Cosmetics on Shabbat II: Scent and Healing

Previously, we discussed the types of products that can be applied to skin and hair on Shabbat, focusing on the nature and consistency of oils, creams, lotions, sprays, and sticks. Here, we turn to a few significant questions of function. First, under what circumstances can we use products that impart a pleasant odor? What about those that serve a healing function – curing an ailment, relieving discomfort, or maintaining health?

According to a midrashic tradition, perfume has long been important to Jewish women, so much so that the forty years of Benei Yisrael wandering in the wilderness were unique in part because women didn’t use perfumes there.

Ezra enacted that peddlers travel from town to town. Rashi explains that their purpose was to sell perfumes to women:

In a reflection on a midrash comparing aspects of the Jewish people’s relationship to God to the function of perfume in a marital relationship, Dr. Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg talks of its significant, intangible effects:

Given the significance of scent, is there a halachic constraint on using products for scent on Shabbat? In the Talmud, Rabba and Rav Yosef agree that applying scent to fabric is prohibited on Yom Tov:

Rashi explains what is at issue:

Creating a scent may be considered a form of molid, creating a new entity, which is similar to what melachot do. According to a number of halachic authorities, creating a new entity in this way is prohibited rabbinically on Shabbat (as well as on Yom Tov).¹ Later halachic authorities debate whether applying scent to one’s body raises a similar concern.

On the Body

We might infer that there is no constraint on applying scent to the body, based on a discussion in the mishna of using rose oil, where no such issue is raised. But this proof is not clearcut, since the intention in applying the rose oil may have been for healing. (We’ll see this source later when we discuss using oil for healing.)

Another mishna permits a woman who has placed pepper or salt in her mouth in order to refresh her breath to walk in the public domain on Shabbat.

Rav Ya’akov Emden rejects this mishna as grounds for permission for applying scent to the body in general, but does recognize it as a basis for using products that eliminate foul body odor.

This discussion provides grounds for using deodorant or mouthwash to resolve unpleasant odors on Shabbat. It leaves unresolved the question of adding a pleasant scent to the body where there is no unpleasant odor.

In a discussion of washing the hands of the Kohanim on Yom Tov with water mixed in advance with scented oil, Taz suggests that one may not intentionally transfer scent onto the body:

Others disagree because no new scent has been generated. Rather, the existing scent of the oil simply adheres now to the body:

According to this logic, why should there be a distinction between fabric and the body? Basing himself on a Talmudic passage, Ginat Veradim explains that scents on the body don’t have the same staying power as scents on a garment.

On Hair

The Talmudic passage cited by Ginat Veradim records a disagreement regarding whether hair is like part of the body or like an article of clothing in this regard. The status of hair remains a matter of dispute. According to some authorities, one may not put a scented product on the hair on Shabbat, because it resembles a garment, on which scent is longer lasting:

Others, including Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, do not distinguish between hair and the rest of the body, permitting one to apply scent to both, but do note that a hairpiece is treated like a garment:

Many skincare products on the market today are scented. Based on these sources, a woman may use perfumes and scented products on Shabbat, being careful to apply or spray them directly onto her body and not onto her clothing. According to some opinions, she may also use scented haircare products.

There may be further grounds for leniency in all of these cases when one does not intend to create or benefit from the scent, since the concern of creating a scent was molid and thus not of performing a full-fledged melacha.²

We saw previously that rubbing oil on the body (sicha) is permissible on Shabbat for pleasure. What is the halacha regarding sicha undertaken for healing damaged skin on Shabbat? To answer this question, let’s first understand the general parameters for healing on Shabbat, and then move on to how these rules apply in the specific case of using oils or substances considered like oils.

Rabbinic decree restricts many acts of physical healing on Shabbat, lest one come to grind medicinally active materials on Shabbat. (Grinding, tochen, is one of the thirty-nine main categories of prohibited labor on Shabbat.³)

This decree is widely understood to remain in force today, even though most people no longer prepare their own medications.⁴ It doesn’t apply, however, to someone with a dangerous or potentially dangerous health condition (choleh she-yesh bo sakana).⁵ There is also a widespread consensus⁶ that the decree does not apply when a person is bedridden or has a painful condition that impairs functioning (choleh she-ein bo sakana),⁷ or who has reason to suspect that leaving the symptoms untreated will make her a chola she-ein ba sakana.⁸

So, for example, sicha with medicinal oil to relieve the pain of a choleh she-ein bo sakana is permissible:

What of someone seeking to use oil for its healing effects in less extreme situations, as where the skin is dry or slightly irritated or chapped or peeling?

