Washing one’s body on Shabbat
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(Redirected from Showering on Shabbat)
This is the approved revision of this page, as well as being the most recent.
This is the approved revision of this page, as well as being the most recent.
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There are a few potential concerns with showering on shabbat, including a decree not to bathe in hot water lest one heat up water on shabbat (bishul), a concern lest one carry water 4 amot in a public domain (hotza'a), a concern lest one squeeze out their hair or the towel (sechita), and a concern lest one build a flotation device (boneh).
Showering on Shabbat
Hot Water
- One may not wash one's entire body[1] or even a majority of one's body[2] in hot water on Shabbat, even if the water was heated before Shabbat, and even if he does one body-part at a time. The same is true of pouring hot water over oneself.
- Many water heaters or boilers are made such that when hot water is removed, cold water is automatically added. If this is the case, it’s forbidden to remove hot water from the water heater, even if the water heater is turned off, because doing so will cause cold water to enter the tank and heat up (which entails a violation of bishul).[3]
Cold Water
- The Sephardic custom is to allow showering in cold water on Shabbat.[4]
- Many Ashkenazim have the custom not to shower even in cold water.[5]
Washing Hands, Feet, and Face
- One may use water that was heated before Shabbat to wash his hands, feet, and face. The same is true of washing any other body part, as long as one doesn’t wash majority of his body.[6]
- There is a debate regarding the halachic status of water heated up permissibly on shabbat.[7]
- If one’s hands became soiled with mud, one may not clean them off by wiping them on a towel or handkerchief.[8] However, one may wipe them on a cloth which one isn’t concerned about cleaning (like a napkin).[9]
Squeezing water from one's hair
See Dosh#Squeezing Water Out of One's Hair
Swimming on Shabbat
Entering a Bathhouse
- One may not enter a bathhouse, even to sweat in a steam-room or the like. Some poskim say that one may not even enter for some reason other than steaming, such as to remove an item, if it is inevitable that one will come to sweat.[11]
Sources
- ↑ The Gemara Shabbat 39b cites a debate in the tanaim regarding bathing in hot water on shabbat. Rebbe Meir thinks that one may not wash their entire body with even cold water. Rebbe Shimon thinks that one may wash their entire body even with hot water. Rebbe Yehudah splits, and holds that one may wash their entire body with cold water but not with hot water. The concern here is seemingly that if we allow bathing in hot water on shabbat, one may come to heat up the water on shabbat, thereby violating bishul. The gemara 40a cites a debate between rav and shmuel regarding bathing in hot water that was heated up before shabbat. Rav holds that one may wash their entire body in it, but only limb by limb. Shmuel disagrees and thinks that one may only wash their face, hands, and feet, but not their entire body (even limb by limb). Presumably, both opinions are within Rebbe Meir / Rebbe Yehudah, who prohibit bathing in hot water on shabbat, and the amoraim are debating the parameters of this prohibition (i.e. does it even extend to washing limb by limb or not).
- The Rambam hilchot shabbat 22:2 paskens like shmuel, and the Maggid Mishnah explains that this is because the gemara cites a beraita to support shmuel, and so the general rule of hilcheta k'rav b'isuri doesn't apply here. The Shulchan Aruch 326:1 follows suit.
- ↑ Mishna Brurah 326:2 (citing the Magen Avraham 326:2) says that the same prohibition is true for more than half of the body. Shemirat Shabbos Kihilchita 14:1, Aruch Hashulchan 326:2, Kitzur S”A 86:1 and Yalkut Yosef 326:1 agree.
- ↑ Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 1:39
- ↑ As noted above, this seems to be the halacha based on the gemara, and codified in Shulchan Aruch 326:1. Yalkut Yosef 326:3 says that it is permissible to shower in cold water on Shabbat, but one should be careful not to squeeze water out of his hair or his towel. Livyat Chen pg. 123, Rabbi Eli Mansour, and Kaf Hachaim 326:25 agree.
- ↑ Magen Avraham 326:8, based on the Maharil 139, says that one should not wash in a mikveh or river (even in cold water) because one may come to squeeze water out of his hair or towel or one may come to carry the drops of water on his body for 4 amot. Mishna Brurah 326:21 agrees. Shoneh Halachot 6 writes in the name of the Chazon Ish that the same is true of showers. Minchat Yitzchak 6:32 agrees. Rav Moshe Feinstein (Iggerot Moshe 4:74-75) agrees that this is the minhag, but is lenient in case of tzaar such as a sick person or a heat wave. Shemirat Shabbos Kihilchita 14:11, Ketzot Hashulchan 137:8 and Sh”t Beer Moshe 6:73 agree. Biur Halacha 326:1 s.v. bimayim quotes Rabbi Akiva Eiger (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 307:5 and 326:1) saying that one can bathe even in water heated before Shabbat if he is suffering. Rav Schachter (end of Gemara Shabbos Shiur 57) says that the minhag nowadays is to allow showering in cold water on Shabbat.
