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We know that Tzoirech Oichel Nefesh is permitted on Yom Tov. But this is only when it is Shaveh L’chol Adam (i.e. it is a need for everyone).
Some things that were shaveh l’chol adam in prior generations are not now, and vice versa. Two examples that come to mind are smoking and showering.
Smoking was permitted on Yom Tov because everyone who enjoyed smoking smoked. Nowadays this is not the case – many people who would enjoy smoking do not do so because it is known to be a health hazard. Therefore, this is not shaveh l’chol adam.
Showering or bathing was done infrequently, and therefore it was forbidden to wash one’s entire body with hot water on Yom Tov. Nowadays, it is the rare person indeed who will go for 2 days without showering (and not only an istanis who will feel dirty). When there is a 3 day Yom Tov even more so – it is nearly unheard of today that an adult would go for 3 days without a shower. Seemingly, this is something that IS shaveh l’chol nefesh.
We all no that no Rav has issued a psak assuring smoking or permitting showering on Y”T. My question is why not?
We all no that no Rav has issued a psak assuring smoking or permitting showering on Y”T. My question is why not?
Squeak are you refering to a normal shower? I know many people who do shower on YT with a shinui. My family doesn’t but I think that has more to do with ignorance on how to do it right than being stricter.
If you need a shower or bath for health provided your hot water system is such that it is permitted to use on YomTov speak to a Rov. I was suprised how easily I got permission. A Rov must be asked.
Hey! So maybe we really CAN take showers on Yom Tov! Yippee!
Now we just need a Rav to back us on that one.
squeak: Many Rabbonim have said it is assur to smoke at all. Why should they make a specific psak for Yom Tov?
why don’t u ask ur rav, i asked mine and he said i can shower on yom tov and smoking thats never allowed
i use liquid soap instaed of a soap bar and to shampoo my hair i was the tips of my fingers instead of my whole hand and i don’t dry my hair
pookie: Thats a real bedieved shower.
mepal why?
Liquid soap, no sponge sooo….
And then you gotta wash your hair with the tips of your fingers? May I assume you’re a male? And not drieing the hair…wouldn’t work for all of us :-/
i donna know i’ve been doing this for years
Like I said, that too is bidieved…
Though I myself have never showered on yom tov, my son learned in Yeshiva both here and in E”Y that it is permissible with a change in the regular way, and if only done for the immediate cleansing (no long, protracted showering)of individual body parts. Hair washing is NOT included, particularly for people with hair of a length that water could be squeezed from it. When washing hair, you cannot help but be socheit the water as you wash it.
As to the smoking on Y”T, well that halacha (the heter part)likely came at a time when people smoked regularly (including some of the rabbonim) and it was not yet known about the health hazards both to the smoker and to the environment. Since the burning of fire for tzorech ochel nefesh was permissible, so too was the smoking considered as “ochel nefesh (ask any woman who has quit smoking and immediately gained thirty lbs. if smoking was not her “ochel nefesh”) Nowadays, all of us are presumably more educated and intelligent, and the layman as well as the rov knows that smoking is not only NOT ochel nefesh, it is mamesh sakanas nefesh, and therefore many if not most poskim would probably look at smoking as an issur for ANY day of the week, kal v’chomer on yom tov. Just my opinion.
I want someone to find some kind of hetter to take a real, good shower. Oh, and to use a haiblower afterwards too one we’re at it.
wait wait, dont overdo it. They wont let ANYTHING if we ask for too much. Lets do this one slowly.
i bet our CR Rosh Yeshiva can find some heter for you mepal!
Oh, call him please… Truth is, theres no three day YT for another while, no?
mepal: wish i could get Rav Moish here!…….;)
you’re scaring me, squeak.
What exactly does ochel nefesh mean? Does it mean food, something you gain sustenance from? If that’s the case, then smoking may be allowed on Yom Tov, but it shouldn’t be permitted on a fast day – and I know people smoke on fast days.
Feif un, when my rov sends out the Hilchos Tish B’av each year, he specifically assers the smoking, because , “As it should be assur to smoke any time of the year because it is a sakana to one’s health, kal v’chomer it is surely assur on Tisha B’av.”
“1) There is no schita regarding hair. The problem would be with the towel. People use the mikve on Shabbos or Yom Tov – which gets hair just as wet as a shower.”
Squeak, I don’t know how you wash your hair, but when I do, there is DEFINITE sechita. How can you possibly shampoo and rinse hair without some form of sechita, unless your hair is SO short that there really is nothing to squeeze? And yes, the towel is a problem, yet strangely, we wash and dry our hands for Ha-Motzi on Shabbos, and women who go to the mikvah on Friday night are allowed to gently pat the excess water from their hair with a towel, without squeezing it. If you are not using shampoo, there is really no reason for the head to get wet altogether when showering. An adult can easily shower without the water going on the head. And if not, then it is perhaps time to invest in a hand-held shower attachment so that only the soiled parts of the body are washed.
you have none?
You can squeeze your hair directly into a towel (solid to solid) just like you can squeeze a lemon directly onto fish. You can’t squeeze your hair so the water goes onto the floor (but even this is only d’Rabbonon because you don’t want the water and it is not being collected)
You mean no personal answers.
I don’t recall exactly when and where (or was it “where oh where”) I learned that squeak, but I found this just now:
[6]
from this website
http://www.shemayisrael.com/parsha/ostroff/archives/shabbos5_23.htm
by not taking a shower it can possibly ruin someone else’s yom tov
Or possibly your Gan Eden.
Yeah, its mi-uss.
true
The ???? ????? in ???? (The commentary under the ??”?, found at the back of the ????) clearly states that it is ASSUR TO SMOKE ON YOM TOV.
(See also http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/smoking-why-should-it-be-muttar#post-386078, I have heard this many times but never seen it. It sounds like the ??? ????? has a ????? about this in ??? ?”?.)
squeak –
For reference, in case you’d like to hone your argument:
http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1525&st=&pgnum=239&hilite=
Squeak: To answer your original question, even though showering on Yom Tov is Shaveh L’chol Nefesh (at least in American nowadays; Israelis can probably go 2 days without a shower quite often), there is still an issue of G’zeiras Habalanim according to some Rishonim.
Rav Elyashiv zt’l issued a very specific p’sak several years ago stating that smoking was no longer a davar h’shava l’chol odom and,therefore, was not permitted on yom tov.
Interestingly the Aruch Hashulchan goes on about the benefits of smoking , how many people (in those days) needed to smoke in order to aid digestion, and concludes that smoking on yom tov is allowed. But that was 100 years ago and given what we now know about smoking as well as the drastic shift in society’s view of smoking the Aruch Hashulchan obviously can no longer be relied upon.
I really dont know how people can ignore Rav Elyashiv’s psak…. givin that absent the heter of ochel nefesh ,smoking on yom tov is an issur d’oraisa
dafbiyun
Smoking in general is an issur deoraysoh. Its a chillul Hashem that you see young yeshiva bochurim both chassidish and non chassidish smoking.
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