is it muttar to close the tape on the diaper on shabbos? does it constitute sewing?

No, since it is not permanent tape, and it stays closed for less than 24 hours. However there is a problem untaping it to begin with since it had been stuck together since prodoction, you can overcome this though by un- and re-taping the tabs before shabbos.

Disclaimer: I'm not a rabbi but this is what I have been taught.

take your silly chumrahs elsewhere

What makes this shayleh a chumrah? Nice to see you taking your feelings of religious inadequacy out on others.

Use Huggies, you'll be safe.

aren't pampers also safe?

I think she was being facetious.

It's fine. It's velcro which is clearly temporary and many people open the tabs for a variety of reasons including: changing the diaper, readjusting the diaper; and checking on the status of the diaper. So, the same tabs might be opened and closed several times within a few hours.

Out of curiousity: How else do you propose the diaper stays on?

Huggies have no tapes. So if one is truly worried worried about halachic ramifications of pampers....

I've never heard to open the tabs before Shabbos; what I have heard, and what we do is not close the diaper with the tabs in a nice little package before we throw it out since it's pretty unlikely it's going to come apart and it's more of a permanent nature.

It's not only the tabs. From what I understand the diaper itself is lightly glued closed and you need to unfold it before shabbos. I got this from home and I really don't know how known/practiced/nessecary it really is.
Unsticking before shabbos is nessecary though and should also be done with female personal hygiene products that will be used over shabbos.

Depends whom one asks.

In terms of removing the plastic backing on diapers, bandaids, female personal hygiene products, etc, R. Ribiat writes "the veracity of a lenient ruling on this this questions seems quite clear" because
1. the tabs are merely protective to keep the gummed surface clean, without any intention to create adhesion
2. the tabs are glued temporarily, regardless that the consumer uses it months after manufacture
3. there's no makeh bepatish since you're just removing the item from a protective covering rather than making it now functional

That said, R. Ribiat still says, "one shold nevertheless open the tabs before shabbos if possible" because of stringent dissenting opinions that indeed it's tofair [tearing].

As for re-taping a dirty diaper before throwing it out, there too he says some are lenient but "it is better to be stringent and avoid retaping the diapers after use".

ArtScroll, the final arbiter of all things Jewish, similarly essentially says it depends whom one asks. In The Shabbos Home, volume 1, he says some are stringent, but quotes R. Moshe Feinstein as permitting removing the tabs from things like band aids, which also applies to things like diapers and female personal hygiene products.



As always, ask one's own local orthodox rabbi and don't rely on the rantings that I derive from general ignorance and stalk-trolling internet fora.

I love it. It's "quite clear" that you can be meikil, but I'm going to recommend that you be machmir anyway.


What does this mean?

<shrug> I guess it's because korei and tofeir are d'oraytas so we're machmir since safek d'orayta le-chumra? I dunno. I'm just reporting what the book says. It's Volume III, p. 845 http://www.feldheim.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?item=3092 if you want to look it up in context and with the explanatory end notes.


I have no clue whatsoever. But apparently I'm supposed to offer it as a caveat so nobody is mistakenly misled into thinking I have any idea what I'm ever talking about.

It's a disclaimer saying ask your local orthodox rabbi rather than believing some guy on the internet.

I'm not saying you have to defend the guy. I'm just saying that if the machmir opinion is the dissenting opinion and the meikil opinion is the majority opinion, generally when making halachic decisions you go with the majority and, at best, take note that a dissenting opinion exists.

I asked my rav and was told that this is totally unnecessary.

Yes and no. First of all, we don't know which is the minority and which is the majority opinions until we go through all the sources. Secondly, that was my point, that if it's a d'orayta, we may not necessarily go with the majority. Which is probably why ArtScroll quoted RMF in the body of the text. Their typical modus operandi is to be strict in the text and lenient in the footnotes when it's a d'orayta, and vice versa when it's a derabbanan.
But in this case they are being lenient in the text by quoting RMF. They don't normally do that for a d'orayta.

I really don't have any idea. Ask your local orthodox rabbi.

But in any event, you're right. "It's always better to be machmir". When we feel like it and it's not too inconvenient.

What about tampon wrappers?

I've heard the more machmir than thou crowd in Bnei Brak use a cord to keep their kids' diapers in place on shabbos since they hold both closing and opening the tabs is assur... The chumrah seems to be well contained (no pun intended) and doesn't seem to have caught on anywhere else...

what kind of knot do they use?

Does nobody use cloth anymore?

I don't but that's my own personal issue.

Did you?

No idea...

There are environmental groups that advocate the use of cloth diapers.

If they want to clean them, I will be happy to use them.......
In fact I would get tremendous pleasure from having tree huggers cleaning my kid's p00p.......

what do you think diaper services are?

I wasn't aware they were staffed by tree hugging hippy pinkos......

Except that because you have to use electricity, soap, and water to clean them, it's not so clear cut that they're better for the environment than disposible.

At least several are. But they cost money. You may be able to pay in marajuana though.

Issue about taping the diaper when the diaper is on the kid: NOT A PROBLEM. I don't believe anyone argues with this; it's not permanent at all.

Issue about re-closing to dispose of: machlokes. Huggies, as UTMJ mentioned, only have velcro, and the rabbonim I've spoken with seem to say this fastening is not a problem and can be closed forever in this manner. Pampers have a drop of tape to help the velcro stay down; my rav suggested this type of fastening we just avoid using the tape part and only close it on the velcro, so that's what I do. Although, many others who use the same rav use Huggies...Other eitzos include not closing it at all and just putting the whole thing in a bag or something.

Issue about opening it: the way my rav told me was that the diapers are only stuck together for packing purposes, and are not meant to stay that way. Some people are more machmir since it is done for a long time, but he seems to say it's not a problem to open them on shabbos. However, he did once tell someone for a shabbos bris to open the diapers beforehand, leaving some of us confused. Perhaps he himself is more machmir or he was just speaking practically for the bris that it's easier if the diapers are pre-opened? I don't know, but I've been to a few of his shiurim on the matter and he always has said I don't need to open them beforehand.

More like: didn't people start re-using cloth?
Yeah, there are people who do. I'm sure you'll hear some piping in soon.

Minchat Yitzchak 10:32?

Hmmm...
When I get to 3000 posts I think I now know what my custom "level" is going to be.

When did they start putting velcro on diapers???
You learn something every day.....

Use cloth.

About 10 years ago, maybe more.

Eww! I know it may be healthier ect. ect., but the thought of a 3 day YT and no washed diapers in that time.....Is enough to keep me unconvinced!

What, the big deal ? I did rosh hashana, sukkos and shmini atzeres, it was fine. I often don't wash more than once in 3 days.

Alot of cder to be found online. Only a few on H.

I hope all you who us sposies dump the solid waste in the toilet.