Gemara Clarity

Moed Katan 17b

מועד קטן י״ז ע״ב

Learn Moed Katan 17b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Moed Katan 17b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The power of a ban from חכמים, who may shave on חול המועד and during mourning, and whether cutting nails counts like cutting hair.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a story about a ban (שמתא) placed in a jug. The jug was set in a cemetery and the שופר was blown many times; then the jug burst and the violent man died. The גמרא explains that the שופר hints that punishment is collected from the banned person, and the broken blasts hint that a ban can 'break tall houses.' Next the גמרא returns to the משנה about shaving on חול המועד. A ברייתא teaches that people may shave on חול המועד only if they had no chance to shave before the festival, but a נזיר and a מצורע may shave even if they had time, so their קרבנות are not delayed. Another ברייתא adds a כהן and an אבל, and the גמרא works out the exact cases. For the אבל, the dispute between our משנה and the ברייתא depends on אבא שאול and the רבנן. For the כהן, it depends on whether the shared service of the רגל means his משמר is not yet over. The גמרא then discusses shaving and laundering during אבילות, including mourning periods that come back to back. It ends with a dispute between רבי יהודה and רבי יוסי about cutting nails, where עולא rules strictly for an אבל and leniently for חול המועד, and שמואל's view begins.

Opening lines

וְאַחֲתֵיהּ בֵּי קִבְרֵי,

and set it down in a cemetery,

וּקְרִי בֵּיהּ אַלְפָּא שִׁפּוּרֵי

and sound a thousand שופר blasts over it

בְּאַרְבְּעִין יוֹמִין.

over forty days.

אָזֵיל עָבֵיד הָכִי,

He went and did this.

The steps (32)

  1. StatementThe ban in the jug works and the violent man dies
  2. QuestionWhy use שופר blasts for a ban?
  3. Responseשופר hints at collecting punishment
  4. QuestionWhy use broken blasts for a ban?
  5. ResponseA ban breaks tall houses
  6. ProofWhen חכמים set their eyes on someone
  7. StatementBack to the משנה: the נזיר and the מצורע
  8. QuestionOnly if they had no time before the festival?
  9. ResponseThe general rule: only those who had no time
  10. Responseנזיר and מצורע may shave even if they had time
  11. StatementA ברייתא: a כהן and an אבל may shave
  12. QuestionWhat case of mourner is this?
  13. RejectionNot when his eighth day was the day before the festival
  14. ResponseMaybe his eighth day fell on a שבת before the festival
  15. ChallengeHe could have shaved on Friday
  16. ResolutionThe case is when his seventh day fell on that שבת
  17. StatementThe ברייתא follows אבא שאול
  18. StatementOur משנה follows the רבנן
  19. QuestionWhat is the case of the כהן?
  20. RejectionIf his משמר ended before the רגל, he should have shaved then
  21. ResponseHis משמר ended during the רגל
  22. StatementWhy our משנה does not allow the כהן to shave
  23. ConclusionThe ברייתא says his own משמר is finished
  24. StatementThose allowed to shave on חול המועד may also shave in mourning
  25. ChallengeAnother ברייתא says they are forbidden
  26. ResolutionThe lenient ברייתא is about mourning periods that came back to back
  27. ChallengeBack-to-back mourning helps everyone, so why mention only these people?
  28. ResolutionThe general leniency is limited, so these people get more
  29. StatementA mourner is forbidden to launder
  30. StatementCutting nails during the intermediate Festival days
  31. StatementCutting nails during mourning
  32. Statementעולא splits the ruling between mourning and the Festival