Moed Katan 3

וְאֵלּוּ מְגַלְּחִין בַּמּוֹעֵד, הַבָּא מִמְּדִינַת הַיָּם, וּמִבֵּית הַשִּׁבְיָה, וְהַיּוֹצֵא מִבֵּית הָאֲסוּרִין, וְהַמְנֻדֶּה שֶׁהִתִּירוּ לוֹ חֲכָמִים, וְכֵן מִי שֶׁנִּשְׁאַל לְחָכָם וְהֻתַּר, וְהַנָּזִיר, וְהַמְּצֹרָע הָעוֹלֶה מִטֻּמְאָתוֹ לְטָהֳרָתוֹ:

And these may shave on Chol Hamoed: One who returns from abroad [on Chol Hamoed, who did not have time to shave before. This, only if he went abroad for trade or for some other necessity, but if he did so only to tour, it is forbidden.], one who is freed from captivity, one who is freed from prison, [even if he were imprisoned by an Israelite, who would have permitted him to shave, (notwithstanding which he did not shave), being in distress], one who is released from his excommunication by the sages [on Chol Hamoed, who could not shave before then, shaving being forbidden to one who is excommunicated]; likewise, one who was absolved of his vow [not to shave] by a sage (on Chol Hamoed) [not having been able to find a sage who could do so before then; or else, not having been able to find "an opening for absolution" until then.], and a Nazirite, [who completed his Naziritism on Chol Hamoed], and a leper who ascended from uncleanliness to cleanliness. [If his seventh day fell out on Chol Hamoed, he is permitted to shave, viz. (Leviticus 14:9): "On the seventh day, he shall shave all of his hair." (The shaving of a nethek (a blanched spot) is not mentioned, for it is a minor activity, just shaving around the spot.) The reason that all except those mentioned in our Mishnah are forbidden to shave on Chol Hamoed is that they not plan to shave then, when they are free from work, and so enter the first day of the festival unshaven. And this, too, is the reason that it is forbidden to wash clothing on Chol Hamoed.]

וְאֵלּוּ מְכַבְּסִין בַּמּוֹעֵד, הַבָּא מִמְּדִינַת הַיָּם, וּמִבֵּית הַשִּׁבְיָה, וְהַיּוֹצֵא מִבֵּית הָאֲסוּרִים, וְהַמְנֻדֶּה שֶׁהִתִּירוּ לוֹ חֲכָמִים, וְכֵן מִי שֶׁנִּשְׁאַל לְחָכָם וְהֻתַּר, מִטְפְּחוֹת הַיָּדַיִם וּמִטְפְּחוֹת הַסַּפָּרִים וּמִטְפְּחוֹת הַסְּפָג, הַזָּבִין וְהַזָּבוֹת וְהַנִּדּוֹת וְהַיּוֹלְדוֹת, וְכָל הָעוֹלִין מִטֻּמְאָה לְטָהֳרָה, הֲרֵי אֵלּוּ מֻתָּרִין. וּשְׁאָר כָּל אָדָם, אֲסוּרִין:

And these may wash clothing on Chol Hamoed: One who returns from abroad, one who is freed from captivity, one who is freed from prison, one who is released from excommunication by the sages; likewise, one consulted a sage [on Chol Hamoed] and was absolved of his vow [not to wash clothing.] (These may be washed:) hand towels [for cleaning the hands while eating], barbers' sheets, [which must be regularly washed when the barber comes to shave those mentioned in our Mishnah as being permitted to shave on Chol Hamoed], and bath towels, [with which one dries himself when he leaves the bathhouse.] Zavin (men with a genital discharge), zavoth, niddoth, women who have just given birth, and all who ascend from uncleanliness to cleanliness [on Chol Hamoed] are permitted [to wash their clothing], and all others are forbidden (to do so). [And all flaxen garments may be washed on Chol Hamoed in that they require constant washing. Even those washed on the eve of the festival become sullied immediately and must be washed in the midst of the festival, for which reason they were not decreed against. And if one has only one robe, even if it is not of flax, he may wash it on Chol Hamoed. This, when he is standing bare (-chested) while washing it, in his leggings alone to cover his privy parts, demonstrating thereby that he has only one robe, the one he is washing.]

