Study Moed Katan folio 18A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
The halakha is in accordance with the opinion of R' Yosei with regard to the intermediate days of the Festival and with regard to mourning, as Shmuel said this general principle: The halakha is in accordance with the statement of the more lenient authority in matters relating to mourning.
It was related that something unpleasant happened to Pineḥas, brother of Mar Shmuel, that is to say, one of his close relatives died. Shmuel entered to ask him the reason, i.e., to console him. He saw that Pineḥas’s nails were long, and said to him: Why do you not cut them? Pineḥas replied: If it
Pineḥas’s words were: “Like an error that proceeds from a ruler” (Ecclesiastes 10:5). As soon as he uttered them they come true, even though he did not intend them. Shortly after Pineḥas made his comment, something unpleasant happened to Shmuel, and one of his close relatives died. Pineḥas, his bro
This is as R' Yoḥanan said: From where is it derived that a covenant is made with the lips, and that one’s speech has the power to change events? For it is stated: “And Abraham said to his young men: Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go onward; and we will worship, and we will come
With regard to this halakha pertaining to a mourner cutting his nails: They initially concluded from this: With regard to the nails on his hand, yes, a mourner may cut them; but as for the nails on his foot, no, he may not cut them, because long toenails are less repulsive. Rav Anan bar Taḥlifa s