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Week 48 - Thursday - 26 October 2000

MOED KATAN: CHAPTER 3: MISHNAH 5

If one buries his dead three days before the Festival, the decree of seven is cancelled for him; eight, the decree of thirty is cancelled for him, because they said, Shabbat is counted and does not interrupt; Festivals interrupt and are not counted.

Kehati

From here to the end of the chapter, the mishnah deals with the laws of mourning during Hol Hamoed. As an introduction to this topic, this mishnah teaches that if a Festival falls during the mourning periods of seven or thirty days, it cancels that mourning period. In order to understand this mishnah, we must first mention that during the first seven days, a mourner may not wash his body, wash his clothes, wear shoes, do work, or greet others; he must wrap his head in mourning and lower his couch; he may not read in the Torah; there are also other prohibitions (see Rambam, Hil. Evel, chap. 5; the commentary of Rambam and Bartenura on the next mishnah). This mishnah calls these prohibitions "the decree of seven." After the seven days until the conclusion of thirty days, the mourner must observe only some aspects of mourning. He may not wear a new garment or an ironed white garment, have his hair cut, or participate in a banquet of a non-religious character, nor go about his business (see Rambam, Hil. Evel, chap. 6; the commentary of Rambam and Bartenura on the next mishnah). This mishnah calls these prohibitions "the decree of thirty." The Gemara states that there are three stages of mourning: "three days for crying, seven for eulogizing, and thirty for ironing and haircut (i.e., in which these are prohibited)." It follows from this that the first three days constitute the main period of mourning.

If one buries his dead three days before the Festival - i.e., he observed three days of mourning before the Festival, the decree of seven is cancelled for him - and he does not complete the seven days of mourning after the Festival. The decree of thirty is not cancelled, however, and he must complete the thirty days of mourning after the Festival. If he buries his dead -

Eight - days before the Festival, which means that he has already observed one day of the thirty-day period of mourning, because they - the Sages, said, Shabbat is counted - in the count of seven. The Shabbat within the seven-day period is included among the seven days of mourning, since the laws of mourning are observed privily on Shabbat. Similarly, the Shabbat is numbered in the count of thirty days, and does not interrupt - i.e., it does not cancel the mourning period, for the seven-day and thirty-day mourning periods must be continued after Shabbat. Some explain that the reason for this is because the Shabbat is called a "delight" (Isa. 58:13), but not "joy" (Nimukei Yosef). Others explain that the reason is because it is impossible to have a seven-day period without a Shabbat, and if the Shabbat were to interrupt, a seven-day mourning period could never be observed (Tur, Yoreh Deah, 400; Ramban);

Festivals interrupt - i.e., they cancel the mourning, if he had already begun to observe the mourning period before the Festival, and are not counted - in the count of seven. According to this, if, for example, he had observed only two days of mourning before the Festival, he must complete the other five days of mourning after the Festival. The halakhah, however, according to the Gemara's final conclusion is that if one buries his dead even one hour before the Festival, the decree of seven is cancelled for him. But if he did not observe any mourning before the Festival (e.g., if he buried his dead during the Festival), the days of the Festival are not numbered in the count of the seven, and he must begin to count seven days after the Festival. Nonetheless, the Festival days are numbered in the count of the thirty days (Rambam, Hil. Evel 10:8).

MOED KATAN: CHAPTER 3: MISHNAH 6

Rabbi Eliezer says, since the Temple was destroyed, Atzeret is as Shabbat. Rabban Gamliel says, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are as the Festivals. But the Sages say, Not according to the opinion of this one, nor according to the opinion of that one, but Atzeret is as the Festivals, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are as the Shabbat.

Kehati

Rabbi Eliezer says, since the Temple was destroyed, Atzeret - the Festival of Shavuot, which [in Eretz Yisrael] is only one day, is - has the same legal status, as Shabbat - it is numbered in the count of the seven and it does not interrupt. Nonetheless, during the time of the Temple, if one did not bring the offerings of the pilgrim or the Festival on Shavuot, he could bring them during any of the six days following the Festival, because compensatory offerings for Shavuot could be offered during a seven-day period, as for the other Festivals. Therefore, the legal status of Shavuot regarding mourning was the same as that of the other Festivals which interrupt the mourning period and are not numbered in the count of seven.

Rabban Gamliel says, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are as the Festivals - which interrupt and are not numbered. But the Sages say, Not according to the opinion of this one - Rabbi Eliezer, nor according to the opinion of that one - Rabban Gamliel, but Atzeret is as the Festivals - even nowadays in that it interrupts and is not numbered, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are as Shabbat - because they are not included among the three Pilgrim Festivals. The halakhah, however, is that nowadays both Shavuot and Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur have the legal status of the Pilgrim Festivals, in that they interrupt the period of mourning and are not numbered in the count of seven. If one observed even one hour of mourning before any of these Festivals, the decree of seven days is annulled for him. And if he buried his dead seven days before one of them, the decree of thirty day is annulled for him, for the seventh is counted as the end of the seven days and as the beginning of the thirty days.

We explained in the preceding mishnah, that Hol Hamoed and the Festivals are, in any event, numbered in the count of the thirty-day period. Hence, if one buried his dead on the eve of the Festival of Sukkot, and he kept at least one hour of mourning before the Festival, since the onset of the Festival cancels the decree of seven for him, and the seven days of the Festival itself are numbered in the count of the decree of thirty, this makes a total of fourteen days, as it were; Shemini Atzeret is an independent Festival, and [like Shavuot] it is considered as if it were seven days, thereby making a total of twenty-one days. It follows that he need count only nine days after Shemini Atzeret in order to complete the thirty-day mourning period.

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