Monday, August 04, 2008

ערב ט' באב שחל בשבת when to take off your shoes?

The Rama is clear, after Borchu you take your shoes off. This is the minhag that I remember when I was growing up.

However, recently a new minhag which makes a lot of sense has evolved. People go home after mincha, eat, and then at Tzeis Hakochavim say boruch hamavdil, take off their shoes, change their clothes and then go to shul to daven maariv. This seems to work better then the old minhag of taking off your shoes in shul. The question is, why didn't the Rama advocate this minhag? One answer is that in the days of the Rishonim and Acharonim it was hard to get people to come out to shul at night and therefore if people had gone home they wouldn't return for maariv. Still you have to wonder is this really true? Was this the case in Eastern Europe 100-150 years ago?

I am interested to hear what the readers will be doing.


Drew_Kaplan said...

While I don't have an answer to your question, this "new minhag" makes sense as those people who live without an eruv are unable to bring their non-leather shoes to shul on shabbas before ma'ariv.

bluke said...

In truth, you aren't allowed to bring your shoes on Shabbos before Maariv in any case as it would be הכנה from Shabbos to chol.

There is no question that this new minhag makes more sense in a lot of ways. It is just puzzling why no one came up with it before.

Steg (dos iz nit der šteg) said...

Could they have not worn shoes at all on Tishabav? That would make going home to change from leather to non-leather shoes unnecessary. Also, if they were following the old custom of wearing non-Shabbos clothes on Shabbat Hhazon, they would have no reason to change any other of their clothes.