Halachot and Customs
When Is It Permissible to Wash Clothes After Tisha B'Av?
Question
When is it permissible to operate a washing machine after Tisha B'Av?
Thank you
Answer
In the year when Tisha B'Av is postponed, it is permitted according to all customs to wash clothes immediately after the conclusion of Tisha B'Av.
Sources: For the Sephardic custom, it is always permitted to wash clothes immediately after the conclusion of Tisha B'Av, as explained in the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 554:4). Even for the Ashkenazic custom, which is stringent not to wash until noon on the tenth of Av, as clarified in the Mishna Berura (Orach Chayim 554:23), this year when Tisha B'Av is postponed, they can wash immediately after the conclusion of Tisha B'Av, as noted in Mishna Berura (there, note 24) regarding haircuts. The same applies regarding washing as mentioned in the book Halichot Shlomo on the festivals (Nisan-Av, Chapter 15, Section 17).
Blessings,
Hillel Meirs
עברית
