998. Washing on Yom Kippur

Shvisas Asor 3:2

If a person becomes soiled with excrement or mud, he may wash the dirty area in the regular fashion without hesitation. Similarly, a woman may wash one hand in water in order to give a piece of bread to a child. One who is ill may wash in the regular fashion even if he is not in any danger. Similarly, anyone who is required to ritually immerse should do so in the normal manner. This is true on both Tisha b’Av and Yom Kippur.

Shvisas Asor 3:3

Let’s say that a man has a seminal emission on Yom Kippur. If it is still damp, he should wipe it off with a cloth and that is enough. If it has dried, or if he has become soiled, he may wash the affected area of his body, after which he may pray. It is not permitted for him to wash his entire body or to ritually immerse because of this. This is because, nowadays, immersing still does not render a person ritually clean because of our inability to remove corpse uncleanliness. The current practice to wash after a nocturnal emission before praying is only a custom. Customs can only restrict things that are otherwise permitted; they cannot permit things that are prohibited (in this case, washing). The rule that a man who has a seminal emission on Yom Kippur should immerse himself only applied when one was obligated to immerse, an obligation that no longer applies.