Mazal Tov! Today we complete our study of Massechet Moed Katan which, over the past month, has taught us a range of laws relating to Chol HaMoed, as well as various mourning laws and customs. However, just prior to me sharing what I believe to be an original interpretation of the final line of our…
Details
This Shabbat we will be reading Parshat Tetzaveh, which teaches us about the various בגדי כהונה (priestly clothes), and it is noteworthy that many of the classic commentaries on Parshat Tetzaveh quote a teaching about the בגדי כהונה that is found in today’s daf (Moed Katan 28a). To explain this teaching we first need to…
Details
Sometimes you can read about an incident that took place in the past and not fully appreciate the impact that it had on those living at the time and its implications for today – and a case in point is what we are taught in today’s daf (Moed Katan 27b) about Rabban Gamliel and the…
Details
Today’s daf (Moed Katan 26a) informs us that קריעה should be performed not only on the death of one’s mother and father, but also on the death of one’s primary Torah teacher. Significantly, this law is derived from the dramatic moment when Elisha parts ways with his teacher Eliyahu, at which time Elisha screams אָבִי…
Details
Early on in today’s daf (Moed Katan 25a) a ‘suggestion’ is made that children die young because their parents did not mourn the death of an upright person – which parallels a number of similar ‘suggestions’ mentioned elsewhere (Shabbat 32b) which also attribute the death of children to various transgressions of their parents.You will note…
Details
The Mishna (Moed Katan 3:7) at the end of today’s daf (Moed Katan 24b) states that only the seven closest relatives (father, mother, sister, brother, son, daughter, spouse) of someone who has died on Chol HaMoed tear their clothes, wear non-leather shoes, and eat a mourner’s meal.As we shall see in the upcoming daf (Moed…
Details
We are taught in today’s daf (Moed Katan 23a-b) that there was a dispute between בני יהודה (the Judeans) and בני גלילא (the Galileans) about whether יש אבלות בשבת – ‘there is mourning on Shabbat’ or אין אבלות בשבת – ‘there is no mourning on Shabbat’.It is noteworthy that from the Gemara alone it is…
Details
Today’s daf (Moed Katan 22b) speaks about קריעה – the tefach-long tear that a mourner rips into their clothes upon the death of a close family member, and on first glance, קריעה is purely a destructive act.However, as the Rambam makes clear in his Hilchot Shabbat 10:10, the קריעה performed by a mourner does have…
Details
Today’s daf (Moed Katan 21b) informs us that a mourner is forbidden בשאילת שלום (which is generally translated as meaning ‘to greet others’ although, as I will explain below, it means so much more than this), while we are also taught that we do not greet mourners in the usual fashion.As I explained in my…
Details
It is a concept which I began exploring many years ago, and one that is explicitly discussed by a range of classic commentaries basing themselves on a range of biblical verses. Yet notwithstanding this, it is a concept which I believe is insufficiently clear in the minds of even the most observant of Jews. A…
Details
The Mishna (Moed Katan 3:3) in today’s daf (Moed Katan 18b) lists a variety of procedures and actions that may be performed on Chol HaMoed, notwithstanding the fact that they involve, at the very least, the act of writing which is generally avoided on Chol HaMoed.For example, we are told that: documents confirming the agreement…
Details
The Mishna (Moed Katan 3:3) in today’s daf (Moed Katan 18b) lists a variety of procedures and actions that may be performed on Chol HaMoed, notwithstanding the fact that they involve, at the very least, the act of writing which is generally avoided on Chol HaMoed.For example, we are told that: documents confirming the agreement…
Details
Today’s daf (Moed Katan 17a, and also repeated in Chagigah 15b) contains an oft-cited yet nevertheless cryptic teaching about the qualities of the ideal Torah teacher.Quoting from Malachi 2:7, Rav Yochanan asks: ‘What is the meaning of the verse כִּי שִׂפְתֵי כֹהֵן יִשְׁמְרוּ דַעַת וְתוֹרָה יְבַקְשׁוּ מִפִּיהוּ כִּי מַלְאַךְ ה’ צְבָאוֹת הוּא – “For a…
Details
Sometimes you can look at the same text many times, each time thinking that you have understood it, but then a new observation nudges you to thinking about it from a different perspective, and along with some further reflection and study you can then reach a completely different understanding of a familiar text.Specifically, I am…
