Cloth Shoes for Mourning in Shiva

What shoes are prohibited for mourning during Shiva?

According to the basic law, one can wear any shoes that are not made of leather. However, one who is stringent on Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av to not wear any shoes at all should act similarly during the days of mourning.

It is stated in Moed Katan, page 15b: "A mourner is prohibited from wearing sandals, as the Merciful One said to Ezekiel, 'And put your shoes on your feet,' implying that everyone else is prohibited."

And in Yoma, page 78, it is stated regarding Yom Kippur that it is permitted to go out in shoes made of cork. Ramban in Torat HaAdam and brought by Beit Yosef at the beginning of Siman 382, writes that the law of mourning in Shiva is learned from Yom Kippur: a shoe is only considered leather, and a mourner is permitted to wear shoes that are not made of leather.

This is how the Shulchan Aruch rules in Siman 382, section 1: "A mourner is prohibited from wearing sandals, specifically leather ones; but in slippers made of cloth, reed, hair, or wood, it is permitted, as a shoe is only considered leather. If it is made of wood and covered with leather, it is prohibited."

This is also how the Shulchan Aruch rules in the laws of Yom Kippur, Siman 614, section 5. And regarding Yom Kippur, many later authorities are stringent about wearing shoes that are not made of leather, and these are the words of the Mishnah Berurah there, section 5: "There are those among the later authorities who are stringent about wooden shoes even if they are not covered with leather, and there are also those who are stringent not to go out in shoes made of felt (called valenki), made like our shoes, which protect the foot and do not feel at all that one is barefoot, and this is not considered affliction, and therefore, one should be stringent about rubber galoshes. And although one should not protest against those who are lenient since the Shulchan Aruch and most later authorities are lenient in this, nevertheless, if possible, it is correct to be stringent in this and to wear cloth slippers as is customary, however, if one needs to go outside, it is better to wear these felt or galoshes and not leather shoes which are prohibited by law, unlike these which are only due to stringency."

Since the Mishnah Berurah is concerned with the opinion of the Rambam, who wrote that what was said in Yoma 78, that it is permitted with wooden shoes, means that one does not feel the hardness of the ground.

Beit Hillel in Yoreh De'ah, Siman 382, writes: "One who acts this way on Yom Kippur should also act in mourning. So ruled the Bach in the laws of Tisha B'Av, Siman 554: 'And the prohibition of wearing sandals is like its prohibition on Yom Kippur, etc.', however, in the Sefer Mitzvot Gadol in the laws of Yom Kippur, prohibitions 69, page 265, it is written about cloth shoes, and in Tosefta Yoma, chapter 4, law 1, it is prohibited. And it is correct to be stringent. Also, there are Geonim who hold that anything that protects is called a shoe and is prohibited, therefore, one should be stringent to walk completely barefoot, and so I have seen with most of our teachers even on Tisha B'Av, end of quote.