Q&A: Bathing During the Nine Days
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Bathing During the Nine Days
Question
At first glance, from examining the sources for the prohibition on bathing, it seems that it refers to pleasure-bathing—bathing that in their times took place in a bathhouse with all that entailed (it was lengthy, extremely hot, and so on). By contrast, bathing at home only became common in modern times. Does the prohibition apply to that as well, or is this a classic daily activity and no longer considered “pleasure,” like going to a pool and the like? It should be noted that in the time of the Shulchan Arukh there was no bathing at all in homes.
Answer
Clearly, bathing for hygiene is not a problem. In my opinion, pleasure-bathing at home is included in the prohibition.