Washing hair on 3-day Yom Tov - Nishmat Yoatzot Halacha

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Washing hair on 3-day Yom Tov

September 13, 2004

Question

I will have to go to the mikveh on Friday night of this upcoming 3- day yom tov (Rosh Hashana). I understand that I should prepare and wash my hair on Wednesday, erev yom tov. Are there any opinions that say you can wash your hair on yom tov? By the end of the third day my hair will certainly feel dirty (it tends to feel a bit oily even after one day).

I imagine it will be hard to keep all tangles from my hair when sleeping even if I can manage to keep it in some kind of ponytail for 2 days straight. My hair is not thin, so running my fingers through it will most likely not produce a knot free head. I hope this will not be problematic.

Thank you for your help and Shana Tova.

Answer

The problem with washing hair on Yom Tov is that you might squeeze out the water from your hair or towel afterwards. Therefore, if you can be careful about this, it is okay to wet and wash your hair on Yom Tov in order to immerse with clean hair.

However, shampooing and scrubbing as usual is likely to produce tangles and is not recommended since on Shabbat or Yom Tov you cannot comb out your hair. Instead, you could pour some diluted shampoo over your hair, without scrubbing, and then just rinse with water, trying to avoid tangles.

There is a difference between what one tries to do lechatchilah for mikveh preparation on a regular weeknight – removing every single knot in the hair with a comb – and what is acceptable when combing is halachically prohibited. For a Yom Tov or Shabbat immersion, it is sufficient to make sure there are no tangles by running through your hair with your fingers.

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