Showering on Tisha b’Av to wash off sweat

Question:

After coming home from Shul after Maariv on Tisha b’Av night I felt really sweaty and disgusting. The Shul was very overcrowded and overheated which caused me to sweat profusely, not to mention the walk home. I know myself, I will not be able to sleep feeling sticky and uncomfortable so I find myself wondering: Is it permissible for me to take a quick shower on Tisha b’Av just to wash off the sweat, or should I continue to refrain even if I’m feeling really grimy?

Answer:

I would not rush to take a shower as soon as I come home. Try cooling off in a room with a fan and a very low air conditioner setting. This should do the trick in terms of evaporating the sweat and making you feel less sticky and more comfortable. Hence circumventing the need to wash your body. Nonetheless, if for whatever reason you are unable to make yourself comfortable and dry off the sweat and stickiness, then it is permitted for you even on Tisha b’Av to wash the sweat off of your body using water. This especially applies if you are having trouble falling asleep as a result of the comfortability caused by the sweat. Nonetheless, the allowance is limited to simply washing away the sweat from the sweaty areas and nothing more. Hence, rather than standing under a showerhead, I would recommend taking a towel or cloth and wetting it with water and then dabbing it on your skin that is dirty with sweat to wash it off. Nonetheless, technically you may use a showerhead to spray the water directly on the sweaty area, but should avoid taking a full shower even if it’s simply for the purpose of removing sweat and will be only a few seconds long.

Explanation:

Bathing on Tisha b’Av even in cold water is strictly forbidden and is one of the five bodily afflictions that were decreed by the sages. It is forbidden to wash even a single finger in even cold water. Nonetheless, this prohibition is certainly no more stringent than the parallel prohibition on Yom Kippur which is biblical. Now, even regarding the Yom Kippur bathing restriction, it clearly states that the prohibition is when it is done for purposes of pleasure, however to clean dirt off of one’s skin is explicitly permitted. Based on this, the Alter Rebbe in the laws of Yom Kippur rules that it is permitted for one to remove sweat from his body using water, and all the more so would this allowance apply on Tisha b’Av which is rabbinical. Now, while there are authorities who limit this allowance specifically to a person who is very pampered, one can argue that in today’s times everyone is considered pampered when it comes to sweat. Furthermore, it is possible that even according to their opinion this restriction does not apply on Tisha b’Av. This is aside for the fact that the Alter Rebbe makes no qualification to his allowance limiting it to only pampered individuals. Nonetheless, as we concluded above, it is best to limit this allowance only to one was not capable of cooling himself off to the point of feeling comfortable. Even then, we qualified this to specifically washing the sweaty area, and do not allow a full shower which would end up cleaning also non-dirty areas which remains forbidden.

Sources: See regarding the bathing prohibition on Tisha b’Av: Michaber 554:7; Admur 613:1 regarding Yom Kippur See regarding the allowance of washing off sweat: Michaber 554:9; Admur 614:1 regarding Yom Kippur “regarding the anointing prohibition if one is not sick, then it is forbidden even if one is not intending to do so for pleasure such as if he is doing so simply to remove the sweat, it remains forbidden. In this regard it is not similar to the bathing restriction by which so long as one is not intending to do so for pleasure it is permitted”; M”A 614:1; Kaf Hachaim 554:45; Taz 613:1; Yifei Laleiv 2:4; Mateh Efraim; M”B; Nitei Gavriel 70:5