Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Chumrot - Singing Hebrew in the Shower

Miriam over at Bloghd just posted about a chumra that made the news - you cannot sing Hebrew in the shower. Humming would be OK.

Naturally, people unfamiliar with this existing minhag/chumra would think it new and excessive. Such is true for many minhagim and chumrot. Those who don't practice it or never heard of it think it is strange and too strict. Those whose practice it might look at those who don't as inappropriately lenient.

But it's source is in Sefer Chasidim. As this website has it:
"The Taz (Ibid. Sif Katan 13) disagrees with this last point, citing the fact that the Shulchan Aruch rules elsewhere (Orach Chaim Siman 85 Sif 2) that one may speak in Hebrew about ordinary topics even in a place like a bathroom where Torah learning would be forbidden, but it should be noted that the Magen Avraham (Ibid. Sif Katan 2) quotes from the Sefer Chassidim (Siman 994) that it is indeed a sign of piety to avoid speaking Hebrew in such places."
So it is not new, but an old practice. But it seems to be a middat chassidut rather than an absolute prohibition.

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