Laws of the Fast of Tisha B'Av (the Ninth of Av) – the five afflictions, wearing of shoes, washing, the sick and women after childbirth, children, those exempt from the fast, and the laws for the fast according to the halachic authorities

24th of Tammuz 5786 | 09.07.2026 | 20:47

1. Our Sages of blessed memory decreed that they should practice five afflictions on this day: eating and drinking, washing, wearing of the sandal, anointing, marital relations, and additional prohibitions. And these things are forbidden from the beginning of the fast at sunset until its end the next day at the emergence of the stars, and one should not be lenient in them [42]. And every person, whether man or woman, who has reached the age of mitzvot (commandments), is warned regarding all that is stated above.

2. They shall not walk completely barefoot on Tisha B'Av, but rather they shall wear a shoe of cloth, but [a shoe] of leather is forbidden, and if he touched this shoe with his hands, he requires washing according to the law of one who touches a shoe of leather [43].

3. It is permitted to wear a shoe made of cloth and of rubber and of other materials [44], and even if they are very comfortable, like Crocs shoes, and he is accustomed to wearing them during the year, for the decree of our Sages of blessed memory was only upon leather shoes [45].

4. A woman after childbirth within thirty days of her delivery is exempt from the fast [and even for Ashkenazim one should be lenient in this], and even if she feels well [46]. And the same law applies to a woman who underwent a miscarriage (and she is within 30 days) [47]. And after thirty days, she is obligated to fast, even if she is nursing, unless she is weak and needs to eat, for then her law is like a sick person [48]..

5. A sick person who is weak and feels [pain/illness] in his body, even though there is no danger in it, is exempt from fasting, because in a place of illness the Sages did not decree [49]. And so too children who have not reached the age of mitzvot are exempt from the fast, even a year before the age of mitzvot, and they do not have to fast even a fast of hours [50]..

6. The sick person and likewise the woman after childbirth for whom it is permitted to eat on the fast do not need to eat by measured amounts [51], and they are permitted to eat immediately in the morning according to their habit [52]. And the same law applies if they needed this at night, but they shall be careful not to eat for the sake of pleasure [53].

Footnotes and Analysis

42. My master and teacher, the paragon of the generation (there, Halacha 12). And one who explicitly took upon himself to fast, and afterward felt that he was very thirsty, can perform an annulment on his acceptance before three [people], for it should be nothing more than a vow, behold it has an annulment by means of three. And it is similar to one who took Shabbat upon himself, and needed to perform work, that he is permitted to permit his acceptance by means of an annulment.

43. Shulchan Aruch (Siman 550 se'if 2; 553 se'if 2; 554 se'if 1) Mishna Berura (Siman 554 subparagraph 1; and 555 subparagraph 3).

And our master and teacher, the paragon of the generation, wrote in Chazon Ovadia (Prohibition of Wearing the Sandal, Halacha 6) and these are his words: All commandments that are practiced during mourning and are practiced also on Tisha B'Av are forbidden the entire day whole, and we do not say regarding even one of them "a part of the day is like the whole of it" (except for sitting on the ground which is permitted after midday to sit as usual), and therefore people who are lenient to come to Mincha of Tisha B'Av in their shoes, one must protest against them, and inform them of the severity of the prohibition, that one should not be lenient in this the entire day until the emergence of the stars. And even women do not have [license] to be lenient in this and their law is like the men, until here are his words.

44. Ben Ish Chai (First Year, Parshat Devarim, Ot 21).

And regarding the matter of placing earth inside a leather shoe, our master and teacher the Ohr LeTzion wrote (Part 3, Chapter 29, in the elucidations to Responsum 15) and these are his words: And it is simple [obvious] that one should not permit walking on Tisha B'Av in leather shoes by means of putting earth into the shoes. And that which was brought in the Mishna Berura (Siman 554, subparagraph 33) in the name of the Taz to put earth into the shoes, this was for someone for whom the wearing of the sandal was permitted, such as one who walks on a journey, and as is explained there, but certainly one should not permit walking in leather shoes by means of placing earth in the shoes.

