24 Jul HOW LONG IS THE NINE DAYS?

During a brief
period leading up
to Tisha B’Av, Jews
observe additional
mourning practices.
For Ashkenazim, the
initial period begins
with 17 Tammuz and
the intense period begins with Rosh
Chodesh Av, the first day of the month
whose mourning culminates with the
ninth day, Tisha Be-Av. These nine
days include customary restrictions on
eating meat, drinking wine and more.
Sephardim begin these restrictions on the

Sunday of the week in which Tisha Be-
Av falls. Can these restrictions continue

for longer than nine days?
I. Extending the Practice
Rav Shlomo Luria (Maharshal,
Responsa, no. 52) was asked about a
custom observed by some women to
continue the Nine Days restrictions until
Shabbos Nachamu, the Shabbos after
Tisha Be-Av. Is this custom legitimate
and worthy of continuation? The inquirer
notes that the practice is mentioned

in Sefer Ha-Minhagim by Rav Yitzchak
Isaac Tyrnau (15th century, Austria).
Maharshal answers that this practice
is nonsense. The Gemara (Ta’anis
29b) quotes three opinions on the time
period of these additional restrictions,
all based on the verse: “I will also
cause all her joy to cease, her feasts
(chagah), her new moons (chodshah),
and her sabbaths (shabbatah), and all
her appointed seasons” (Hosea 2:13). R.
Meir believes it lasts from Rosh Chodesh
(chagah) through the fast (i.e. nine days).
R. Yehudah believes it lasts the entire
month of Av (chodshah). R. Shimon
ben Gamliel believes it lasts the entire
week of Tisha Be-Av (shabbatah), from
Sunday through Friday. The Gemara
concludes that we follow both R. Meir
and R. Shimon ben Gamliel leniently,
meaning we begin the week of the fast
and end at the fast.
Maharshal argues that if the Gemara
concludes we end the observances
with the fast, extending them further
constitutes a rejection of Talmudic
authority. This custom contradicts

the Gemara and therefore should be
abandoned. You do not even need to
annul the vow of the custom. He points
to Berakhos (10b) where R. Tarfon is
criticized for endangering himself in
order to follow Beis Shammai’s view
that Shema at night must be recited while
sitting down. Maharshal proves from
here that we may not follow a rejected
opinion like that of Beis Shammai.
Additionally, two reasons are offered
for refraining from meat and wine
during this period (see Beis Yosef, Orach
Chaim 551): 1) Refraining from
specific pleasures as a sign of sadness
over the destruction of the Temple, 2)
commemorating the cessation of the
animal and wine sacrifices in the Temple.
Neither of these make sense after Tisha
Be-Av, when mourning for the Temple
has concluded. Rather, Maharshal
insists, this practice began due to the
lack of desire to serve meat and wine
before Shabbos if Tisha Be-Av falls on a
Thursday. And even if it occurs earlier in
the week, people did not want to spend
money on meat and wine. Some people
mistook this pragmatic practice as a
religious custom.
You can ask why Maharshal
does not object to the Ashkenazic
custom of beginning the restrictions
on Rosh Chodesh. Doesn’t this
constitute following R. Meir against
the conclusion of the Gemara?

Rav Yechezkel Landau (Noda Bi-
Yehudah, Orach Chaim 2:105)

addresses this. He explains that even
though the Gemara concludes that the
restrictions begin the week of Tisha
Be-Av, it also requires that people
generally decrease their happiness
starting on Rosh Chodesh Av. We
fulfill this general requirement through
specific restrictions. In contrast, there
is nothing in our tradition about
mourning the destruction of the
Temple well past Tisha Be-Av.
II. Defending the Practice
Rav Yoel Sirkes (Bach, Orach
Chaim 551) disagrees with
Maharshal’s conclusion. Not only
does Minhagim Tyrnau cite this
custom, but so does Maharil. It is
hard to designate as a mistake such
a well-attested custom. Rather, this
is an additional custom to mourn the
destruction of the Temple. As such,
like you must do with any legitimate

custom, you must annul this custom
properly before abandoning it.
Bach differentiates between refraining
from meat and wine in memory of the
destroyed Temple and sitting for Shema
at night. According to the Gemara’s
conclusion, nothing is gained from the
latter — there is no halakhic benefit.
Therefore, it is forbidden to follow the
rejected opinion. But because there is
always benefit to mourning the Temple,
you may act strictly beyond the Gemara’s
conclusion.
Rav David Ha-Levi (Taz, Orach
Chaim 551:10) adds that you should
not specifically say that you follow R.
Shimon ben Gamliel. Rav Avraham
Gombiner (Magen Avraham 551:16)
similarly rejects the Maharshal’s
objection to this custom. However, he
adds that if the joyous day of Tu Be-Av
falls on the Friday after Tisha Be-Av, you
cannot suspend your custom to refrain
from eating meat and drinking wine.
While this custom is not normative,
and indeed I have never heard of people
observing it, it teaches us the value of
internalizing the mourning practices. Too
often, we do whatever we can to avoid
the mourning observances. This custom
represents the sensibilities of people who
truly mourned the Temple and wished to
express their sadness in practice, above
and beyond the requirements.