Renewing Clothes and Attending a Wedding within Thirty Days of a Sister's Passing
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Question
My wife is sitting shiva for her sister. Her brother is getting married, God willing, in a week [3 Adar]. Several questions: A. How and is it permissible for her to attend the wedding [as a waitress/babysitter for small children]? B. Is it permissible to have someone else renew the clothes she bought for her? C. She wants to buy shoes, and it is very important to her. Is it permissible, and does someone else need to renew them for her? D. Is it permissible for her to groom her eyebrows and the like?
Answer
Hello
A. For very close relatives, such as a brother getting married, it is permissible for close relatives to serve at the meal as waiters and the like.
B. According to the Ashkenazi custom, it is forbidden to buy new clothes all thirty days. In a case of necessity, she may buy, and let another woman wear it for a few hours before she wears it, so it is not considered new clothing. According to the Sephardi custom, this rule applies only to new white clothing.
C. Shoes are considered like clothing, and according to the Ashkenazi custom, this is also forbidden all thirty days, and in a case of necessity, the solution is the same as in section B.
D. Grooming eyebrows is considered like a haircut. According to the Ashkenazi custom, it is forbidden all thirty days. It is permitted only for a married woman if it causes her husband to be repulsed. According to the Sephardi custom, it is permitted after the shiva.