Moed Katan 3:6 — Festivals and Mourning

משחרב בית המקדש – For Shavuot/Atzeret has no payment of indemnity all seven days of the sacrifice, the laws of the Festival are abrogated, and it is a Shabbat which does not interrupt it, but at the time of the Temple, he who did not make the Festival offering on the First Day of Shavuot would offer it throughout the seven days, like the Festival of Matzot; Azeret was like the Festival of Matzot even as regards mourning. And the final result of this matter regarding the Halakhic decision is that Atzeret in this time is like the Festivals, and Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are like the festivals. He who suffered a loss prior to one of these, even one hour, the decree of [sitting] Shivah is abrogated. And if [the person] died prior to one of these Holy Days, the decree of thirty days is abrogated from him, as we have stated; and the seven days of the Festival count towards the number thirty, which is fourteen days. And Shemini Atzeret/The Eighth Day of Solemn Assembly is a festival unto itself, and is considered as if it is seven days, that makes twenty-one days. We count another nine days until the thirty and that is enough. And the decree of seven as we have stated is that he that was a mourner all seven days is prohibited in washing in hot water, even for part of his body, and in cold [water] all of his body, and he is prohibited from laundering his clothing, and in anointing and in wearing leather [shoes] and in doing work and in greeting others. And he is obligated in wrapping his head in mourning garb , and in turning over his bed, so that all of the beds that are in his house would be turned over on the ground and he should sleep on them, but not upon a bed standing upright. And it is prohibited to cut his nails with a utensil nor the hair of his mustache, even if it prevents him from eating. And it is prohibited to read from the Torah, whether from the Written Torah or from the Oral Torah. And he cannot re-stitch the tear that is upon him. And the decree of thirty is that from the seventh day until the completion of the thirtieth [day], it is prohibited to wear new clothing, or a white ironed garment, and it is prohibited to cut one’s hair, and to enjoy an optional banquet and to go shopping with one’s friends, and to marry another woman, if he has a wife and children, and he cannot sew together the tear that is upon him.

Introduction The festivals which most clearly put an end to shivah and shloshim are Pesah and Sukkot since they are both seven or if you include Shmini Atzeret (the last day of Sukkot), eight days long. In contrast, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur last only one day. Further complicating the matter, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are holidays, but not actually festivals. “Festival” in Hebrew (regel) refers only to the three pilgrimage holidays Pesah, Shavuot and Sukkot, when one was supposed to visit the Temple. Due to these complications, our mishnah contains a debate over where these one day holidays are treated like Shabbat or like Pesah and Sukkot. Rabbi Eliezer says: From the time the Temple was destroyed, Atzeret ( is like Shabbat. Atzeret is the word used in the Mishnah to refer to Shavuot. When the Temple still stood, Atzeret was similar to the other festivals. One who did not bring the appropriate sacrifice on Atzeret itself could bring it for the following six days. Hence, in a sense Atzeret was a seven day holiday, even though it was only fully observed for one day. When the Temple still stood, it would interrupt mourning. Once the Temple was destroyed and sacrifices could no longer be brought, Atzeret ceased being a seven day holiday and hence is treated like Shabbat when it comes to mourning. Rabban Gamaliel says: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are like festivals. According to Rabban Gamaliel Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are like festivals. Assumedly, his reasoning is that anything that is not Shabbat counts as a festival. He would therefore disagree with Rabbi Eliezer. Today the halakhah follows Rabban Gamaliel. Only Shabbat does not interrupt mourning. The sages say: [the rule is] not according to the words of this one nor that one, rather Atzeret is like the festivals and Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are like Shabbat. The other sages disagree with both Rabban Gamaliel and Rabbi Eliezer. The category of festivals includes all pilgrimage holidays, and even Atzeret after the destruction of the Temple. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are not “festivals” and hence they function like Shabbat. The sages’ opinion seems to be a literal interpretation of the last clause of yesterday’s mishnah which stated that festivals interrupt. The sages interpret this to mean only festivals and not other holidays.

