Halachot and Customs
When Is It Forbidden to Eat Meat During the Three Weeks?
Question
When is it forbidden to cut hair, eat meat, etc. during the Three Weeks?
Thank you very much
Answer
Hello,
A. 1. According to the custom of the Sephardim, it is permitted to cut hair during the Three Weeks up until the week of Tisha B'Av, and immediately following Tisha B'Av, it is again permitted (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 551:3-4, and Chazon Ovadia, Four Fasts, p. 675). According to the custom of the Ashkenazim, it is prohibited to cut hair from the 17th of Tammuz until midday of the 10th of Av (Rama, ibid., 551:4, and Mishnah Berurah 551:23).
2. For Sephardi girls, it is permitted to cut hair even during the week of Tisha B'Av (see Chazon Ovadia, ibid., pp. 661-662, and Orach Lezion, vol. 3, p. 168, §3), while for Ashkenazi girls, it is prohibited to cut hair from the 17th of Tammuz until midday of the 10th of Av (see Mishnah Berurah 551:26, and Ashrei Ha'Ish, vol. 3, chapter 68, §14).
B. According to the custom of the Sephardim, it is forbidden to eat meat starting from Rosh Chodesh Av; however, the custom of the Sephardim in Jerusalem and Israel is to permit eating meat on Rosh Chodesh itself (Chazon Ovadia, ibid., p. 190). The custom of the Ashkenazim is to refrain from eating meat from Rosh Chodesh Av onward; Rosh Chodesh Av is included in this prohibition (Shulchan Aruch, 551:9, and Mishnah Berurah 551:38).
Blessings,
Hillel Meirs