And furthermore, according to what the Rabbi from Brisk wrote in his novelellae on the Rambam (Novelellae of Rabbi Yitzchok Zeev HaLevi on the Laws of Fasts), that the afflictions on Tisha B'Av come both from the law of affliction and also from the law of mourning, see there. And therefore, even if it were effective from the side of affliction to put earth into the shoes, behold from the side of mourning there is no distinction in this, and certainly it is not effective to put earth into the shoes. Until here are his words.

45. Shulchan Aruch (Siman 554, se'if 16) and these are his words: The wearing of the sandal [is forbidden] specifically [when made] of leather; but [a shoe] of cloth or of wood or of cork (explanation: bark of wood) and reed-grass, is permitted. And so wrote the Ben Ish Chai (First Year, Parashat Devarim, Ot 21).

46. our master and teacher, the paragon of the generation (Prohibition of Wearing the Sandal on Tisha B'Av, note 2, starting with the words "Sport shoes etc.").

47. Shulchan Aruch (Siman 554, se'if 6) A woman after childbirth all thirty days, and likewise a sick person who needs to eat, do not require an assessment, but rather they feed him immediately.

And so wrote our master and teacher, the paragon of the generation, in Chazon Ovadia (there, Halacha 3), and he wrote in the elucidations and these are his words: The conclusion of the law is that a woman after childbirth within thirty days from the day of delivery is exempt from the fast of Tisha B'Av, and as Maran the Shulchan Aruch ruled, whose instructions we have accepted, and all the more so in these generations when weakness has descended upon the world, that the woman after childbirth is not permitted to fast. And even if she did not say "I need [to eat]," they feed her, and she shall eat in the morning immediately according to her habit, and as the Gaon [author of] Avnei Nezer wrote. And it appears in my humble opinion that even for our Ashkenazi brothers who follow the directives of the Rama, one should be lenient for a woman after childbirth within thirty days not to permit them to fast, and as the HaGaon Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein wrote in the Aruch HaShulchan (Siman 554, se'if 8), that the Rama was not stringent regarding a woman after childbirth within thirty days except in their days when they were healthy and strong, but in these generations, Heaven forbid for a woman after childbirth to fast within thirty days on the 9th of Av, because she is certainly still weak from the birth, and she is like an actual sick person, and therefore one must not allow her to fast on the 9th of Av. See there. And all the more so since even the Rama concluded that the one who is lenient did not lose out. And not like what the Mishna Berura wrote, and likewise in the Responsa Shevet HaLevi Part 6 (Siman 70, Ot 4), that one should be stringent like the Rama, and only on a postponed 9th of Av is there room to be lenient. For it is not so, because the main point is like what Maran the Shulchan Aruch wrote, to permit a woman after childbirth within thirty days not to fast, in any case. And I will not hide that doctors say that in our time, since medicine has developed, women after childbirth are also capable of fasting within thirty days. And so it is written in the Responsa Divrei Yatziv (Choshen Mishpat / Orach Chaim Part 2, Siman 233). Nevertheless, we have no reason to budge from the words of the halachic authorities: the Ramban, the Ritva, the Ran, the Maggid Mishneh, the Tur, and Maran the Shulchan Aruch, that a woman after childbirth within thirty days is exempt from fasting. (And see in the Responsa Kinyan Torah Part 6 (Siman 32), and examine closely). And in any case, even though it was permitted for a woman after childbirth within thirty days to eat on the 9th of Av, she shall not eat to derive pleasure in food and drink, and as is explained in the Tosefta (end of Chapter 2 of Ta'anit) and in the Yerushalmi (Ta'anit Chapter 1, Halacha 5). And so wrote the Raviah (Siman 864) and the Ohr Zarua (Siman 459). And so ruled Maran in the Shulchan Aruch (Siman 554, se'if 5).

48. Our master and teacher, the paragon of the generation (there, Halacha 4).

49. Our master and teacher the Ohr LeTzion (there, Responsum 4).

50. My master and teacher, the paragon of the generation (there, Halacha 3).

51. Biur Halacha (beginning of Siman 550). Our master and teacher, the paragon of the generation (there, The Law of Those Obligated and Exempt from the Fast, Halacha 7).

52. Our master and teacher, the paragon of the generation (there, Halacha 5).

53. As mentioned above in the elucidations (to Halacha 2).