Details
Today is International Holocaust Memorial Day when many people around the world will learn about, and reflect upon, the horrors of what was done to our people, and how they were ghettoized, imprisoned, starved, abused, and brutally murdered. And as I learn today’s daf (Moed Katan 15a-b), which lists many of the restrictions of a…
Details
We are taught by Rav Yosef in today’s daf (Moed Katan 14b) that the Sanhedrin would try capital cases on Chol HaMoed.The problem with this, as noted by Abaye while quoting a teaching from Rabbi Akiva, is that members of a Sanhedrin would fast on the day when someone whom they had judged to be…
Details
A topic that arises in today’s daf (Moed Katan 13a) relates to the types of business deals and other work that may be done on Chol HaMoed in order to provide money for someone who אין לו מה יאכל (meaning ‘does not have anything to eat’).Clearly, this is not just speaking about someone who is…
Details
We are taught in today’s daf (Moed Katan 12b) in the name of Rav that it is permitted to cut down a palm tree on Chol HaMoed even if one just does so for sawdust. However, not only did Abaye disagree with this ruling, but he felt so strongly that it was not halachically justified…
Details
Massechet Moed Katan, which spans three chapters, primarily addresses the laws of Chol HaMoed. However, much of its third chapter is dedicated to the laws of אבלות (mourning), and this is because a mourner is forbidden to perform certain activities which generally align with those activities forbidden on Chol HaMoed, and also because some mourning…
Details
Today’s daf (Moed Katan 10) addresses a range of activities that people may want – or feel that they need – to do on Chol HaMoed. But in order to understand the halachic discussion in today’s daf, we need to understand the tone of halachic discourse relating to activity on Chol HaMoed.Overall, constructive activities that…
Details
It happens twice in our daf (Moed Katan 9b). A son is encouraged by his father to receive a bracha from one, or more, great Rabbis. The son goes and receives the bracha, but he thinks that the words of the Rabbi/s is meaningless, and in one of the two cases, even offensive. But afterwards,…
Details
We are taught in the Mishna (Moed Katan 1:7) that weddings may not be held on Chol HaMoed. However, as the Gemara (Moed Katan 8b) then asks, this seems strange since שמחה היא לו – weddings are a source of joy. As such, surely Chol HaMoed is the ideal time to get married!The answer to…
Details
The Mishna (Moed Katan 1:5) and the subsequent discussion in today’s daf (Moed Katan 7a), contains what I believe to be an important insight in terms of practical Jewish living and halachic decision-making.As we know, the Torah informs us that: ‘when a person has a swelling, a rash, or a bright patch on their skin,…
Details
Having been taught in the Mishna (Moed Katan 1:2) that ויוצאין אף על הכלאים – ‘[agents of the court] also go out [to inspect fields] for Kilayim (plant crossbreeding) [on Chol HaMoed Pesach]’, today’s daf (Moed Katan 6a) raises the question as to why this is done for the later crops (according to one opinion)…
Details
We were previously taught in the Mishna (Moed Katan 1:2) that it is permissible to fix markers on an unmarked grave – or what is known as ציון קברות – on Chol HaMoed to serve as a warning to those passing by from contracting Tum’at Met. And in today’s daf (Moed Katan 5a), there is…
Details
We were previously taught in the Mishna (Moed Katan 1:2) that ומתקנין את המקולקלת במועד – ‘we may repair a damaged irrigation canal during Chol HaMoed’, and this leads the Gemara (Moed Katan 4b) to ask מאי מקולקלת – ‘what is [considered] damaged?’. To this, Rabbi Abba answers that if the irrigation canal was previously…
Details
Much of today’s daf (Moed Katan 3a-b) explores the various activities which are prohibited during the Shemitta year, and it is here where we are taught that there are also ימים שהוסיפו חכמים לפני ראש השנה – ‘days that the Sages added prior to Rosh Hashanah [when plowing is also prohibited]’.In seeking to explain this…
Details
To be a ‘Shaliach’ is generally translated, at least in the purely halachic sense, as a ‘messenger’ whose task it is to deliver a particular item or message from one person to another. However, the word ‘Shaliach’ in the broader aggadic sense – especially as reflected in the teachings and vision of the Lubavitcher Rebbe…
Details