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26 Comments

  • What is the bottom line?

    I don’t have time to listen,someone please summarize.

  • so what!

    so what is the conclusion. so you can? so what
    once you are there there are other problems like can you soap up? of course not

    how do you wash yourself? is there a real answer?

  • old timer

    all very well and good. so we can use hot water to wash something other than dishes on Yom Tov. the real question is: what are we allowed to do once we get into the shower? what about the laws regarding soaping, shampooing, making suds, scrubbing, and finally drying off? if people learned those laws, they would realize the futility of asking about taking a shower on Yom Tov, as it basically restricts us to just getting wet and then air-drying afterwards. most of us want to take a shower to wash our oily hair, but the laws concerning shampooing/soaping/scrubbing would make that a moot point.
    rabbi, please follow up with a detailed answer to the question of what one is allowed to do in the shower and drying off afterwards…

  • interesting

    if you’re allowed to use a towel to dry yourself on Shabbos to dry yourself what is the Shaaloh? what do you do when you go to Mikvah? Rabbi Marlow Zatza”l would be careful about drying his hair going the extra to avoid even the possibility of Sechita (squeezing)

  • Mikvah?

    Hmmm, can you use:
    1) A towel on Yom Tov, or even Shabbos for that matter, after going to Mikvah?
    2) Hand soap, ever?
    3) Hot water?

    Draw the logical conclusion here

    • abe

      you allowed to use a towel as long you don’t squeeze water from hair
      liquid soap YES
      hot water from gas boiler YES

  • Really??

    the alter rebbe was mentioned many times but this issue is dealt with more by other poskim that’s why others are mentioned more please learn more before you chastise others doing a good thing

  • A Bubby and mother of Crownheights

    I was born into a frum family that found it hard to attend Jewish schools in the early 1920’s. I was
    more fortunate and in the late 1950’s and we were all sent to Yeshivas and Bais Yaakov schools. I can tell you that during my parents childhood and my childhood, non of us ever took a shower on Yom Tov! It was not even a shailah! We even learned how to take talcum powder and lightly sprinkle it into our hair and used a towel to rub it out, to take out some of the oil that was soaking out of our heads. ( I am not even sure this was allowed but we were young and did it without any knowledge and we did not even ask our parents if it was OK!) We were all healthy and we wore deodorant, and lived to tell the tale. I still do not take a shower and I have no intentions of ever doing so. By the way my Shabbos table is always filled to capacity with friends and family and no one ever holds their noses, as our home and our bodies smell sweet and fresh!

    • Different Times

      People bathe more often now than they did so many years ago even during the week without considering Shabbos and Yom Tov. The Rambam says that people should bathe once a week!

      In modern times, we are accustomed to showering on a daily basis, so going three days without a shower is a big deal compared to what it might have seemed like just a few generations ago. There is no obligation to shower on Yom Tov, to be sure, but if it is permissible and it will make the Yom Tov more b’simcha and enjoyable, then it’s a good thing for the people who would like to take advantage of it.

  • confused

    We dry our hands after washing for Hamotzi on Shabbos and yom tov. So why can’t we dry our bodies the same way at least on yom tov?

  • SoFla

    Here in SoFla a hot shower on Yom Tov is a must,,,try walking a mile or even two miles to get home from shul in ninety degree weather!!

  • yankel der shlepper

    It is forbidden to wash the entire body at once. one can wash the arms or legs but not together. everything else is nonsense. these Rabbonim and these heteirim are what destroys our communities, kids etc. The rabbonim who were able to deal with new modern issues are not a live anymore, such as R’ Moishe Fsinstein ztz”l and others in Israel. The new era Rabbonim should know the limits of halacha. you can not change a ruling of a beis din unless you are greater than them. as far as we know, the generations are deteriorating till Moshiach comes!
    CHODOSH OSUR MIN HATOIRA!!!

