Halachot and Customs
Is It Permitted to Cut Fingernails on Thursday?
Question
It is said that fingernails grow back after 3 days, and therefore it is forbidden to cut them on Thursday, because it grows on Shabbat. I would be glad to know whether this has any basis or source, and in general whether this is true. Thank you very much!
Answer
Hello,
The Mishnah Berurah (siman 260, seif katan 6), in the name of the Eliyah Rabbah, writes that on Thursday one is careful not to cut the fingernails, because they begin to grow back on the third day after being trimmed, and if so this is not an act of preparing Shabbat honor, since it will come out again on Shabbat. However, in the book Or L’Tzion, part 2 (chapter 47, section 4), it is written that the custom of Sephardi Jews is not to be particular about this.
With blessings,
Hillel Meirs
