Moed Katan 19b — the Talmud in English

And it was taught

to support the words of Rav and the words of Rav Huna, Tosafot, from that which was taught:

One who buries his dead three days before the Festival —

the decree of seven is annulled from him.

And if he buried him

eight days before the Festival —

the decree of thirty is annulled from him.

And he shaves on the eve of the Festival.

But,

if he did not shave on the eve of the Festival —

he is forbidden to shave after the Festival

throughout all thirty days.

Abba Shaul says:

Even if he did not shave before the Festival,

it is permitted

for him

to shave after the Festival. .

And the reason for the matter is:

just as

the fulfillment of

the mitzva of three

days of mourning before the Festival

annuls

from him

the decree of seven,

so that after the Festival he need not practice anything of the mitzvot of seven —

so

the fulfillment of

the mitzva of seven

before the Festival

annuls the decree of thirty,

so that after the Festival he need not practice the decree of thirty at all, even if he did not shave before the Festival.

And now the Gemara discusses the words of Abba Shaul, who said, “Just as the fulfillment of three annuls the decree of seven, so the fulfillment of seven annuls the decree of thirty days”:

And we raise the question concerning it: Is it possible to say that the fulfillment of

seven

days of mourning before the Festival annuls the decree of thirty?

But did we not

learn in our Mishna, “One who buries his dead

eight

days before the Festival, the decree of thirty is annulled from him,” and not, “One who buries his dead seven days before the Festival” —

we learned!

And we answer:

Abba Shaul holds: Part of the day is like the whole day, and

therefore the beginning of

the seventh day counts for him here,

to be considered the end of the seven,

and

the end of the seventh day counts for him

here,

as the eighth day, and he can begin to count thirty on it.

Rav Hisda said in the name of Ravina bar Sheila:

A.

The halakha is in accordance with Abba Shaul

concerning the two laws in which he disputed the Sages, Tosafot. Therefore, the halakha is that part of the day is like the whole day, and also the halakha is that even if he did not shave on the eighth day, the Festival interrupts the decree of thirty.

B.

And the Sages concede to Abba Shaul when his eighth day falls on the eve of the Festival, which is Shabbat,

when he cannot shave on it,

that it is permitted

for him

to shave on the eve of Shabbat,

which is his seventh day, because part of the day is like the whole day; once part of the seventh day has passed, it is permitted for him to shave in honor of the Festival.

And the Gemara says:

In accordance with whom is this that Rav Amram said in the name of Rav: A mourner, once the comforters have risen from beside him

on the morning of the seventh day,

he is

permitted

already

to bathe?!

In accordance with whom —

in accordance with Abba Shaul,

who holds that part of the day is like the whole day, and it counts for him here and there.

Abaye said:

A.

The halakha is in accordance with Abba Shaul on the seventh day,

which counts for him here and there and is considered like the eighth; therefore he may bathe on it.

B.

And the Sages concede to Abba Shaul on the thirtieth day, for we say “

Part of the day is like the whole day.”

But

Rava said:

A.

The halakha is in accordance with Abba Shaul on the thirtieth day,

for part of the thirtieth day is considered like the whole of it, and he may shave on it after part of the day has passed.

B.

And the halakha is not in accordance with Abba Shaul on the seventh day,

and it does not count for him here and there.

And the Nehardeans say: The halakha is in accordance with Abba Shaul —

in this and in that ,

because

Shmuel said: The halakha follows the lenient view concerning mourning.

And now the Gemara explains the source of the law of the prohibition of shaving during thirty days of mourning:

And we raise the question concerning it:

Thirty days

of mourning —

from where do we derive it?

And we answer:

He derives

a gzera shava “

unrestrained hair, unrestrained hair”

from the nazirite.

It is written here,

concerning Aaron and his sons, after the death of Nadav and Avihu, when Scripture prohibited them from practicing mourning, saying [Leviticus 10]: “

You shall not let the hair of your heads grow wild” [you shall not grow the hair of your heads, but shall shave it]. And it follows that other mourners are forbidden to shave.

And it is written there,

in the laws of the nazirite [Numbers 6]: “

He shall grow unrestrained the hair of his head.”

Just as there,

with the nazirite, he practices the laws of naziriteship for

thirty

days —

so here,

with mourning, it is practiced for

thirty

days.

And there,

with the nazirite himself, from whom we learn —

from where do we derive

that naziriteship is practiced for thirty days?

Rav Mattana said: The unspecified period of naziriteship

is

thirty days.

When a person says, “I am a nazirite,” and leaves his words unspecified and does not state the duration of the naziriteship, he is a nazirite for thirty days.

And

what is the reason

that we say that unspecified naziriteship is thirty days? Because

the verse says [Numbers 6] concerning the nazirite: “

Holy he shall be.” “

He shall be”

in gematria —

thirty;

thirty

is what they

are.

Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, said: Everyone agrees

concerning a mourner

that when his third day falls on the eve of the Festival, he is forbidden to bathe until evening.

Since three complete days are required, the mourner should bathe on the Festival, in the evening.

Rav Nehemiah, son of Rav Yehoshua, said: I found

I found

Rav Pappi and Rav Pappa sitting, and they said: The halakha is in accordance with Rav Huna, son of Rav

Yehoshua.

Some say: Rav Nehemiah, son of Rav Yosef, said: I found Rav Pappi, Rav Pappa, and Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, sitting, and they said: Everyone agrees that if his third day falls on the eve of the Festival —

he is forbidden to bathe until evening.

Abaye asked Rava: They buried

the dead person

on the Festival —

does

the Festival count for him in the count of thirty, or does the Festival not count for him in the count of thirty?

And Abaye explains:

Concerning the count of seven —

I have no question!

Since

the mitzva of seven is not practiced on the Festival,

for on the Festival he is permitted to put on his shoes, and he does not practice overturning the bed on it. Therefore it is obvious that the Festival does not count for him.

For what I am asking -

is regarding the counting of thirty,

because

the observance of the thirty [days] applies on the festival,

for he does not have his hair cut during the festival, nor does he launder his garments during it; and since this is the observance of mourning during the thirty, it is possible that the festival should count for him toward the reckoning of the days of the thirty.

What [is the ruling]?

He said to him

Rava said to Abaye:

The festival does not count

for the reckoning of thirty.

He raised an objection to him

Rava from a beraita, in the Tosefta, chapter two, for it was taught:

One who buries his dead two days before the festival -

counts five days after the festival, and his work is done

then

by others

, and his male and female servants work privately inside his house, and the many do not engage with him

to console him,