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No cutting nails on Wednesday? ?
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amother
Seashell


 

Post Tue, Sep 06 2016, 7:00 pm
my son told me that his Rebbe told him that one is not allowed to cut their nails on a Wednesday because it will cause them to grow on Shabbos! I never heard of this or anything like this before, is this crazy? Or is this real? Anyone heard of this?
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amother
cornflower


 

Post Tue, Sep 06 2016, 7:23 pm
Yes, I've heard of it, yes, it's crazy, no, I don't do kaballah. If you burn your nail clippings lest a pregnant woman step on them, or if you alternate when cutting your nails rather than cutting all five in order, then you should worry about cutting on Wednesday.
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perquacky




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Sep 06 2016, 7:44 pm
Never heard of this, so I Googled it. One source mentioned that the Mishnah Brurah says to not cut nails on Thursday. Another source says that Muslims shouldn't cut their nails on Wednesdays. I wouldn't put too much stick in this. My hair grows on Shabbat too. So I can't cut it on Wednesday?
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amother
Tan


 

Post Tue, Sep 06 2016, 8:11 pm
Yes its true. It's because the nails begin to grow again on the third day after they are cut.
By cutting them on Wednesday you cause them to begin growing on shabbos.
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Sep 06 2016, 8:19 pm
It's Wednesday evening and daytime Thursday.
I don't think everyone follows this opinion.
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animeme




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Sep 06 2016, 8:20 pm
amother wrote:
Yes, I've heard of it, yes, it's crazy, no, I don't do kaballah. If you burn your nail clippings lest a pregnant woman step on them, or if you alternate when cutting your nails rather than cutting all five in order, then you should worry about cutting on Wednesday.


I don't burn my nails, but I wrap them before throwing then out and am careful they shouldn't be on the floor. And I don't cut in order. And I have never heard of this Wednesday thing. What do you do if you have mikvah? And wouldn't this be a gramma at worst?

Though I guess it makes the concept of cutting your nails within three days of mikvah make sense. I always wondered where the three came from.
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amother
Beige


 

Post Tue, Sep 06 2016, 8:39 pm
amother wrote:
Yes its true. It's because the nails begin to grow again on the third day after they are cut.
By cutting them on Wednesday you cause them to begin growing on shabbos.


Nails are constantly growing.

It takes a few days for the nail growth to be visible to the naked eye (I.e. without a microscope/magnifying lense).

This is an excellent example of basing an eitzah tovah on known scientific knowledge, and subsequent advanced scientific knowledge rendering the eitzah tovah obsolete.

That having been said, if one is noheig not to cut nails on Wednesday/Thursday, I would certainly not encourage them to abandon the practice without consulting with their posek.
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amother
Beige


 

Post Tue, Sep 06 2016, 8:40 pm
amother wrote:
Nails are constantly growing.

It takes a few days for the nail growth to be visible to the naked eye (I.e. without a microscope/magnifying lense).

This is an excellent example of basing an eitzah tovah on known scientific knowledge, and subsequent advanced scientific knowledge rendering the eitzah tovah obsolete.

That having been said, if one is noheig not to cut nails on Wednesday/Thursday, I would certainly not encourage them to abandon the practice without consulting with their posek.


I posted as amother to avoid conflict with a member of my family who reads this site and insists that any scientific knowledge that is contrary to anything written in any Jewish book anywhere is inherrently flawed.
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Iymnok




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Sep 06 2016, 11:21 pm
Toenails and fingernails should not be cut the same day.
Fingernails should be cut Friday, l'chvod Shabbos.
Cut toenails on Thursday.
Add it together, no cutting fingernails on Thursdays.
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DrMom




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Sep 07 2016, 12:45 am
amother wrote:
Yes its true. It's because the nails begin to grow again on the third day after they are cut.
By cutting them on Wednesday you cause them to begin growing on shabbos.

Where did you learn the bolded?

Fingernails grow from the root: cells at the root of the nail are created and the new nail cells push out the old nail cells. The root doesn't know if the tip has been cut.

And fingernails grow continuously. If I cut them on Tuesday, they'll still grow on Shabbat.

