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The Nine Days are the first nine days of the Jewish month of Av. During this time, a strict level of mourning is observed, in accordance with the Talmudic dictum (Ta'anit 26): "When the month of Av begins, we reduce our joy." They are days of intense mourning culminating in Tisha B'Av which commemorates the destruction of the first and second Temples in Jerusalem.
During The Nine Days, Jewish law (Halakha) forbids various activities, including drinking wine, eating meat, pleasure-bathing, and wearing freshly laundered clothes. These prohibitions are in addition to those already adhered to during The Three Weeks, which take place concurrent to The Nine Days. Those restrictions include listening to music, getting a haircut or shaving, participating in weddings.[1]
Prohibitions During the Nine Days
- Eating meat and drinking wine (and grape juice, according to some), except on Shabbat or at a Siyum, Brit Milah or other Seudat mitzvah. Fish is permitted.
- Pleasure Bathing. In Ashkenazi tradition, warm baths are not taken and swimming is not permitted; in Sephardic tradition, observances regarding garments and bathing, start the Sunday before Tisha B'Av and are not followed on years when the fast falls on Sunday.
- Washing clothes or wearing freshly laundered clothes. Washing freshly-washed clothes for Shabbat or underwear for any day is permitted.
- Wearing new clothes and eating a new fruit requiring the blessing of shehechiyanu (forbidden by some throughout the Three Weeks).
- In addition, a major purchase (such as a new home or automobile) is not recommended, but is permitted if unavoidable
End of restrictions
The restrictions of the Nine Days customarily continue up until midday on the day after Tisha B'Av. But when the actual ninth day of Av falls on Shabbat and Tisha B'Av is postponed until the following Sunday (the 10th), the restrictions end at nightfall when the break fast occurs. Still, consumption of meat or wine are not permitted for the break fast, other than wine for Havdala.
References
- ^ "Aspects of Mourning During the Three Weeks". http://www.aish.com/tishabav/tishabavdefault/The_Three_Weeks.asp.
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