person doing so might inadvertently swallow the water. However, Mishna Brurah (11) comments that if a person is experiencing significant discomfort (צער) it is permissible to wash out one’s mouth on the minor fasts (i.e. the ones that begin at dawn), and if one is experiencing severe discomfort (צער גדול) this is permissible even on Tisha B’av. On Yom Kippur, the only Biblical-law fast day, it is considered forbidden to wash one’s mouth out, but in a case of distress one should use an unpalatable mixture (e.g. 4:1 water to lemon juice solution) to do so.

Contemporary poskim fully equate tooth brushing with the Shulchan Aruch’s mouth washing. For more on this topic see here and here.