  • yankel der shlepper

    from the alter Rebbe’s SHU”A
    שולחן ערוך הרב אורח חיים סימן תקיא סעיף א

    לפיכך מותר לעשות מדורה להתחמם כנגדה ביום טוב וכן מותר להחם מעט מים לרחוץ בהם פניו ידיו ורגליו ביום טוב אבל אסור להחם מים רבים כדי לרחוץ בהם כל גופו.
    וזה האיסור יש אומרים שאינו אלא מדבריהם…לפיכך אף מדבריהם מותר לרחוץ כל גופו במים שהוחמו מערב יום טוב ….במה דברים אמורים כשרוחץ חוץ למרחץ אבל בתוך המרחץ אסור לרחוץ בחמין אפילו פניו ידיו ורגליו בלבד וכ”ז בחמין שהוחמו מערב יום טוב אבל כל גופו בבת אחת אסור אפילו להשתטף בחמין שהוחמו מערב יום טוב.
    וכן אסור לרחוץ כל גופו אפילו חוץ למרחץ בחמין שהוחמו ביום טוב אפילו הוחמו לצורך שתיה ואפילו אינו רוחץ כל גופו בבת אחת אלא רוחצו אבר אבר אסור
    אבל יש חולקין על כל זה ואומרים דמן התורה אסור להחם מים רבים בשביל רחיצת כל הגוף … לפי שרחיצת כל הגוף אינה צורך כל נפש אלא למעונגים ומפונקים בלבד ולא התירה התורה אפילו המלאכה שלצורך אכילה אלא אם כן יש בה צורך כל נפש אבל אם אין בה צורך אלא למעונגים אסור לעשותה ביום טוב כמו שיתבאר וכיון שיש בזה איסור של תורה יש לאסור לרחוץ כל גופו ביום טוב אפילו חוץ למרחץ ואפילו בחמין שהוחמו מערב יום טוב …במה דברים אמורים לרחוץ כל גופו בבת אחת אבל לרחוץ כל גופו אבר אבר בחמים שהוחמו מערב יום טוב מותר אפילו לגדול שכל אבר ואבר שהוא רוחץ הוא רוחץ בהיתר דאין לגזור שמא יחם מים ביום טוב שהרי מותר להחם מים ביום טוב בשביל רחיצת אבר אחד ואין איסור אלא להחם בשביל רחיצת כל הגוף שאין צריך אלא למעונגים (אבל כל גופו בבת אחת אסור אפילו להשתטף בחמין אפילו הוחמו מערב יום טוב).
    ואף על פי שהעיקר כסברא הראשונה בכל זה מכל מקום כבר נהגו במדינות אלו להחמיר כסברא האחרונה ואין לשנות המנהג:

  • yankel der shlepper

    based on the alter Rebbe in Hilchos YomTov Siman 511 it is forbidden to wash you entire body on yom tov.

  • To Yankel Der Shlepper

    According to the Alter Rebbe S.A. its like this:

    If the water was cooked up before Yom Tov……..

    according to the first opinion (Rambam, Bais Yosef)
    you are permitted to wash your entire body at one time (e.g. bath, and for sure shower).

    according to the second opinion (Tosfos) you are permitted to wash your entire body but only one limb at a time (e.g. shower one limb at a time).

    If the water was cooked up on Yom Tov…….

    according to both opinions you are not permitted to wash your entire body even if you do one limb at a time. According to first opinion this issur is drabbonon.(gzeiras merchatz) and according to the second opinion this issur is min HaTorah. (eino shoveh likol).

    But you are permitted to wash your hands , face and feet, even if the water was cooked on Yom Tov.

  • Response to the Schlepper

    Hey,

    If you would listen to the shiur you would see how it’s explained… Instead of making rash public announcements.

  • yankel der shlepper

    to # 20
    you wrote:
    If the water was cooked up before Yom Tov……..

    according to the first opinion (Rambam, Bais Yosef)
    you are permitted to wash your entire body at one time (e.g. bath, and for sure shower).

    The Alter Rebbe writes for the first opinion:
    אבל כל גופו בבת אחת אסור אפילו להשתטף בחמין שהוחמו מערב יום טוב

    as a final psak the alter Rebbe writes:
    ואף על פי שהעיקר כסברא הראשונה בכל זה מכל מקום כבר נהגו במדינות אלו להחמיר כסברא האחרונה ואין לשנות המנהג:

  • To Yankel Der Shlepper

    Yes the Alter Rebbe S.A. writes that. but then you have a major problem. (1) there is no difference between the first opinion and the second opinion by a gadol (by a koton there is a difference). and (2) the first opinion is the Rambam, Rif and Bais Yosef. and all three of them say that it is permitted to wash all of his body at one time if the water was cooked up before Yom Tov. See the Ran mesichta Shabbos page 19 B of Rif pages. and he clearly spells out that it is permitted and so does the Rambam and Bais Yosef. See Rambam hilchois Yom Tov ch.1 halacha 17.

    For the Alter Rebbe S.A. either he is referring to a “merchatz” as Rav Ashkenazi says. or it is a “tous hamatik” which is more likely since these are the exact same words used in the second opinion.

  • yankel der shlepper

    To #24
    where exactly did you get the courage to decide on what the alter Rebbe meant? just because you have a question on the alter Rebbe that does not qualify you or anyone to decide against the simple text of the alter Rebbe. if you are in doubt i assume the halacha should be lechumra not lekula since it might be a sefeika deoraiso as the alter Rebbe writes.
    I assume also that the alter Rebbe also knew the Rif, Rambam etc.

  • Milhouse

    Yankel, you can’t just pasken on this from the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchon Oruch, because there has been a major change: in the AR’s day bathing was not shoveh lechol nefesh, but now it is, and that changes everything.