Rav Bentzion Hacohen Kook, one of the leading Poskim nowadays, was asked by a leading Rosh Yeshiva about doing laundry on this coming Sunday night, Motzei Tisha B'Av.

Two minor moles in the news today were turned into mountains.

Rav Dovid Yosef, Chief Rabbi of Har Nof in Jerusalem, said in his shiur that once a year we are told to not eat meat as part of our mourning for the destruction of the mikdash. It is inappropriate to make a siyyum specifically during this period just to be able to eat meat. We should make an effort, Rav Yosef said, to mourn for Jerusalem, as one who mourns for Jerusalem will merit to see its rebuilding.

We never did anything major during the "Nine Days", and generally not even during the "Three Weeks". Not major purchases, not trips or major events. It was always considered something that would bring "bad luck" of sorts. I remember when someone close to the family bought a car during the Three Weeks - family members pleaded with her to wait, but she bought the car. That car was in a number of accidents, besides for often breaking down. While it might have just been a lousy car and she a lousy driver, family members always blamed it her having bought it during the Three Weeks.

With all the different heterim and allowances on fast days and during the Nine Days and Three Weeks, and previously during sefiras haomer, I have yet to see the interesting psak of a rabbi allowing people to eat meat during the Nine Days, even if just for people stuck in quarantine. Where is the rabbi who will allow meat due to the difficulty of the times and the depressing state when in isolation?

And for a hypothetical question, would you go into quarantine "just" to be able to eat meat during the "Nine Days"?

By now there is not all that much new in this psak, especially after the piskei halacha we have seen during the times of Sefiras HaOmer and those in the days leading up to 17 Tammuz, but each period is slightly different and it must be said explicitly again for each period, with its own nuances.

Chief Rabbi Rav Yitzchak Yosef has paskened that people who are stuck in quarantine during the Nine Days are allowed to listen to music, and if they feel it necessary they can even listen to upbeat music with a quick pace.

According to Srugim, Rav Chaim Kanievsky paskened similarly though it says Rav Kanievsky added that one should preferably only listen to songs of texts from davening or other slow paced emotional songs.

According to Kipa, Rav Yosef's allowance is actually in stages:
1. at the first level, only audio clips are allowed - not videos.
2. listen with earphones so other people who are not in quarantine can't hear.
3. preferably a capella, vocal, songs, then if necessary calm music, and if still necessary for the person, he can listen to even fast paced music
4. the purpose for listening is to keep calm and not for other purposes
5. children can listen to childrens music with no problem
6. yeshiva students in yeshiva i the capsule system who need music in order to help them emotionally can listen

The "Nine Days" starts this year on July 22 and ends on Tisha B'Av on July 30.

That is, unless you are talking about the Nine Days of the Israeli school system.

Everything has been in some disarray, with parents complaining that the time off due to COVID lockdowns and school closures needs to be made up. Also matriculation exam prep was messed up for many students in the 11th and 12th grades. The Teachers Union has not wanted to make anything up by giving up days that would normally be summer vacation.

The final decision seems to be that the school year will be extended by Nine Days. (source: JPost)

The Nine Days will not overlap with the Nine Days, which is a bit of a shame, since religious kids now have 18 summer days they can't do anything significantly fun instead of just 9, but so be it.

This does not seem to be a major chiddush, but basic halacha. It is interesting in the sense that someone felt it was important, or significant, enough that it needed to be published. It also points to a major cultural issue as well.

The question presented is regarding a major cultural trend in haredi areas of "Thursday night cholent". Guys get together at a cholent joint and sit around late Thursday nights eating cholent and kugel, beer and challa, and maybe a Hungarian will have some galla/ptcha. So, the question is, with Rosh Chodesh Av falling out this Thursday night-Friday, can the regular weekly "Thursday night cholent" events take place as usual or must they be skipped this week due to the advent of the Nine Days when eating meat is prohibited?

Rav Shabsi Yagel, rav of Bnei Hayeshivos in Ranana, responded that with the hope that this will no longer be relevant by Thursday night as by then hopefully the exile will be finished and we will by then have merited the geula, but if not, there is a difference between sefardim and ashkenazim in this regard.

There are different minhagim regarding eating meat during the Nine Days. Ashkenazim stop eating meat from Rosh Chodesh Av, meaning from Thursday night this year. Sefardim have other minhagim that allow eating meat on Rosh Chodesh, and some allow it on Motzei Shabbos as well (and some allow it all week and just prohibit eating meat and drinking wine during the week of Tisha B'Av itself). Yemenites allow eating meat throughout the Nine Days and only prohibit it at the seuda mafsekes right before Tisha B'Av.

That being the case, Rav Yagel said that in his shul in Ranana they have a weekly Thursday night shiur and they serve fleishige cholent with coca cola every week/ This week, because of Rosh Chodesh Av, they will be serving pareve cholent.

And, while some will suggest making a siyyum as a solution to be able to eat meat, Rav Yagel says such a siyyum cannot be scheduled for the Nine Days for the purpose of being able to eat meat, but if one's learning happens to come to a siyyum during the nine Days that is definitely something to celebrate and would be allowed to eat meat. Rav Yagel even relates a story in which arestaurant in herzliya contacted the kollel in Ranana and offered a proposal by which each night the kollel would arrange an avreich to go to the restaurant and make a siyyum so the customers of the restaurant can eat meat. In return, the restaurant would donate a percentage of the profits from those days back to the kollel. Rav Yagel says the Kollel rejected the proposal.