The Talmud notes that a medical treatment begun prior to Shabbat may be compromised if discontinued on Shabbat.

Therefore, the decree is often understood as inapplicable to ongoing medical treatments, when the treatment’s efficacy may be negatively affected by missing a day.⁹

What if treatment is not ongoing? Then the decree against taking medicine on Shabbat would seem to apply to a generally healthy person (bari), who can function fairly normally, even in the presence of a minor ailment (meichush be-alma).

Let’s look more carefully at how these halachot apply to skincare products with healing qualities.

Notwithstanding general restrictions on healing on Shabbat, a few Talmudic passages leave room for sicha for healing.

I. When a healthy person would also apply oil A mishna indicates that a healing act indistinguishable from an act undertaken by healthy people does not fall under the decree restricting healing, and is thus permissible on Shabbat.¹⁰

As Rashi explains it, the mishna permits sicha with an oil on Shabbat, even for healing purposes, because that oil is commonly applied for other, non-healing purposes.

The sages disagree as to whether one may apply an expensive oil on Shabbat, since use of such oils is typically limited to when they are needed for healing. Tanna Kamma (the first opinion in the mishna, identified with Rabbi Yehuda) does not permit it. Rabbi Shimon permits it. Rav permits it only where its use is sufficiently common that one’s purpose in using it would be ambiguous and not clearly for healing.

II. Applying oil to a scab A second passage in the Talmud Bavli permits applying oil to a person’s scab in two cases: the first related to healing—when the wound is still unhealed and the oil would relieve discomfort (a healing function)—and the second, after the wound has healed, for pleasure. It limits permission to rub oil on an animal to the case of refu’a.

III. Prohibition when mixed with hot water A third Talmudic passage prohibits placing oil and hot water directly onto a wound on Shabbat, allowing for pouring it on nearby skin so that it can drip in:

With a view to reconciling the sources, Tosafot explain that this restriction only applies to a mixture of hot water and oil:

Putting the Talmudic pieces together, it would seem that even someone with a minor ailment can apply oil directly to a wound or damaged skin on Shabbat for healing purposes, on two conditions (beyond those discussed here regarding oil used for pleasure): that the oil not be mixed with hot water, and that it be an oil that is also used by healthy people. Shulchan Aruch rules accordingly:

Shulchan Aruch specifies that one may only apply those oils that are also normally applied for non-healing purposes. In his Beit Yosef, Rav Karo fleshes out this ruling, adding an important practical caveat for his time:

Here, Rav Karo explains that in his era people would commonly apply oil only for healing. Under those circumstances, he leaves room for applying oil for pleasure, but prohibits applying oil to a wound. Although Rav Karo omits this aspect of the ruling from Shulchan Aruch, Rema cites it:

We learn from these rulings that applying oil for pleasure, which was common in Talmudic times, had fallen out of practice by the late sixteenth century. Over three hundred years later, Mishna Berura rules similarly.

These rulings leave us with two practical questions: One, is applying oil for pleasure still considered uncommon? Two, for what skin conditions, aside for swelling or flaky scalp, would applying oil be considered an act of refu’a, healing?

As recently as the mid-twentieth century, Rav Yehoshua Neuwirth’s Shemirat Shabbat Ke-hilchetah presumes that people do not generally apply oil for pleasure, a view that remains unrevised in the recent third edition. He also forbids applying oil directly to chapped, peeling or cracked skin, an act that he defines as clearly one of refua. Surprisingly, he permits someone with slightly irritated or dry skin to apply oil to it on Shabbat:

Rav Neuwirth permits applying oil to dry or mildly irritated skin even when oil is not in common use for pleasure, notwithstanding that his teacher Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach ruled more stringently when such application would also have preventative effects.

