During the Nine Days, when Klal Yisroel mourns the destruction of the Bais Hamikdash, Rav Ovadia Yosef zt”l strongly urged people to maintain personal hygiene and kavod habriyos, criticizing what he viewed as unnecessary stringencies. In one of his well-known derashos, he explained that the basic halachah does not prohibit bathing during the Nine Days, emphasizing the distinction between accepted minhagim and the strict letter of the law.

According to the enactment of Chazal, the prohibition against bathing applies only on Tishah B’Av itself. Over the generations, however, early authorities adopted the custom of refraining from bathing during the days leading up to the fast.

Among Sefardim, the accepted custom is to refrain from bathing in hot water only during the week in which Tishah B’Av falls. By contrast, among Ashkenazim, where the climate was historically cooler and people perspired less, the custom developed to avoid bathing throughout the entire Nine Days, even in cold water.

In his derashah, Rav Ovadia sharply criticized excessive stringencies that, in his view, resulted in unpleasant body odor and caused discomfort to others.

“Go to Bnei Brak and you’ll see—they don’t bathe. There’s sweat there… A person sits next to someone else—and with all due respect—he doesn’t smell good. Did the Torah say to do that? That’s not respect for other people. Someone sits next to him and suffers.”

Rav Ovadia stressed that, according to the minhag of Sefardim, bathing remains permissible even after Rosh Chodesh Av.

“We have the custom to bathe even after Rosh Chodesh Av. Our Chachamim never prohibited bathing. They prohibited it only on Tishah B’Av.”

He continued, “For our Sefardim, even hot water is permitted. Let them keep their own stringencies… They get upset; they don’t want to be lenient.”

Addressing the Ashkenazi minhag, Rav Ovadia related that he had once sought to permit bathing in cold water for laborers who work hard and perspire heavily, but encountered strong opposition.

“Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, alav hashalom, heard that I was being lenient regarding their customs and became very upset. I was afraid—I didn’t want to get involved with the Ashkenazim.”

The posek hador did not mince words when speaking about those who adopt stringencies where the Torah permits leniency, particularly when those chumros come at the expense of others.

“Someone who is machmir about this is a donkey. That’s what I call him—a donkey. He’s not acting like a human being. Why make stringencies against the Torah? What for? If the Torah permits it, do you want to be a big shot and be stricter than the Torah? What do you want? Everything has to be done with sound judgment and common sense… Someone who is machmir, as I said, is a donkey.”

Rav Ovadia concluded that people should follow the minhagim of their forefathers and bathe in accordance with those traditions. He added that women preparing for tevilah, as well as those who customarily immerse for taharah, may bathe and immerse as usual throughout the Nine Days. Only on Tishah B’Av itself does the prohibition on bathing fully apply.