And, Rav Yagel concludes, the beis hamikdash is worthy of being mourned for, even if it means forswearing meaty foods on Thursday night and making do with kugel and other pareve foods.
(source: Srugim)

Personally this discussion seemed very straightforward with no unusual or controversial chiddush to make it noteworthy. As mentioned above, I think what makes it noteworthy is the cultural aspect of people being concerned regarding Thursday night cholent.

Translation: there is nothing like the nation of Israel.. even Jews selling shrimps don't forget to write BS"d (en: besiyata dishmaya - with the help of heaven) at the top

very much to the tune of Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchov....

I don't normally comment on op-eds, as everyone is entitled to their opinion. One type of op-ed I really don't like is the kind of op-ed in which the author is being "judgey" and maybe even holier than thou.

Dov Eichler, a Haredi journalist, has written an op-ed in Behadrei.

Eichler writes a strongly worded piece about a deception that is not uncommon during the Nine Days. A deception in which people find all sorts of siyyumim to hear so that they can be allowed to eat meat during the Nine Days.

Eichler references a restaurant in Boro Park that pays a rotation of avreichim to come in every half an hour and make a siyyum so that they can continue to have customers during the Nine Days and sell and serve meals as regular.

Eichler calls it a deception. He calls it making a joke of halacha. He calls it acting as if you are smarter than Chazal. Eichler's final two paragraphs are particularly strong in which he says he is not lecturing to anyone, but expressing disdain at this "combina" - this shady deal or deceptive practice. "If you must eat meat during these Nine Days despite them being categorized as national days of mourning, go ahead and eat. I am not coming to educate you, just don't make a joke of a hetter, don't make halacha into a joke... I am not a posek halacha or a talmid chochom, but I am also not an idiot. Sometimes something makes me think that we doubt the wisdom of Chazal. If we would only lie to them and to ourselves, nu, ok. But to doubt their wisdom? woe to the shame!"

I personally agree with his approach. Not his approach in talking about those who use the siyyumim to eat meat, but his approach in not looking for ways out of the Nine Days. It is just nine days, one or two of which is Shabbos anyways, and I can handle not having meat and wine for these days. The purpose is to make us think about the destruction of the mikdash, and I don't think nine days is asking so much of us.

As the Aruch Hashulchan says, members of other religions take off far longer periods of abstaining from various pleasures for their religions; Lent and Ramadan come to mind. The Aruch Hashulchan exhorts us to give these few days to show our minimal sacrifice for remembering the destruction of the Temple and not looks for ways out of it, even ways mandated in halacha.

Where I don't agree with him is in his criticism and scorn of people who take a different approach. If he were a community leader of some sort looking to exhort his community to changing its approach, that would be acceptable, I think. In the meantime, the people who look for the siyyumim, whether they hear them on the radio or in a restaurant on some sort of regular schedule, are at least following halacha as the Rama writes it - at a siyyum and seudas mitzva one is allowed to eat meant, though during "the week of", which does not apply this year, a siyyum should only have a basic minyan of people and not extras.

So, Chazal allowed it. And Chazal being pretty smart knew that people could use it to find ways to eat meat and "get out of the mourning" yet they did not put in limits and qualifications. And, without doubting the wisdom of Chazal, maybe they did so because they wanted to offer people a way out, for people who feel they need it. Since halachically it is ok to eat meat and it was Chazal who added it as a custom to adhere to, perhaps they also chose to leave it open enough to allow people a way out.

Personally I do not look for siyyumim during the Nine Days in order to be able to eat meat. If I happen to be finishing something, I'll make a siyyum, but I won't schedule something to be specifically during the Nine Days. Others do differently, and that's fine by me.

FYI - here is a schedule, put out by Chabad, of siyyums that will be broadcast over the radio to increase the happiness of Torah during this sad time of mourning, as per the instructions fo the Lubavitcher Rebbe (zt"l). These siyyums will be broadcast on Radios Kol Hai and Kol Berama at different times of the day, as per the schedule below...

The Rav Ha'Kotel, Rav Shmuel Rabinowitz, in conjunction with the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, will be opening the Kotel tunnels to allow people to daven opposite the Holy of Holies.

If you have ever taken the Kotel Tunnels Tour, you will remember that there is that huge stone, and when you continue down to the left, you get to a certain point that is directly opposite the Holy of Holies.

During the last days of the "Three Weeks", specifically the days of 4, 5 and 6 Av, during which we mourn the destruction of the Batei Mikdash, the area opposite the Holy of Holies will be open to the general public for round the clock prayer. They are planning on having three days, 72 hours, of round the clock prayer at this site.

The thing is the area can only hold up to 40 people at a time, so they require you to register in advance if you want to daven there.

The phone number for registering is: 02-678-8452.

For anybody who will not go up to Har Habayit, this is the closest you can possibly get to the Holy of Holies, so it is a special opportunity for you.

The Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive has been completed and is online..There is plenty appropriate material there for the Nine Days....