- ↑ Shulchan Aruch 326:1 writes that one could wash his hands, feet, or face in water heated up before Shabbat. Rama adds that the same would be true for any body part as long as one doesn’t wash majority of his body. Yalkut Yosef (Siman 326 no. 2) says that really Rav Yosef Karo agrees in the Beit Yosef and in the Shulchan Aruch was only copying the language of the gemara. Mishna Brurah 326:5 writes that this is talking about water heated up before Shabbat, because if it was heated on Shabbat then you cannot use it for anything.
- ↑ Biur Gra 326:12 writes that water heated up permissibly on Shabbat (e.g. heated to less than yad soledet bo) is considered like water heated up before Shabbat, and one may wash their hands, feet, and face. However, Magen Avraham 326:6 and Aruch Hashulchan 326:2 disagree, and treat it like water heated up on shabbat, which is totally prohibited to wash with. Nevertheless, Iggerot Moshe 1:126 writes that if a goy heats up water for himself, the Jew may use it for washing less than majority of his body. Shemirat Shabbat Kihilchita 14:2 is strict if the water was heated up with an action, but in 14:3 is lenient if the water was heated up on its own, such as if they were placed on the fire before Shabbat or with solar energy.
- ↑ Rambam hilchot shabbat 22:19 explains that we are concerned that one may launder the towel after using it wipe off the dirt, and therefore it is prohibited to wipe off the dirt. Shulchan Aruch 302:11 paskens this l'halacha.
- ↑ Mishna Brurah 302:57, Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 14:26
- ↑ *Yalkut Yosef Shabbat vol. 2 pg. 7. see also Chayei Adam 44:20, Sh"t Yaskil Avdi 6:1, Sh"t Minchat Yitzchak 6:32, Sh"t Beer Moshe 3:56, Sh"t Yeshuot Yaakov 3:25.
- One factor that makes a cold pool somewhat different from a cold bath (for sefardim, who permit showering / bathing in cold water), is the sugya in beitza 36b. The mishna there says that one may not float/swim on top of the water on shabbat (וְלֹא שָׁטִין עַל פְּנֵי הַמַּיִם), and the gemara explains that chazal were concerned that you might build a makeshift flotation device (גְּזֵרָה שֶׁמָּא יַעֲשֶׂה חָבִית שֶׁל שַׁיָּיטִין). Rashi explains that this would be for the purpose of learning how to swim, but the Piskei Rid (cited in Dirshu Mishna Berurah 339:2 footnote 2) explains that it would be to prevent oneself from drowning. The Gemara shabbat 41a distinguishes between a body of water that has a lip/wall surrounding it and a body of water which doesn't have a lip/wall, in that the gezeira was only ever stated in this latter case. Rashi explains that chazal's decree not to swim lest one build a flotation device, was only ever stated by a river/lake, but not by a kli (utensil), and so if the body of water has a lip/wall then it's like a kli and so there's no concern. However, the Rif explains that if there's a lip/wall to the body of water, then if one splashes water outwards, it will be "caught" by that lip/wall, and won't actually leave the pool. According to the Rif, then, it's possible that even modern swimming pools wouldn't be considered to have a lip/wall of the type necessary to permit bathing in them, since they don't prevent the water from leaving the pool if splashed (unless they're high above the pool water level).
- For a discussion of the potential halachic issues with swimming on shabbat, see Rav Aryeh Leibowitz shiur linked here.
- ↑ Shulchan Aruch 326:12 says based on the Gemara Shabbos 40a that one shouldn’t enter a bathhouse to sweat. Rama there adds that some hold that it’s asur to enter the bathhouse even if it’s for another reason, if he might sweat. Mishna Brura 326:35-36 says that according to that opinion it would be asur even if unintended but according to the Shulchan Aruch it would be permitted. Kaf Hachaim 326:55 says that though according to Shulchan Aruch one could be lenient, one should be strict if possible. Yalkut Yosef 326:9 is lenient as long as one doesn’t intend to sweat.
