עברית
Halachot and Customs
Is it permissible for Yemenites to eat meat during the Nine Days?
Question
Hello Rabbi,
This year during the period of Bein HaMetzarim is it called a "week that includes" Tisha B'Av? And is the prohibition against eating meat during the Nine Days also applicable to Yemenites?
Thank you
Answer
Greetings,
This year, since Tisha B’Av falls on Shabbat and is postponed to Sunday, not all the laws of “the week in which Tisha B’Av occurs” apply. Nevertheless, it is proper to be strict by refraining from haircuts or shaving at least on the eve of Shabbat Chazon (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 558:4; Chazon Ovadia, Four Fast Days, pp. 267–268).
Yemenites do not have the custom to refrain from eating meat during the Nine Days, and even in a week that includes Tisha B’Av they do not avoid eating meat from domesticated animals—except for the meal preceding Tisha B’Av, at which time they refrain even from eating chicken (Shulchan Aruch HaMakatzar, Part 3, 143:8).
However, the opinion of Rav Ovadia Yosef zt"l is that Yemenites who immigrated to Israel with the intention of settling should follow the customs of the Land of Israel and refrain from eating meat during the Nine Days (Chazon Ovadia, ibid., p. 290).
Blessings,
Hillel Meirs
