The Shulchan Aruch (OC 260:1) directs us to bathe each Friday in preparation for Shabbat. This year, those of us living outside of Eretz Yisrael<\/i> will welcome Shabbat after a full 48 hours of yom tov<\/i>. Most of us (if not all) would be inclined, if so permitted, to shower in honor of Shabbat. What exactly are
\nthe halachot<\/i> involved?<\/p>\n
There are two challenges to bathing on holidays:<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0\u00a0 When we turn on our hot water faucets, cold water enters a hot water tank and is heated. While heating water on yom tov<\/i> is permitted, that permission only covers cooking and the like\u2014universal needs for all. Bathing, however, in the times of Chazal (and even until the later 20th century), was not considered to be a universal need (shava l\u2019chol nefesh<\/i>); therefore, Chazal prohibited heating water to bathe the entire body [as opposed to washing the face, hands and feet, which was considered a universal need and permitted on the holiday].<\/p>\n
2.\u00a0\u00a0 We are not permitted to wash our entire body (which before home bathing facilities, was typically done in public bathhouses) with hot water on yom tov<\/i> [even in water that was heated prior to yom tov<\/i>], because it might be assumed that this is permitted on Shabbat as well.<\/p>\n
In our modern world, it is safe to say that daily showering is considered a universal need. Does that change the halacha?<\/p>\n
As outlined above, it is permitted to heat water on yom tov<\/i> for a universal need (shava l\u2019chol nefesh<\/i>). Therefore, the first challenge to bathing no longer applies. What about the second ordinance? Would that prevent us from taking a hot shower?<\/p>\n
Contemporary poskim<\/i> continue to debate about allowing the use of hot water to wash the entire body, and therefore only permit washing part of the body on yom tov<\/i>. The OU\u2019s Rav Hershel Schachter has ruled that showering would be permitted, but only with room temperature water\u2014not
\nhot water.<\/p>\n
There are additional factors to keep in mind if planning to shower on yom tov<\/i>. According to both opinions cited above, a person would only be permitted to turn on the hot water tap if it is part of a conventional hot water tank system; hot water from a tankless, instant hot water system may not be used. Moreover, a bar of soap may not be used, because its use would transgress the melacha<\/i> of mimacheik<\/i>(smoothing); watered down liquid soap should be used instead. Hair should not be shampooed on yom tov<\/i> either as that involves squeezing water out of the hair, which is another forbidden melacha<\/i> (sechitah<\/i>). By the same token, when using a towel to dry off, water should not be squeezed out of the hair; it should be allowed to drip dry instead. Also, care should be taken not to squeeze the water out of the towel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Shulchan Aruch (OC 260:1) directs us to bathe each Friday in preparation for Shabbat. This year, those of us living outside of Eretz Yisrael will welcome Shabbat after a full 48 hours of yom tov. Most of us (if not all) would be inclined, if so permitted, to shower in honor of Shabbat. What […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":3801,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n