Tehillim on Tisha B'Av

I am posting this because it might be useful to readers.  My wife, who, like her grandfather, is a very very serious Tehillim sayer, asked me this morning whether she can say Tehillim after Chatzos on Tisha Ba'av. I don't know why after all these years she asked me. I would have preferred that she not have asked me, because the benefit I get from her Tehillim far outweighs the risk that she might be doing the sin of saying Torah on Tisha B'av. But once it was out of the box, I had to tell her that her grandfather said she may not.  

Reb Moshe is quoted by his talmid Rav Ephraim Greenblatt in Rivevos Ephraim  (and in Shmaitsa d'Moshe,) as saying one may not say Tehillim on Tisha b'Av. 

The Dirshu in 554 sk13 brings from Rav Shmuel Vosner that general Tehillim is assur, but for a specific Choleh it is muttar. 

I can not say that Rav Vosner's svara is pashut. If people say Tehillim derech bakasha, then sure, you would be mattir for a choleh or in time of danger, not because choli is docheh issurim or Chazal were not gozer taanis bemakom choli, because that is only for refuah derech hateva, not zechusim, but because you would be saying those sections that express distress and fear and the hope for yeshua, obviously not to Hallel or Hodu or Mizmor l'Soda. But if people say Tehillim because they hope the zechus of saying Tehillim will bring a yeshua, then you can not be mattir even for a choleh. You could say the same about all limud haTorah, and obviously we do not say that.

The Dirshu (554 end of note 13)  also brings that Rav Chaim Kanievsky said that the psak of the Chazon Ish is not clear and therefore those who quote him as having paskened one way or the other are not correct. 

ולענין דעת החזו"א בזה ראה בארחות רבנו (ח'ב עמוד קמ'ב) וראה דעת הגר"ח קניבסקי (קרא עלי מועד הערות הגר"ח קניבסקי אות ל'ד) שאין בזה הכרעה ברורה מהחזו"א.

On the other hand:

The Magen Avraham (sk 6) is pretty clear, to me, that he is mattir all Tehillim. Obviously the above osrim hold that he is only talking about the Shir shel Yom, but I do not see how that is possible. 

מותר לקרות וכו'. בפוזנא נוהגין שא"א תהלים ושיר היחוד רק למחרתו או' של אמש ושל היום (לבוש) ובמדינ' זו נוהגין לאמרם במנח' אף על גב דאסור בת"ת כל היום צ"ל דס"ל כיון שאומר' דרך בקש' שרי לאומרו במנחה ומה"ט מקילין בתפילין במנחה:

The Mishna Berura is also not clear. In sk 7 he says

ופרשת הקרבנות ומשנת וכו – 'דלא גרע כל זה ממה שקורין בתורה ומפטירין בנביא, והכל מפני שהוא סדר היום. ונוהגין לומר תהילים ושיר היחוד במנחה, אף על גב דאסור בתלמוד תורה כל היום, צריך לומר דסבירא לן כיון שהוא דרך בקשה שרי. ובפוזנא נוהגין לומר למחרתו של אמש ושל היום, וכן נכון. ומעמדות בודאי אין לומר. ועיין לקמן סימן תקנ"ט ס"ד ,דאין לומר פיטום הקטורת, שאינו מסדר היום. וכל שכן שאין לומר סדר הקרבנות הכתוב בסוף סימן א' .ומה שכתוב בשולחן ערוך ופרשת 

הקרבנות ,היינו פרשת התמיד

but in the Shaar Hatziyun in 554 sk 8 he says that it is evident from the Derech HaChaim that it is assur. I cannot find it in the Derech HaChaim.

Rav Yaakov Emden in Siddur Beis Yaakov seems to say it is muttar, but he is no more clear than the Magen Avraham. Pashtus, he is being mattir generally. But it can be read to mean only what you would normally say as part of Tefillas Shachris. Again, I find that hard to believe, because then he would just say Shir shel yom.

סידור בית יעקב שער הסור שער הדלק דלת ב חלון ד אות א

חלון ד. למנחה

(א) מתעטפין בציצית ומניחין תפילין ומברכין עליהם. ואז יש לומר גם כן ברכת עוטר ישראל. ונוהגין להשלים אז מה שחסרו לומר בשחר. כגון תהלים, שירים ומזמורים:

Back to the Chazon Ish; although I quoted the Dirshu earlier that Reb Chaim K said he has not hachra'ah on the issue, Reb Chaim B sent me this from Rav Shteinman in the name of the Chazon Ish:

אמירת תהלים | נשים יכולות לומר תהלים בט"ב רבנו הוסיף שהחזו"א התיר לאחותו )הרבנית קניבסקי( לומר תהלים, וכנראה טעמו כי לנשים אין עוד מה לומר מלבד זה ויתכן שההיתר הוא רק לנשים ולא לאנשים עכ"ד רבנו. ועי' אילת השחר שבת קיט, ב

But in his Sefer he is tentative about the Chazon Ish's shittah:

I would like to disagree with "simcha as a result of chiyuv." Who says? She makes a bracha on it, and the etzem Torah is mesamei'ach. It's not like an akum.

and this from Reb Chaim K

. האם מותר לומר תהילים בתשעה באב.

החזון איש התיר לנשים  (שיח התורה ח'א)

 Note:

1. It seems to me that if the person does not pay attention to what he is saying, there is no משמחי לב. I don't think that refers to spiritual joy, because that is not prohibited on Tisha B'av. It is simply the pleasure from the yashrus of the words. Could be you have schar for saying it, because it's Torah she'kiksav, but simcha, no.  (Tehillim is also Torah she'biksav; ש"ך יו'ד רמ'ה ס"ק ה' ט"ז ס"ק בת, not like Tos Tmr 14b.)  From what I've seen, many people recite Tehillim without any thought about the meaning of the words. I can not believe that would be a problem on Tisha b'Av. Still, it would be impractical to tell my wife "Yes, you can say Tehillim on Tisha ba'Av, but only if you have no kavana about what the words mean."

2. When I wrote that Chazal were not mattir for refuos that don't work with teva I was thinking about the story with Reb Shlomo Kluger and the Sar Shalom.  See this post.

3. Not one of the poskim above distinguish between before and after Chatzos. I asked about after because it is pashut to me that tehillim would be a hesech hadaas from aveilus, and I assume nobody would disagree with that.