30 Jun BATHING ON SHABBOS

Although we do not
usually bathe or take
showers on Shabbos,
this topic is discussed
in halachah and has
modern applications.
What is the prohibition
of bathing? Is it ever
permitted to wash one’s
body on Shabbos? Does
it make a difference how
hot the water is? What
about going into a mikvah on Shabbos? Is
swimming permitted? If there is no mikvah,
may one use a swimming pool as a mikvah?
The Source Originally, it was permitted to
heat water before Shabbos to bathe the entire
body. However, the chacha-mim prohibited
this practice, even with water that was heated
before Shabbos. The reason for this was that
the bathhouse attendants would heat water on
Shabbos and claim that it was heated before
Shabbos. There-fore, bathing in hot water is
forbid-den even if the water was heated before
Shabbos. Others explain that one might boil
water on Shabbos for this purpose.
Washing is forbidden whether one is bathing,
showering, or washing from a utensil.
Washing the Body The prohibition is limited
to wash-ing the entire body, or most of it.
One may wash his face, hands and feet, and
other limbs, providing this is not most of the
body. Of course, one may not wash his entire
body at once.
Cold Water The Gemara mentions that some
poskim maintain that cold water should not be
used since one might come to use hot water.
However, the halachah rules that washing

in cold water is permitted.Others only per-
mit washing each limb individually with

cold water, but not the entire body at once.
Nonetheless, the ma-jority of the poskim
permit washing the entire body at once with
cold water.
There is an old custom not to bathe the entire
body even in cold water (the face, hands, and
feet are permitted). The reason for this custom
is that there are halachic complications that
can arise from bathing in a river or cold water.
The Aruch Hashulchan says, “This custom
goes back to our fathers and grandfathers
for hun-dreds of years, and one who wishes
to break this will have a snake bite him. We
accept this as a real issur not to go into rivers,
oceans, lakes, etc. on Shabbos at all.”
Sephardim do not have the custom to refrain
from washing with cold wa-ter on Shabbos.
Lukewarm Water There is a discussion in

the poskim regarding the permissibility of us-
ing lukewarm water. “Lukewarm” is defined

as slightly hot, until the body feels a bit cool.
Some poskim permit this. Others maintain
that temperatures above 98.6 are not allowed
while tem-peratures below that are considered
cold water.
Water Set to Heat before Shabbos If water
was set to heat from before Shabbos but only
became hot on Shabbos itself, it is considered

to have been heated before Shabbos. The
reason is that the action that caused it to
become hot was per-formed before Shabbos.
Therefore, if an urn was filled with water
be-fore Shabbos and the water became hot
on Shabbos, it may be used for washing on
Shabbos. In addition, if the hot water tap was
left running on Shabbos one may use it to
wash his face, hands, and feet. If one left cold
water next to a blech on Shabbos or on top of
an urn, it may not be used to wash anything
on Shabbos.
Water heated with a timer may be used to
wash the face, hands, and feet.
Mixing Cold and Hot Water It is permitted
to take hot water from an urn and add it to
cold water to wash the face, hands, and feet.
This is considered heated before Shabbos.
Feeling Pain If one is in pain (even if his
entire body is not in pain), he can bathe his
entire body with water that was heated on
Erev Shabbos. For example, if one has the
chicken pox or a rash that causes discomfort,
he may bathe even with hot water. However,
the water must be heated before Shabbos.
Washing Children If children become dirty
on Shab-bos, they can be washed with water
that was heated before Shabbos. One should
not use a sponge to wash the child, due to the
prohibition of sechi-tah — squeezing. One
should drape the towel over the child’s head
and let the hair dry slowly.
Sweating in a Bathhouse One is not allowed
to enter a bath-house on Shabbos, even just
to sweat. One reason is that sinners would go
into the bathhouse and claim that they were
going to sweat, but they actually washed
themselves.
Mikvah for Women on Friday Night If the
night for tevilah falls out on Friday night, a
woman can go to the mikvah. However, care
should be taken that the water is not heated on
Shabbos. She may immerse her en-tire body
with water that was heated before Shabbos.
Some poskim limit her to water that is
somewhat hot, but not too hot. It is unclear at
which temperature the water is forbidden, but
it would seem that whatever is called “hot”
by most people should not be used. If the
water is too hot to touch, it may not be used.
Lukewarm water should be used.
Nonetheless, the custom is for a woman to
go to the hot mikvah on Friday night if the
night of her te-vilah falls out then. There are a
few reasons for this. Some say that hot water
is only problematic if one in-tends to wash
oneself, but tevilah for a mitzvah is permitted.
There is a mitzvah of peru u’revu, and it is
a matter of shalom bayis for a woman to go
to the mikvah at the proper time. There is
minimal concern for sechitah, since a mikvah
woman is present, and she will remind the
woman to be careful about this.
Some poskim permit a hot mikvah based on
the Korban Nesanel, which maintains that a
hot mikvah is not part of the issue of bathing
(see next section).

