Is it Permissible to Marry During the Ten Days of Repentance?

Greetings,

Generally, it is customary among Ashkenazim to avoid conducting weddings during the Ten Days of Repentance. However, in times of necessity, one can be lenient in this matter.

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef z"l holds that although some refrain from marrying during the Ten Days of Repentance, those who wish to do so should be encouraged to advance all that is possible, as those who are prompt are ahead in performing mitzvot. If the groom has reached the age of twenty, he should not be strict about this at all, but rather conduct the wedding during the Ten Days of Repentance and he will receive a blessing from Hashem.

Sources: Regarding the custom of Ashkenazim, see Mateh Ephraim (Section 582, Paragraph 5), Chochmat Shlomo (there), Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (Section 143, Paragraph 4), Shaarei Halacha U'Minhag (Part Even HaEzer, Page 78), and Responsa Tzitz Eliezer, Part 7 (Section 49, Chapter 11, Letter 10).

However, in Germany, they were not particular about this, see Responsa Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer (Part Orach Chaim, Page 557, Page 2) and Responsa Melamed LeHo'il (Part Even HaEzer, Section 1), and there in Melamed LeHo'il it is written that his marriage took place on the sixth of Tishrei, and his father-in-law, the righteous rabbi z"l, consulted with leading authorities of the generation who permitted it. Moreover, this mitzvah should be judged favorably for the groom and bride.

Also see in the book Ma'ase Ish, Part 2 (Page 201) that the Chazon Ish z"l instructed Rabbi Pinchas Shreiber z"l that one may marry on any of the Ten Days of Repentance. Additionally, see in the book Minchat Chaim (Section 15, Paragraph 116) where he asked Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky shlit"a whether one should avoid initiating a marriage during the Ten Days of Repentance when one can marry afterward, and he replied: It is permissible. Further, see in his name in the book Derech Sichah, Part 1 (Page 630).

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef z"l's opinion is found in his book Responsa Yechave Da'at, Part 1 (Section 48).

Blessings,

Hillel Meirs