Would it be Permissible to Take a Haircut if the Quarantine Ends During the Omer Period?

The Rama (Rav Moshe Isserles of Cracow, 1530-1572) writes (Orah Haim 472) that there is a Misva to take a haircut on Ereb Yom Tob as part of one’s preparations for Yom Tob. On Ereb Pesah, haircutting assumes additional importance, being that the Omer begins on the second night of Pesah, and it is customary to refrain from haircutting once the Omer period begins until the 34th day of the Omer, as the Shulhan Aruch rules (493:2).

This year (5780/2020), due to the coronavirus pandemic, we are being instructed to remain home, and all barber shops are closed, making it impossible for most people to take haircuts before Pesah. The question is being asked as to whether, in light of this unfortunate reality, if the restrictions are lifted during the Omer period, it would be permissible for somebody with overgrown hair to take a haircut. People will, please G-d, be returning to work, and will need to look well-kempt. Given the impossibility of taking a haircut before Pesah this year, is there room to allow haircutting during the Omer period?

Although the Shulhan Aruch does not address this specific case, he does address a similar situation regarding haircutting on Hol Ha’mo’ed. Halacha forbids haircutting during Hol Ha’mo’ed (Shulhan Aruch, Orah Haim 531:2), but the Mishna, as the Shulhan Aruch cites (531:4), lists several cases of people who were unable to take a haircut before Yom Tob, and are thus permitted to take a haircut during Hol Ha’mo’ed. These include: somebody who was freed from captivity or from prison, somebody who had been released from excommunication (during excommunication, haircutting is forbidden), somebody who returned from an overseas trip, and somebody who received absolution from a vow he had made not to take a haircut. In all these cases, the person was unable to take a haircut before the holiday, and this become possible only during the holiday (or right before the onset of Yom Tob, but without enough time for a haircut before Yom Tob). Therefore, a special dispensation is made, and an individual in such a case may take a haircut on Hol Ha’mo’ed.

The Hafetz Haim (Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin, 1839-1933), in Bi’ur Halacha (493), brings the ruling of Peri Megadim (Rav Yosef Ben Meir Teomim, 1727-1793) that these exemptions apply also to the Omer period. Just like a person in one of these situations is permitted to take a haircut during Hol Ha’mo’ed, a person who finds himself in such a situation which ends during the Omer period – such as one who is freed from captivity during the Omer – may take a haircut at that time.

Similarly, Hacham Ovadia Yosef (in Hazon Ovadia – Yom Tob, p. 262, footnote 49) cites Rav Rafael Birdugo (Morocco, 1747-1821) as stating (in his work Mishpatim Yesharim) that if people in this situation are permitted to take a haircut during Hol Ha’mo’ed, then they are certainly permitted to do so during the Omer period. After all, haircutting is forbidden during Hol Ha’mo’ed according to the strict Halacha, whereas haircutting during the Omer period is forbidden only by force of accepted custom. As such, the prohibition against haircutting during the Omer is treated far less stringently than the prohibition on Hol Ha’mo’ed. It therefore stands to reason that in cases where Halacha permits haircutting during Hol Ha’mo’ed, it would most certainly permit haircutting during the Omer.

Hacham Ovadia questions this rationale, noting that when a person becomes able to cut his hair during Hol Ha’mo’ed, we must consider the factor of "Kebod Yom Tob" – respect for the holiday. And it is perhaps only for this reason – that the individual should look respectable for the holiday – that the prohibition against haircutting on Hol Ha’mo’ed is suspended. If so, then we cannot necessarily assume that the same leniency would apply to somebody who becomes able to take a haircut during the Omer. Nevertheless, Hacham Ovadia accepts this ruling, explaining that since the prohibition against haircutting during the Omer to begin with is only a custom, we may rely on those who permit haircutting during the Omer when one was unable to do so before Pesah.

Complicating matters, however, is the Shulhan Aruch’s ruling elsewhere (531:3) that even if one was "Annus" – beset by circumstances beyond his control – and could not take a haircut before Yom Tob, he nevertheless may not take a haircut on Hol Ha’mo’ed. Based on the ruling of the Rashba (Rav Shlomo Ben Aderet of Barcelona, 1235-1310), the Shulhan Aruch gives the example of somebody who was ill before Yom Tob. It was thought in earlier generations that haircutting could exacerbate illness, and so ill patients would not take haircuts. Nevertheless, the Shulhan Aruch ruled that if somebody was ill before Yom Tob and recovered during Hol Ha’mo’ed, he may not take a haircut during Hol Ha’mo’ed.

At first glance, this ruling directly contradicts the ruling noted earlier, where the Shulhan Aruch permits those who were unable to take a haircut before Yom Tob to do so during Hol Ha’mo’ed. Apparently, the Shulhan Aruch drew a distinction between the cases he listed in that context – somebody released from prison, captivity, excommunication, or a vow – and other situations of Oness. The Hafetz Haim, in his Sha’ar Ha’siyun, explains that the distinction drawn is between situations where it is undoubtedly impossible to take a haircut, and situations where this is not definitive. The Shulhan Aruch did not want to permit haircutting for those who were in ordinary situations of Oness before Yom Tob, because such a provision could easily be abused. For example, if Halacha permitted those who were ill before Yom Tob to take a haircut during Hol Ha’mo’ed, then somebody with a minor physical ailment might claim the right to rely on this leniency. Therefore, the Shulhan Aruch ruled that this leniency applies only in situations where one absolutely has no possibility of taking a haircut, such as those who had been in captivity or excommunication.

Returning to our situation this year, it would seem that our condition certainly meets this criterion. Government regulations forbid leaving our homes except for very specific needs, and the barber shops are all shut down by government order. We clearly are in a situation where haircutting is not possible, and thus, especially in light of the fact that refraining from haircutting during the Omer is a custom, and not a strict requirement, we may allow haircutting during the Omer this year for those who need to take a haircut.

Rav Yisrael Bitan added that our situation, of government-ordered quarantine, may qualify as "prison," such that we are certainly allowed to take a haircut if the restrictions are lifted during the Omer. (In principle, this would apply on Hol Ha’mo’ed, as well, though Rav Bitan said he was not prepared to allow haircutting on Hol Ha’mo’ed, unless the leading Sages of the generation allow it.)

Summary: Since most people are unable to take a haircut before Pesah this year (5780/2020) because of the government restrictions, it would be permissible if the restrictions are lifted after Pesah to take a haircut during the Omer period, if necessary.