The source of Rav Neuwirth’s ruling is Rav Avraham Na’eh, who views dryness and minor skin irritation as no worse than the case of applying oil to a healed wound for pleasure, which is clearly permissible:¹¹

A quick internet search reveals a flourishing, global market for non-medicated body oils and lip oils. If it could be established that such oils are in widespread use by the healthy in one’s locale (and not specifically on Shabbat), then these could be applied on Shabbat for more clear healing purposes, even according to the more stringent opinions.

Indeed, in 1984, Rav Ya’akov Yechezkel Posen recognized that some products classified as unmedicated oils may be in common use. For this reason, he rules that such oils can be used freely to heal the hands (e.g., for eczema) on Shabbat:

Rav Posen defines oil here with reference to the melacha of spreading, memarei’ach. The hand softeners to which he refers are likely runny moisturizers. In other words, products that fit under the halachic category of oils with respect to viscosity (as discussed here) could be included in his ruling.

To summarize, Rav Na’eh and Rav Neuwirth permit using oils for dry, itchy, or irritated skin, even when oils are not in common weekday use for pleasure, though Rav Auerbach expressed reservations about this. Rav Posen notes that some products of his day in weekday use for pleasure fall under the halachic category of oils, opening the door to using them to relieve more severe issues like eczema.

Need for Viscous Products

Previously, we learned that viscous creams and ointments can raise concerns of memarei’ach, spreading, on Shabbat, and that this issue can sometimes be averted by diluting a more viscous substance. What of when diluting such products is impractical, or would compromise their efficacy? In that case, even in situations in which the decree against healing wouldn’t apply, is there any way to avoid memarei’ach?

According to some opinions, rubbing in a viscous substance to the point of absorption is not considered memarei’ach. (See more here.) Another possibility raised in cases of medical need is dabbing, as opposed to spreading. This seems to be the implication of a ruling by Chazon Ish, in which he describes “casting on” ointment as an appropriate way to treat a wound on Shabbat:

Given that it isn’t spreading, why isn’t dabbing permitted more widely on Shabbat? Rav Shmuel Wosner writes that this has to do with the language of Shulchan Aruch’s key ruling on spreading. There, he prohibits “putting” wax on a barrel to plug its hole:

Rav Wosner argues that if dabbing is akin to “putting,” this ruling may prohibit dabbing rabbinically. Even so, in cases of medical need in which the decree against healing on Shabbat would not apply, (e.g., to prevent infection or to treat a choleh she-ein bo sakana or young child), Rav Wosner permits applying a viscous substance by dabbing:

Permitting dabbing in these types of cases has become widely accepted. Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach permits dabbing (ideally with some modifications to prevent inadvertent spreading), and also permits dabbing ointment onto the skin and then placing a bandage on top so that the ointment spreads on its own:

Rav Posen distinguishes between medicinal oils, which could be subject to the decree against healing on Shabbat, and non-medicinal oils. Modern-day marketers often deliberately blur these lines, attaching elaborate medical claims to even the most basic products.

On the whole, when a product is not marketed as a medicine, i.e., it is available over the counter and is used even by healthy people without unique skin conditions, it does not fall under the category of a medicinal oil, and might be more roughly analogous to taking preventative health measures or to taking vitamins on Shabbat.

Shulchan Aruch explicitly permits some types of preventative care, even where an analogous act of healing would be prohibited:

This ruling provides a basis for permitting preventative skincare (such as using sunscreen) on Shabbat.

Taking vitamins on Shabbat is a more complicated question. The halachic discussion typically begins with the question of whether a healthy person may eat food for purely medicinal purposes on Shabbat. Beit Yosef permits this, and Magen Avraham prohibits it.¹² Some halachic authorities invoke Magen Avraham to prohibit a healthy person from taking vitamins on Shabbat.¹³ Others, including Rav Moshe Feinstein, permit taking vitamins on Shabbat, introducing distinctions that can be applied to other cases:

Many enriched skincare products—and scalp or follicle enhancing haircare products—with health claims meet Rav Moshe’s standard for permissible vitamins. They strengthen the condition of one’s skin only a bit, and prevent skin damage rather than dramatically curing it.

Until now, we have discussed different types of products and ways of applying them, as well as the different functions they can serve. In our third and final installment, we will turn our attention to using cosmetic products to impart color to the skin.