Talmud - Mo'ed Katan 19b מועד קטן י״ט ב׳

But isn’t it taught in a baraita: In the case of one who buries his dead relative three days before a pilgrimage Festival, the decree of the seven-day period of mourning is nullified for him. If one buries his dead relative eight days before a Festival, the decree of thirty days is nullified for him, and therefore he may cut his hair on the eve of the Festival. If, however, he did not cut his hair on the eve of the Festival, he is prohibited from cutting his hair after the Festival until the end of the thirty-day period of mourning.

Abba Shaul says: Even if he failed to cut his hair on the eve of the Festival, he is permitted to cut his hair after the Festival, for just as his observance of the mitzva of three days of mourning prior to the Festival cancels the decree of the seven-day period of mourning, and so if the deceased was buried three days before the Festival, the mourner is no longer required to continue this period of mourning after the Festival, so too, his observance of the mitzva of seven days of mourning before the Festival cancels the decree of the thirty-day period of mourning.

The Gemara asks: Why does Abba Shaul speak of the observance of seven days of mourning? But didn’t we learn in the mishna that it requires eight days? The Gemara explains: Abba Shaul maintains that the legal status of part of the day is like that of an entire day, and therefore the seventh day counts as both the final day of the seven-day period of mourning and the first day of the thirty-day period of mourning. Rav Ḥisda said that Ravina bar Sheila said: The halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Abba Shaul.

And furthermore, even the Rabbis concede to Abba Shaul that when one’s eighth day of mourning occurs on a Shabbat, which is also the eve of a Festival, he is permitted to cut his hair on Friday, which is the seventh day. Since he is unavoidably prevented from cutting his hair on the eighth day, as it is prohibited for him to cut his hair on Shabbat, he may do so already on Friday, although it is only his seventh day of mourning.

The Gemara asks: In accordance with whose opinion is that which Rav Amram said that Rav said: With regard to a mourner, once the comforters have stood up to leave his house on the seventh day of his mourning, he is immediately permitted to bathe? In accordance with whose opinion? In accordance with the opinion of Abba Shaul. He maintains that a part of the seventh day is treated as an entire day with regard to this issue.

Abaye said: The halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Abba Shaul with regard to the seventh day of mourning, and the Rabbis concede to Abba Shaul with regard to the thirtieth day, for with regard to the thirtieth day we certainly say that the legal status of part of the day is like that of an entire day, and so a mourner may already cut his hair on the morning of the thirtieth day.

Rava said: The halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Abba Shaul with regard to the thirtieth day of mourning, but the halakha is not in accordance with Abba Shaul with regard to the seventh day. And the Sages of Neharde’a say: The halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Abba Shaul with regard to both the seventh day and the thirtieth day, for Shmuel said: The halakha follows the statement of the more lenient authority in matters relating to mourning.

§ The Gemara asks now about the thirty-day mourning period: From where do we derive the thirty-day period of mourning? The Gemara answers: It is learned by way of a verbal analogy between one instance of the word pera and a different instance of the word pera stated with regard to a nazirite. Here, in the instructions given to Aaron not to mourn the deaths of his sons, it is written: “Let the hair of your heads not grow loose [tifra’u]” (Leviticus 10:6), which indicates that ordinary mourners are required to grow their hair long. And there, with regard to a nazirite, it is written: “He shall let the hair of his head grow long [pera]” (Numbers 6:5). Just as there, in the case of the nazirite, he must grow his hair for thirty days, so too, here a mourner must grow his hair for thirty days.

The Gemara asks: And there, with regard to a nazirite, from where do we derive that he must grow his hair for thirty days? Nowhere is this explicitly stated with regard to a nazirite. The Gemara answers: Rav Mattana said: An unspecified naziriteship, when one takes a vow of naziriteship without specifying for how long, extends for thirty days. What is the reason for this? The verse states: “He shall be sacred, and he shall let the hair of his head grow” (Numbers 6:5), and “He shall be [yihye],” which is written yod, heh, yod, heh, has a numerical value [gimatriyya] of thirty, as yod has a numerical value of ten and heh has a numerical value of five. This implies that an unspecified naziriteship extends for thirty days, and by way of the verbal analogy, this is applied to mourning as well.

Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, said: Everyone, including Abba Shaul, who says that part of a day is treated like a full day, agrees that when his third day of mourning occurs on the eve of the Festival, the mourner is prohibited from bathing his body until the evening. In this case, the principle that the legal status of part of the day is like that of an entire day does not apply. Rather, one must observe three full days of mourning. He must therefore wait until the evening and wash himself with cold water, or wait until the intermediate days of the Festival and bathe in hot water.

Rav Neḥemya, son of Rav Yehoshua, said: I once found Rav Pappi and Rav Pappa sitting together and saying: The halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua. There are those who say a different version of this tradition: Rav Neḥemya, son of Rav Yosef, said: I once found Rav Pappi, Rav Pappa, and Rav Huna, son of Yehoshua, sitting together and saying: Everyone concedes that when the third day of mourning occurs on the eve of a Festival, the mourner is prohibited from bathing his body until the evening.

Abaye inquired of Rava: If one buried his dead relative on the Festival itself, does the Festival count toward his thirty-day period of mourning, or does the Festival not count toward his thirty-day period of mourning? Abaye elaborated on his question: I do not ask whether or not the Festival counts toward his seven-day period of mourning because the obligation to observe seven days of mourning does not apply at all during the Festival, and therefore he must certainly observe the seven-day mourning period, beginning from after the Festival. What I am asking is with regard to the thirty-day period of mourning, because certain aspects of the mitzva of the thirty-day mourning period do in fact apply during the Festival, e.g., the prohibitions to launder clothes and cut hair. What, then, is the halakha: Do the days of the Festival count toward the thirty days or not?

Rava said to him: The Festival does not count toward the thirty days. Abaye raised an objection to Rava’s opinion from the following baraita: If one buries his dead relative two days before a Festival, he must count five days of mourning after the Festival, and during this period his work is performed for him by others. And his menservants and maidservants do this work in private inside his house, and the public need not occupy themselves with him by coming to console him,

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

MoedKatan 19b explores how mourning periods before a Festival affect the obligation to cut hair, debating whether the seven or thirty-day rules are annulled.