Untrimmed nails give a man an unkempt appearance. Just as the Sages prohibited one from cutting his hair on the holiday weekdays (so that one should do this before and appear groomed for the Holiday), they also prohibited pairing the nails. Others say that there is no such enactment – either because people are careful about nails and no enactment is needed or because nails grow too fast. An additional law would inconvenience people. This is where nail-biting may be helpful because one may be prohibited from using scissors but not bite or remove nails with other nails.
Since the seven days of holidays are comparable to the seven days of mourning, would the same disagreement exist about a mourner cutting his nails? Shmuel believed it does not apply on the holiday weekday or during mourning. It happened that Rav Pinchas was in mourning and did not cut his nails. Shmuel came to console him and asked why he behaved this way. Rav Pinchas retorted, “And if happened to you, would you cut them?” These words indeed came to pass, and Shmuel lost a close relative. When Rav Pinchas visited him, Shmuel threw his nails at him in anger.
How do we know that the spoken word has power? From the story of Abraham: when he was going to sacrifice his son, he said to his attendants, “We will worship, and we will come back,” and indeed, Isaac came back with him.
Having quoted a particular teacher, the Talmud brings his other statements. For example, the Pharaoh at the time of Moses was one amah (2 feet) tall; his beard was also one amah, and his member was an amah and a half. This is a metaphor.
We mentioned that only unskilled labor is permitted on holiday weekdays. Even that - for the purpose of the Holiday. Some consider writing to be skilled labor and prohibit it. However, in those cases where not writing will lead to a loss - it is allowed. For example, one can write an engagement document for a woman - lest someone else precedes him and snaps her away.
Art: Abraham and Isaac By Sir Anthony Van Dyck
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