עברית
Halachot and Customs
Entertainment Options for Children During the Nine Days
Question
Hello, is it permissible during these days to take small children to attractions? Is it allowed to do laundry during the Nine Days without wearing the freshly laundered clothes? Is it permissible to go to a dairy restaurant, or is it better not to? Thank you
Answer
Greetings,
1. If the children are of an age where they understand the mourning over the destruction (of the Temple), it is best not to take them to attractions during the Nine Days. Before this age, there is no issue.
2. According to the custom of the Sephardim, one should not do laundry only in the week that includes Tisha B’Av (the Ninth of Av) (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 551:3). According to the Ashkenazi custom, one should not do laundry for the entire Nine Days (there, paragraph 4).
For all customs, the prohibition applies even if one does not plan to wear the clothes until after Tisha B’Av (Shulchan Aruch, ibid, paragraph 3).
However, this year, since Tisha B’Av falls on Shabbat and is postponed to Sunday—Sephardim are not subject to all the laws of the week during which Tisha B’Av occurs, and they are permitted to do laundry during this week as usual (ibid, paragraph 4).
3. It is permissible for a person to go alone or with their wife and children to a dairy restaurant during the Nine Days, and it is also allowed for a business meeting. However, one should not go to a gathering of friends in a restaurant, as this falls under the category of "a banquet of friends" which should be avoided during the Nine Days (see Arruch Hashulchan, Orach Chaim 551:8).
Best regards,
Hillel Meirs
