Is it Permissible to Wash Bed Sheets in the Month of Av: Customs of the Three Weeks

Laws Observed from the Beginning of the Month of Av and During the Week in Which Tisha B'Av Falls

1. It is forbidden to sew or cut new clothes from the beginning of the month of Av until Tisha B'Av. It is also forbidden to knit new garments during these days. Similarly, it is forbidden to prepare new shoes during this period. It is also forbidden to purchase new clothes or new shoes during these days.

2. It is permissible to repair a garment or shoe that was torn during these days. It is also permissible during these days to sew a patch onto a garment to repair it. For weddings taking place after Tisha B'Av, if the groom has not yet fulfilled the commandment of procreation, one may be lenient regarding sewing new clothes. Similarly, one may be lenient regarding purchasing new clothes. Also, a poor person who earns a living from charity is permitted to sew new clothes during these days for his livelihood. Similarly, when there is concern that clothes or shoes will become more expensive later, causing financial loss, it is permissible to purchase them during these days in any case, whether for a bride and groom or for other people.

3. Owners of factories that sew new clothes, as well as owners of factories that make new shoes, who have workers and cannot stop their work during these days because it would lead to financial loss, are permitted to continue their work. It is appropriate to do so as discreetly as possible. All the more so when the workers are non-Jews, one may be lenient in this matter. Other craftsmen engaged in making new items, such as carpenters and the like, are permitted to continue their work during these days.

4. It is rabbinically forbidden to cut hair or shave during the week in which Tisha B'Av falls (this year it falls on Sunday, the 7th of Av), whether it is the hair of the head or the beard. This is the custom of Sephardim and Eastern communities. It is permissible to trim a mustache that interferes with eating. On Tisha B'Av itself, it is forbidden to trim even a mustache that interferes with eating. The custom of Ashkenazi communities is not to cut hair from the 17th of Tammuz until the 10th of Av.

5. If a circumcision occurs during the Three Weeks, it is permissible for the mohel, the sandak, and the father of the child to cut their hair and shave on the day of the circumcision in honor of the ceremony, even for those who are stringent about this from the 17th of Tammuz. Even after the beginning of the month of Av, one may be lenient in this matter. However, if a circumcision occurs during the week in which Tisha B'Av falls, it is forbidden for the mohel, the sandak, and the father of the child to cut their hair and shave in honor of the circumcision, both for Sephardim and Ashkenazim.

5. Women are permitted to cut their hair even during the week in which Tisha B'Av falls. Some say that according to Ashkenazi custom, women should be stringent like men. Nevertheless, it is forbidden to cut the hair of children during the week in which Tisha B'Av falls, even young children who have not yet reached the age of education.

6. It is permissible to comb the hair of the head or beard with a comb, even during the week in which Tisha B'Av falls.

7. The custom is to be stringent not to cut nails during the week in which Tisha B'Av falls, except on the eve of Shabbat Chazon, when one may be lenient to cut nails in honor of Shabbat. Nevertheless, one whose nails are long may be lenient and cut them during the week in which Tisha B'Av falls. It is also permissible to cut nails in honor of a mitzvah.

8. It is rabbinically forbidden to launder clothes during the week in which Tisha B'Av falls. This is the custom of Sephardim and Eastern communities. However, the custom of Ashkenazi communities is not to launder starting from the beginning of the month of Av. The prohibition of laundering during these days applies even if one does not want to wear the garment now, but to set it aside for after Tisha B'Av. Even laundering with water alone is forbidden during these days. Even if one has only one garment, it is forbidden to launder it. Nevertheless, when one has only one garment, even according to Ashkenazi custom, one should only be stringent during the week in which Tisha B'Av falls.

9. The prohibition of laundering during these days applies both to outer garments worn over other clothes and to undergarments worn beneath all other clothes. It is also forbidden to launder towels, tablecloths, and bed sheets. However, it is permissible to launder handkerchiefs for the nose during these days.

10. It is forbidden to launder children's clothes during these days. Nevertheless, the custom is to be lenient regarding laundering clothes of very young infants, two or three years old, who typically get dirty all the time.

11. Just as it is forbidden to launder during the week in which Tisha B'Av falls (and according to Ashkenazi custom, from the beginning of the month of Av), so too it is forbidden to wear freshly laundered clothes. Even a garment that was laundered before the week in which Tisha B'Av falls is forbidden to be worn during these days.

Rabbi Shai Amar is a rabbi in the Halacha department of Hidabroot

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