Men and Hot Water Mikvah Is it permitted
for men to use a hot mikvah on Shabbos?
The Korban Nesanel permits this, as it is
not considered bathing. Using a mikvah
technically “fixes” a per-son. Nevertheless, it
is permitted on Shabbos, as it looks like he is
cool-ing himself off in the water.
Many people do have the custom to go to a
mikvah on Shabbos. Others do not permit it
There is a widespread discussion in the
poskim as to whether hot water may be used.
The opinion of many is that one may use
lukewarm or cold water, but hot water is not
allowed. The Sha’ar Hatzion says that hot
water is allowed in a mikvah when necessary.
Many chassidim have the custom to go to a
hot mikvah on Shabbos, for added kedushah.
Some argue that if one is in pain he can wash
his body on Shabbos (with water heated
before Shabbos), and if he were to go to a cold
mikvah it would cause him pain. Therefore, a
hot mikvah is permitted. This is also based on
the Korban Nesanel’s opinion above. Some
posit that since the mikvah is in a public
place it is not like bath-ing. Furthermore, if
we would forbid men to go to a hot mikvah,
women would also not go, and the mitzvah of
peru u’revu would be diminished.
Some permit a hot mikvah due to the fact that
the mikva’os are heated with a timer, not by
a Jew. Others ex-plain that at the time of the

Gemara, a hot mikvah on Shabbos did not ex-
ist. Since something that did not ex-ist could

not be forbidden, we do not create a new
prohibition.
Some poskim permit heating wa-ter with
a thermostat on Shabbos to wash the face,
hands, and feet. This is only permitted if the
water was hot before Shabbos and cooled
down a bit. Even the lenient authori-ties agree
that one would not be al-lowed to add hot
water to the mikvah on Shabbos.
Some maintain that a hot mikvah may not be
used on Shabbos morning, even if one wishes

to go for tevilas Ezra (tevilah done after re-
lations). Others permit it if there is no other

mikvah. Those who do go to the mikvah for
added kedushah should only dip once.
One who goes to a mikvah on Shab-bos
should make sure not to stay too long, so he
does not sweat. One should not linger and talk
to his friends, and so on.
Bathing with a Garment Even those who use
the mikvah on Shabbos should not dip with a
garment, since one may come to squeeze out
the water.
Avoiding Sechitah One who goes to the
mikvah should be careful not to squeeze his
hair, as this would be an issue of sechitah on
Shabbos.[80] One who is not learned should
avoid going to the mikvah on Shabbos, since
he can end up trans-gressing issurim such as
squeezing his hair. This is one of the reasons
that many poskim do not permit using a
mikvah on Shabbos. Even so, this is not
considered fixing oneself on Shabbos.
Some maintain that one does not have to

wait for the hair on his head and beard to dry
completely, and there is no issue of carrying
the water.
One who goes to the mikvah on Shabbos
should not swim in the mik-vah (see below).
Shower on Shabbos As mentioned above,
the custom is not to wash with cold water.
This ap-plies to a shower as well. If one is in
pain because of the heat, it would be permitted
to take a cold shower or bath on Shabbos.
Swimming on Shabbos A dip in the pool
would be a pleas-ant way to cool off on a hot
Shabbos afternoon. Is it permitted?
As mentioned above, the custom is not to
bathe in a lake, river, or any cold water.
Therefore, swimming is not permitted on
Shabbos. In addi-tion, there is a concern that
one may build a life-saving raft on Shabbos.
If the water leaves the pool, it is like a river
and is prohibited. If the swim-ming pool has a
border that prevents any water from going out,
swimming would be allowed. Some explain
that the border makes it obvious that it is not
like a natural body of water, while others say
that it is considered like a utensil, and there is
no concern of making a raft in a utensil. If it is
in a public domain, it is certainly prohibited,
as one will carry the water on him four amos.
In summation, if the pool is in a private
domain and has walls, it is permitted to
swim in it, since one will not carry the water
or make a raft. Nonetheless, a bathing suit
would present an issue of sechitah. If the pool
walls are flush to the ground (like the pools
in some ho-tels), the water will go out of the
pool. This is like a river, and the concern of
making a raft exists. However, based on the
custom not to bathe in cold water, one would
not be allowed to swim. If one wishes to take
water to wash himself off on a very hot day,
it would be per-mitted. Based on the above,
if one must swim for a medical reason, he
should consult with a rav.
One is not allowed to put a floating item (such
as an inflated tube) in the water on Shabbos.
Using Swimming Pool as Mikvah May
one use the pool as a mikvah on Shabbos?
Many poskim permit the use of a mikvah
on Shabbos (see above). One may use the
mikvah if he became impure (keri)[106] or if
he uses the mikvah every Shabbos morning
for added kedushah.
If one is using a pool as a mikvah, he should
not take the opportunity to swim, even if the
above conditions are met.
If one is in a hotel for Shabbos and wishes
to use the swimming pool as a mikvah, but
is concerned about a tznius issue if he goes
without clothes, he may wear his bathing suit.