The Halakha is according to the Sages when they say: "עצרת כרגלים" and according to Rabban Gamaliel when it (i.e., the Mishnah) states: "ראש השנה ויום הכפורים גרגלים". But if a person buried his dead even one hour prior to the Holiday of Unleavened Bread (i.e., Passover), the decree of Shivah/sitting for seven days is nullified from him. But the seven days of the Festival count from the number [for thirty days], it is found that after the Festival, he counts sixteen days to complete thirty days. And similarly, if he buried his dead even one hour before Shavuot/Atzeret or before Yom Kippur or before Rosh Hashanah, he counts after them sixteen days because they are like the Festivals ((see The Laws of Mourning, Chapter 10, Halakha 3 where he retracted from this (see the note in the previous Halakha) and decided that he counts after Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur twenty three days, and he explains that they are like Festivals regarding the fact that one interrupts mourning, but not regarding the the fact that they are considered like Shivah, for they – Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur = do not have a Hagigah/sacrifice for seven days – as is brought in Tractate Moed Katan 24b), and therefore, if he buried his dead seven days prior to them, the decree of Shloshim/thirty days is nullified, but if he buried his dead even one hour before the Festival of Sukkot, this nullifies for him the decree of Shivah/sitting for seven days like the law of every festival, and the seven days of the Festival, and the eighth day of the Festival counts for him as seven days because of the general principle among us that the Eighth Day of the Festival is a Festival of its own accord (see Tractate Yoma 20b, Tractate Sukkah 47a, 48a, Tractate Rosh Hashanah 4b and Tractate Hagigah 17a), it is found that there doesn’t remain for him after the Eighth day of the Festival [of Sukkot/also known as Shemini Atzeret] other than nine days from the total number of thirty days (see Tractate Moed Katan 24b). But a person who buries his dead during the Festival (i.e., the Intermediate Days of the Holiday), is not obligated in mourning until after the last day of the Festival, meaning to say, the Second Day of Shemini Atzeret (i.e., Simhat Torah), and he begins from it in the counting of seven days on which he is obligated in the decree of the seven day, and he counts thirty days from the day that his dead passed away, and practices on the rest of the days that are after the Festival the decree of thirty days. But the decree of seven days/Shivah is what I am explaining. All seven days he is required in the lowering of the couch, so that there isn’t in his house a bed which is not lowered, and it is prohibited to engage in sexual relations, and the wearing of leather shoes, and in the performance of work in the open, and in greeting of others and in washing in warm water, and even for part of his body, and in the washing of all of his body in cold water and it is prohibited to engage in anointing, and to read the Torah, and the Bible and the Mishnah and the Talmud, and he is obligated in wrapping up of his head, and this is that he should cover his head and wraps himself up to his lip (i.e., mustache), and it is forbidden to baste the rent , and it is forbidden to cut his fingernails with a utensil and to cut his mustache and even to disturb him at the time that he is eating, nor should he launder his clothing, all of these are an obligation during the course of all of the seven days, and from what that you need to know that on the first day, he does not put on Tefillin, nor eat Holy Things, as we explained in Tractate Pesahim (Chapter 8, Mishnah 10). And he is obligated to sit on an overturned bed on the ground, and he doesn’t eat from what is hi. And on the first three days [of mourning] it is forbidden to perform work, an even in secret, and if they gave him a greeting, he should not return it other than to say to them that he is a mourner. But the decree of Thirty Days/Shloshim, there are six things and these are they: That he does not shave the hair of his head, and does not wear a new white garment that is scoured or folded(see Tractate Shabbat 140a and The Laws of Mourning, Chapter 6, Halakha 4), and he doesn’t mend the garment torn in mourning for the dead, and he doesn’t go to business, and such they said in the Jerusalem Talmud (Chapter 3, Law 8), that on all of the dead, it is prohibited to go to business until thirty days, on ones father and on one’s mother, until his friends rebuke him and say to hm: “Walk with us,” and it is forbidden to drink in the joy of weddings all thirty days, and for his father and for his mother, a year, and it is forbidden to have sexual relations with his second wife that he married, and this is what they said, all thirty days from the day of marriage. It is found that regarding the decree of Seven days/Shivah, there are thirteen laws, as we have explained, and there are six regarding the decree of thirty days.