Talmud zu Berakhot 2:5

It was stated: The following are forbidden to the mourner all Seven {days}: Washing, anointing, wearing shoes, sexual relations, grooming, washing clothes, reading in the Torah, studying Midrash^222aThe derivation of a consistent corpus of rules and laws from biblical verses. “Torah” here includes all of the Hebrew Bible., practices, and homiletics, greeting, and working. ²²²This text is copied in Berakhot 2:7 (Notes277–293,ב). Who stated that the mourner is forbidden to take a bath during the entire Seven? Rebbi Nathan. Something happened²²³A close relative died. to Rebbi Immi; he asked Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba²²⁴He did not want to permit himself to bathe, so he asked a colleague (and sometimes student). who instructed him “all Seven days following Rebbi Nathan”. Something happened to Rebbi Yose; he sent to Rebbi Abba bar Cohen²²⁵The reasonable text is ב: He sent R. Abba bar Cohen (a very minor figure) to R. Aḥa, person of stature almost equal to R. Yose himself. who said to him: Rebbi, did you not so teach us that something happened to Rebbi Immi, he asked Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish who instructed him “all Seven following Rebbi Nathan”. He said to him, maybe these were two separate incidents, we say it in the name of Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba, you say it in the name of Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish²²⁶It is not known whether these are two different decisions by two different authorities, in which case they constitute precedent to be followed, or one decision reported in different ways and open to discussion.. And also from the following: Something happened to Rebbi Ḥama, father of Rav Hoshaya, he asked the rabbis and they forbade it. Rebbi Yose asked, which rabbis? The rabbis here or the rabbis in the South? If you say the rabbis of here, it is fine. If you would say the rabbis from the South, would he have asked minor authorities when greater ones were available to him? If you say the rabbis of the South, we would allow²²⁷One has to follow the reading common to G (which restarts here) and ב: They permit and they forbid, in which case none of their statements can serve as precedent. and they would forbid, as we have stated: “At a place where it is customary to bathe after a funeral²²⁸In the interpretation of Nahmanides (Writings, ed. Chavel, p. 175–176) this is not a general permission to bathe during the Seven days but only a sanitary prescription strictly referring to the aftermath of the burial., one may bathe; in the South one bathes.” Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Abun said: He who permits that bath makes it like eating and drinking. That means, about a bath for pleasure. But a bath that is not for pleasure is permitted. Samuel bar Abba developed scab. They came and asked Rebbi Yasa, what is the rule, may he bathe? He said to them: If he does not bathe, would he not die²²⁹In case of scab this is a hyperbola but it means that all medically indicated ablutions are permitted during the Seven days.? If he needs it, even on the Ninth of Av. If he needs it, even on Yom Kippur²³⁰Even though the standards of medical necessity are different in the various cases.. They saw Rebbi Yose, son of Rebbi Ḥanina, immersing himself. They did not know whether it was for his emission²³¹An involuntary emission of semen which pollutes and requires immersion in a miqweh., they did not know whether it was to cool down because bathing in cold water is not called bathing²³²For the rules of mourning only warm baths are prohibited.. Rebbi Abba bar Cohen instructed following this statement²³³That cold bathing is permitted during the Seven. Babli Ta`anit 13a,13b..