18 Jul NINE DAYS QUESTIONS & ANSWERS WITH RABBI MOSHE ELEFANT

Beginning Rosh
Chodesh Av until
after Tisha B’Av
(the Nine Days)
the custom of
Ashkenazim is not to eat meat
or drink wine, in remembrance
of the destruction of the Beis
Hamikdash. What about a food
that was cooked with meat, or
a pareve soup that was cooked

in a fleishig pot? Can they be

consumed? Also, can one eat
foods that contain red wine
vinegar?

The Mishna Berura (551:63) writes

that the common custom is not
to eat foods that were cooked
together with meat. For example,
one should not eat a potato from a

fleishig cholent, even though it does

not contain actual meat. Since it
absorbed from the meat, we refrain
from eating it. He adds that one may

cook a pareve food in a fleishig pot,

even if the pot had been used to cook
meat immediately beforehand.
Rama (OC 551:9) writes that using
wine vinegar is acceptable during
the Nine Days. He explains that wine
vinegar does not promote simcha
(joy), and was not included in the
wine restriction. Wine “vinegar”
refers to wine that has fermented to
the point where one would not drink
it (MB 551:57).

I have the custom of making
Havdalah on beer during the
nine days. I noticed that I do not
have any beer in my refrigerator.
I would like to place a bottle
of beer in the fridge now (on
Shabbos) to be able to use
after Shabbos for Havdalah.
Is this a problem of hachanah
(preparation)?
Rav Belsky, zt”l was asked this
exact question. He ruled that if one
forgot to put a beer in the fridge
before Shabbos they may do so on
Shabbos to use for Havdalah. He

explained that since one isn’t doing
any prohibited act by putting beer in
a fridge on Shabbos and one is doing
so for the purpose of enhancing a
mitzvah, it is permissible. Rav Belsky
maintained it is comparable to the
case mentioned in Shulchan Aruch
O.C. 293:3.
I am visiting my parents over the
Nine Days. I have a very large
family of my own. Do I have to
schlep changes of clothing for
my whole family for the entire
NineDays or can Irely in advance
on the permit mentioned in a
previous Halacha Yomis, namely,
thatif Irun out of clean clothing I
am allowed to clean my clothing
up until the week in which Tisha
B’Av falls?

There is a difference of opinion

about this question among the great
poskim of the past generation. Rav
Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, zt”l and
Rav Elyashiv, zt”l both were of the
opinion that every family member
should take a set of clean clothing
which will last them the entire Nine
Days, so that it will not be necessary
to do any laundry during the Nine
Days (cited by Nitei Gavriel, Bein
HaMetzarim, 16:8). On the other
hand Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l was
lenient and ruled that the family only
needs to take along what they would
normally take on such a trip. If they

run out of clean clothing, they can
rely on the permit of one who does

not have sufficient clothing to last

him until the end of the Nine Days
who is allowed to clean necessary
clothing before the week in which
Tisha B’Av falls (Sefer Chol HaMoed
K’Hilchoso 85:23).
If one does not own enough changes
of clothing to last the entire Nine
Days, Rav Moshe, zt”l (Piskei
Teshuvos 534:2, citing Kuntres
Hilchos Chol HaMoed se’if 7) writes
that it is pashut (obviously true) that
he is not required to purchase new
clothing before Rosh Chodesh Av

even if he can easily afford it and

that if he runs out of clean clothing
during the Nine Days he can rely on
the above permit.

May I learn with the intention
to make a Siyum during the
Nine Days so that a meat meal
can be served? May I delay the
completion of learning until the
Nine Days in order to be able to
make a Siyum?

The Mishna Berura (OC 551:73 quoting Elya Rabba) writes that
one may not delay or accelerate
one’s learning to schedule a Siyum

during the Nine Days. The Aruch

HaShu lchan (OC 551:28), in fact,
recommends that even if a Siyum
happens to fall out during the Nine
Days, one should postpone it until

after the Nine Days, when the proper

joyous celebration can be made in
honor of the Torah. However other
poskim are lenient in this matter(see
Shu”t Yabia Omer1:26 and Moadei
Yeshurun p. 132:11b and 155:66)
Rav Moshe, zt”l felt that preferably
one should refrain from making a

Siyum from the 7th of Av until after

the Nine Days, since on the 7thof
Av our enemies entered the Heich al
leading to the eventual destruction
of the Bais HaMikdashon the 9th
and 10th of Av (See Magen Avraham
554:9 quoting Tur).

What happened on the 7th of
Av? How is this observed?

The Gemara (Taanis 29A) relates the

events that led up to the destruction
of the Beis Hamikdash. Although
the walls of Yerushalayim were
breached on the seventeenth of

Tammuz, the fighting continued. It

was not until the seventh of Av that
the Babylonians entered the Beis
Hamikdash and desecrated it. On
the ninth of Av, close to sunset, they

set the Beis Hamikdash on fire.

The Magen Avrohom (554:9) write

that even those who must eat meat

or drink wine during The Nine Days,

if possible, should refrain from meat
and wine beginning the 7th of Av,
in recognition of the increasing
calamity. Nonetheless, the Mishnah
Berurah (551:61) writes that the
restriction of the Magen Avrohom
does not apply to someone who is
ill and must eat meat for reasons of
health.
Piskei Teshuvos (551:38) cites sefer
Otzer HaChaim that even those
who permit serving meat at a siyum

during The Nine Days may not do so

beginning the 7th of Av. Similarly,
Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, zt’l
ruled that one may not serve meat or
wine at a seudas Bar Mitzvah from
the 7th ofAv and onward (Mivakshei
Torah vol. 48, chapter 4).