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Week 48 - Wednesday - 25 October 2000

MOED KATAN: CHAPTER 3: MISHNAH 3

And these they write on the Moed: marriage documents of women, bills of divorce, and receipts, deyatiki, a gift and prozbuls, documents of assessment and documents of sustenance, deeds of halitzah and Refusals, document of arbitration and Court decrees, and letters of authority.

Kehati

And these - the following documents, they write - i.e., it is permitted to write them, on the Moed - during Hol Hamoed, because they are things that might be lost if delayed:

Marriage documents of women - the document of marriage used when a woman is married by a deed. This includes documents of match-making and engagements. They may be written during Hol Hamoed "lest another precede him" (and betroth her), and this therefore constitutes something which might be lost; bills of divorce - if, for example, the man is setting out on a long journey, and if he will not write the bill of divorce [and he disappears] the woman will remain an agunah [and unable to remarry]; and receipts - where the borrower does not want to repay his debt unless he receives a receipt from the lender. It is therefore permitted to write the receipt, since the borrower might not be able to repay the debt after the Festival; deyatiki - this is a Greek word meaning the will made by a dying person. The Gemara interprets it as if it were an acronym of the words "da tehe lemikam," "this is to be established", for the words of a dying person are regarded as written and handed over, a gift - a document of gift written by a healthy person; if it were not written during Hol Hamoed, the giver could retract; and prozbuls - the document which the lender writes to the Court in which he transfers to the Court debts owed to him, so that the shemitah year will not cancel them (see Shevi. 10:3-4). The reason why he may write a prozbul during Hol Hamoed is lest after the Festival he cannot find an appropriate Court, and the shemitah year will cancel the debts due to him (Hameiri, Ribam). Some explain that this mishnah refers to a case where the lender desires to set forth on a journey, and if he does not write the document now, the shemitah year will pass and he will lose the debt owed to him; (Nimukei Yosef), documents of assessment - documents which the Court writes to the lender that it has assessed the property of the borrower at such-and-such a sum, and the Court assigns it to the lender in payment of his debt;

And documents of sustenance - documents which the Court writes in connection with the sale of property for the maintenance of the wife and daughters. Another interpretation: if some one assumes the obligation to maintain his stepdaughter, the Court writes a document for her as proof. These Documents of Assessment and Documents of Sustenance may be written, either because they are needed during Hol Hamoed, or lest he not have ready money afterwards, or lest the property be ruined (Hameiri); deeds of halitzah - the document written by the court to a sister-in-law [whose husband had died childless] that she had performed halitzah in the presence of the Court;

And Refusals - if a minor girl, orphaned of her father, is given away in marriage by her mother or by her brothers, she may refuse her husband as long as she is a minor and say that she does not want him. In such a case, she goes forth from him without a bill of divorce, and the Court gives her a Document of Refusal as proof. It is permitted to write this document during Hol Hamoed, lest after the Festival she grows two pubic hairs, and will then no longer be able simply to refuse him (Nimukei Yosef); documents of arbitration - if two litigants choose for themselves judges (as it has been taught: "This one chooses for himself one and this one chooses for himself one, and the two of them [the judges] choose for themselves another one" [Sanh. 3:1]), they write this in a document, so that they cannot retract, and they obligate themselves to accept the judges' decision; and Court decrees - rulings. If they are not written down now, they may be forgotten, and a different ruling may be delivered another time (Nimukei Yosef);

And letters of authority - government decrees - reading rashut in the mishnah (Rashi). Some explain that these are the Letters of Appointment written by the Great Court to the judges when they are appointed (Rivav, in the name of Rav Tzadok; see also Nimukei Yosef). Some authorities read the word in the mishnah as reshut, and explain, with the Jerusalem Talmud, that it refers to letters of greeting that one writes to his friend. The reason why these may be written during Hol Hamoed (according to Rambam) is because a person is not very careful in the preparation of such letters, and it is like the work of an untrained person. This permission is conditional on the letter being needed during Hol Hamoed. Ravad writes that the reason is lest he not find someone to deliver his letter, and this matter, therefore, is in the category of an opportunity that might be lost.

We have explained that the reason why all the things listed in this mishnah may be written during Hol Hamoed is because each of them is something which might be lost if delayed, and this is the reason given by most commentators. Rambam, however, explains that the reason why each of these is permitted is because it is for the public benefit, and it has been taught that whatever is a public need may be done during Hol Hamoed (1:2, above).

MOED KATAN: CHAPTER 3: MISHNAH 4

One may not write promissory notes on the Moed, but if he does not trust him or if he has nothing to eat, then one may write. They may not write scrolls, tefillin, and mezuzot on the Moed, and they may not correct one letter, even in the scroll of the Temple Court. Rabbi Yehudah says, One may write tefillin and mezuzot for himself, and he may spin on his thigh the blue thread for his tzitzit.

Kehati

This mishnah teaches what may not be written during Hol Hamoed.

One may not write promissory notes on the Moed - since they can be written after Hol Hamoed, but if he - the lender, does not trust him - the borrower, without a document, and the borrower needs the money, or if he - the scribe who writes the documents (Gemara), has nothing to eat - he needs his scribal wages for Hol Hamoed then he may write - the documents during Hol Hamoed. They may not write - even Torah - scrolls, tefillin, and mezuzot on the Moed - during Hol Hamoed; and they may not correct one letter, even in the -- Torah - scroll of the Temple Court - which was in the Temple Court. Even though it is for public use, for the High Priest reads in it on Yom Kippur, they nevertheless may not correct it during Hol Hamoed, because it is not required for Hol Hamoed. Some read "in the scroll of Ezra," i.e., a Torah scroll from the time of Ezra, according to which all other Torah scrolls were corrected.

Rabbi Yehudah says, One may write tefillin and mezuzot for himself - for his own needs, but not to sell them or to hire them out, and he may spin on his thigh the blue thread for his tzitzit - on the corner of his garment [Num. 15:38]. I.e., he may do so in a changed way, in that he puts the thread on his thigh and rubs it with his had, and it is spun by itself. He may not, however, spin it with his hand, between his fingers, nor with a spindle, as he spins on a weekday (Rashi). The halakhah is that a man may spin the blue thread for [the tzitzit of] his garment, even in the way in which he spins on a weekday.

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