And even so, bodily cells reproducing and metabolizing does not constitute a melacha. My hair grows, my skin cells renew themselves, my digestive juices break down my food, my white blood cells attack pathogens, my red cells capture hemoglobin, my scabs heal, my fetus (when I am pregnant) grows and my placenta grows to feed it, etc etc etc on Shabbat as well as any other day.
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imasoftov




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Sep 07 2016, 3:27 am
And even if growing nails was something one could cause, what melacha would it be?
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sourstix




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Sep 07 2016, 4:16 am
It's brought down in the gemarah that if a married woman steps on nails can lose a pregnancy. It's not something I would want to play around with. Why is everything picked on so negatively?

If you genuinely want to learn then say so in your post. Mocking is not ok.
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gp2.0




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Sep 07 2016, 4:39 am
sourstix wrote:
It's brought down in the gemarah that if a married woman steps on nails can lose a pregnancy. It's not something I would want to play around with. Why is everything picked on so negatively?

If you genuinely want to learn then say so in your post. Mocking is not ok.


This has nothing to do with the OP. This deals with disposing of nails properly. OP asked about nail cutting timing.

Ra mom is correct - it's Wednesday night and Thursday during the day when one shouldn't cut fingernails, because they will have visibly grown by Shabbos. It's not a melacha. It's a Kabbalah-based practice kept by some, usually chassidim. Something about kavod Shabbos, I think. (Maybe linked to dirt getting under nails? Nails being a chatzitza for washing? Longer nails being able to harbor klipos on Shabbos? No patience to look it up now but the explanation is out there.)
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perquacky




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Sep 07 2016, 4:42 am
sourstix wrote:
It's brought down in the gemarah that if a married woman steps on nails can lose a pregnancy. It's not something I would want to play around with. Why is everything picked on so negatively?

If you genuinely want to learn then say so in your post. Mocking is not ok.


I wouldn't mock anything written in the gemarah, but I would argue that it was written at a time when people had limited knowledge of medical facts and is likely based on superstition. No one should drop nail clippings on the ground. It's disgusting. But no pregnancy in recorded history has ended because a woman stepped on a nail. A rusty nail, maybe, but not a fingernail. And if I'm wrong, please call me out on it.
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DrMom




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Sep 07 2016, 4:56 am
gp2.0 wrote:
This has nothing to do with the OP. This deals with disposing of nails properly. OP asked about nail cutting timing.

Ra mom is correct - it's Wednesday night and Thursday during the day when one shouldn't cut fingernails, because they will have visibly grown by Shabbos. It's not a melacha. It's a Kabbalah-based practice kept by some, usually chassidim. Something about kavod Shabbos, I think. (Maybe linked to dirt getting under nails? Nails being a chatzitza for washing? Longer nails being able to harbor klipos on Shabbos? No patience to look it up now but the explanation is out there.)

Worrying about nails being too long on Shabbat (and having no way to cut them) makes much more sense than worrying about nails growing on Shabbat.
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MrsDash




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Sep 07 2016, 4:59 am
amother wrote:
Yes its true. It's because the nails begin to grow again on the third day after they are cut.
By cutting them on Wednesday you cause them to begin growing on shabbos.


Well then, I guess my nails didn't get the memo because by the next day they have grown a bit and by the third day, I'm already cutting them again!
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amother
Wine


 

Post Wed, Sep 07 2016, 5:34 am
gp2.0 wrote:
This has nothing to do with the OP. This deals with disposing of nails properly. OP asked about nail cutting timing.

Ra mom is correct - it's Wednesday night and Thursday during the day when one shouldn't cut fingernails, because they will have visibly grown by Shabbos. It's not a melacha. It's a Kabbalah-based practice kept by some, usually chassidim. Something about kavod Shabbos, I think. (Maybe linked to dirt getting under nails? Nails being a chatzitza for washing? Longer nails being able to harbor klipos on Shabbos? No patience to look it up now but the explanation is out there.)


That was a nice respectful response. Thanks gp2.0.
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Ruchi




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Sep 07 2016, 5:34 am
ra_mom wrote:
It's Wednesday evening and daytime Thursday.
I don't think everyone follows this opinion.


Corrrect.
After nacht on Thursday one can cut nails.
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greenfire




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Sep 07 2016, 6:16 am
I've always learned it was thursday ... also don't forget to skip nails when in case you suddenly find yourself dead

both of which make no sense
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amother
Cobalt


 

Post Wed, Sep 07 2016, 6:28 am
greenfire wrote:
I've always learned it was thursday ... also don't forget to skip nails when in case you suddenly find yourself dead

both of which make no sense


Not everything has to make sense.

We yidden said naseh v'nishma before we know of anything........ Smile
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