Violating Three Weeks Restrictions
Question
If a Jew does something during the three weeks that is forbidden during that time (e.g. listening to music, getting a haircut), have they actually sinned according to Halacha? Is it a sin, just like violating Shabbos or eating treif are sins? Would the term ‘avera’ be applied to such an action? Is the intentional, willful violator of the three weeks restrictions required to make atonement?
Answers
In theory, doing something against the Laws of the Three Weeks and/or the Nine Days is an aveirah. Is it comparable to transgressing Shabbos? I don’t think that the two can be compared. Does that make it okay to do? No. The Laws of the Three Weeks and the Nine Days are Halachos, just like the other Halachos that were given to us by the Rabbis. That means that a person needs to do Teshuvah for deliberately transgressing the Laws of the Three Weeks and the Nine Days, just as they would have to do Teshuvah for transgressing any other Rabbinic Mitzvah. What is true is that when it comes to the Laws of the Three Weeks and the Nine Days, there are different customs that communities have, which may have a bearing on the way that the person’s actions are viewed.
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