וְאֵלּוּ כּוֹתְבִין בַּמּוֹעֵד, קִדּוּשֵׁי נָשִׁים, גִּטִּין וְשׁוֹבָרִין, דְּיָתֵיקֵי, מַתָּנָה וּפְרוֹזְבּוּלִין, אִגְּרוֹת שׁוּם וְאִגְּרוֹת מָזוֹן, שִׁטְרֵי חֲלִיצָה וּמֵאוּנִים, וְשִׁטְרֵי בֵרוּרִין, וּגְזֵרוֹת בֵּית דִּין, וְאִגְּרוֹת שֶׁל רָשׁוּת:

And these may be written on Chol Hamoed: Betrothals of women [He writes on paper or on a shard: "You are betrothed to me," and she is betrothed even though it is not worth a p'rutah. This may be done on Chol Hamoed lest another come first and betroth her, so that she is "davar ha'aved" ("something which might go lost")], writs of divorce (gittin) [as when he wishes to leave with a caravan, and if he does not write a get now, she will remain an agunah (unmarried)], receipts [For if the debtor refuses to pay without a receipt, he is heeded and he can go (without paying), so that the creditor might lose his money.], diatiki [the gift of one who is dying. "diatiki," acronymic for "da tehei lemeikam velihyoth" ("This shall stand for confirmation.") For the words of a dying man (shechiv mera) are as written and relegated.], a gift [of a healthy man. If it is not written down, the beneficiary might lose out, for the giver might retract.], prozbolin, [that shevi'ith (the sabbatical year) not cancel the loan and he (the creditor) lose his money. "prozbol," acronymic for "proz buli uproz buti," "an amendment for the rich and an amendment for the poor." For the rich — that they not transgress (Deuteronomy 15:9): "Take heed unto yourself lest there be in your heart a thing of wickedness, etc." for the poor — that they find what to borrow. ("buli" = rich; "buti" = poor). Hillel instituted the prozbol, a writ in which the creditor states: "I relegate to you, so and so, the judges, (all monies owing me) so that I can collect any writ outstanding with so and so, whenever I wish" — whereby shevi'ith no longer releases it, it being considered as if beth-din collects his debt so that it no longer comes under (Ibid. 2): "He shall not exact it of his neighbor."], writs of assessment, [beth-din assessing the property of the debtor and giving it (the writ) to the creditor], writs of sustenance, [beth-din selling land for the sustenance of one's wife and daughters, this being recorded as an act of beth-din. Or, (a writ indicating) that one has taken it upon himself to feed his wife's daughter (by a previous marriage)], refusals [A minor who was betrothed by her mother and brothers can "refuse" her husband, saying: "I don't want this man as a husband," whereupon she leaves him without a divorce. The writ attesting to this is called a "writ of refusal" (miun)], writs of selection [of judges; each of them selecting a judge for himself and writing that they will not contest the decision of the judges], decrees [i.e., rulings] of beth-din, and writs of rashuth [edicts of the authorities, as in "Ve'al tithvada larashuth" ("Do not impose yourself upon the ruling powers."), "Hevu zehirim barashuth" ("Be heedful of the ruling powers.") Some understand it as ("letters of reshuth"), letters of greeting written by a man to his friend.]

אֵין כּוֹתְבִין שִׁטְרֵי חוֹב בַּמּוֹעֵד. וְאִם אֵינוֹ מַאֲמִינוֹ אוֹ שֶׁאֵין לוֹ מַה יֹּאכַל, הֲרֵי זֶה יִכְתֹּב. אֵין כּוֹתְבִין סְפָרִים, תְּפִלִּין וּמְזוּזוֹת, בַּמּוֹעֵד, וְאֵין מַגִּיהִין אוֹת אַחַת, אֲפִלּוּ בְּסֵפֶר (הָעֲזָרָה) עֶזְרָא. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, כּוֹתֵב אָדָם תְּפִלִּין וּמְזוּזוֹת לְעַצְמוֹ, וְטוֹוֶה עַל יְרֵכוֹ תְּכֵלֶת לְצִיצִיתוֹ:

Writs of indebtedness are not written on Chol Hamoed, [since they can be written afterwards.] And if he does not believe him [and does not want to lend him money without such a writ, and the debtor needs the money] or if he [the scribe] does not have what to eat, he writes it [and he takes his wage, this being permitted to one who, otherwise, would not have what to eat.] And not one letter is corrected, even in the scroll of the azarah (the Temple court), [which the high-priest read on Yom Kippur, even though this is a communal need]. R. Yehudah says: One may write tefillin and mezuzoth for himself [to fulfill the mitzvah, but not to sell or to rent], and he may spin tcheleth (the purple-blue thread) on his thigh for his tzitzith [by placing it on his thigh and rubbing it with his hand so that it is spun of itself. But not with his hand between his fingers and not with a spindle as he does on a weekday. The halachah is that one may spin tcheleth for his garment both with a spindle or with a stone.]

הַקּוֹבֵר אֶת מֵתוֹ שְׁלֹשָׁה יָמִים קֹדֶם לָרֶגֶל, בָּטְלָה הֵימֶנּוּ גְּזֵרַת שִׁבְעָה. שְׁמֹנָה, בָּטְלָה הֵימֶנּוּ גְּזֵרַת שְׁלֹשִׁים, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁאָמְרוּ, שַׁבָּת עוֹלָה וְאֵינָהּ מַפְסֶקֶת, רְגָלִים מַפְסִיקִין וְאֵינָן עוֹלִין:

If one buries his dead one three days before the festival [i.e., If one of his kin died before the festival, and he observed mourning three days before the festival, the decree of shivah ("the seven days") falls off, [but not that of shloshim ("the thirty days"), i.e., the interdict of cutting his hair, so that after the festival he counts (until) thirty days including the three that he had already observed. The halachah is that if one buries his dead one even one moment before the festival, the decree of shivah falls off.] (If he buries him) eight [days before the festival], the decree of shloshim falls off. [Since one of the days of (interdicted) shaving (of the shloshim) preceded the festival, the festival comes and cancels the others entirely.] For they said: Shabbath is included [The Shabbath within the days of his mourning is included in the seven (of shivah)] and does not interrupt [It does not cancel the rest, but he sits in mourning after Shabbath.]; festivals interrupt and are not included. [If he observed mourning before the festival, the festival interrupts and cancels the decree of shloshim. And if he did not observe mourning before the festival, but began his mourning on the festival, the days of the festival are not included in the shivah, but they are included in the shloshim. The reason that Shabbath is included in the shivah is that "private" mourning obtains therein, such as the interdict against cohabitation and against uncovering the head (i.e., taking off the mourner's wrap) and bathing in warm water, these being forbidden on Shabbath. But on the festival no laws of mourning obtain, for which reason it interrupts it entirely. And if no mourning at all began before the festival, as when he buried his dead one in the midst of the festival, it is not included in the shivah, and he begins to count shivah after the festival.]

רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, מִשֶּׁחָרַב בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ, עֲצֶרֶת כְּשַׁבָּת. רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה וְיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים, כָּרְגָלִים. וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים, לֹא כְדִבְרֵי זֶה וְלֹא כְדִבְרֵי זֶה, אֶלָּא עֲצֶרֶת כָּרְגָלִים, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה וְיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים כְּשַׁבָּת:

R. Eliezer says: From the time of the destruction of the Temple, [i.e., Now that the festival offerings of Shavuoth cannot be made up all seven days, it is not considered a festival, but] Shavuoth is like Shabbath, [which does not interrupt [mourning. But in the time of the Temple, when one who did not celebrate the first day of Shavuoth, could celebrate all seven, as with Pesach, Shavuoth was like Pesach even vis-à-vis mourning.] R. Gamliel says: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are like the festivals. The sages say: Neither as this one nor as the other; but Shavuoth is like the festivals and Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are like Shabbath. [As to the halachah: Shavuoth, nowadays, is like the festivals (Pesach and Succoth), as are Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. If one's kin died even a moment before one of these, the decree of shivah falls off. And if he died seven days before one of these yomim tovim, the decree of shloshim falls off, as stated. And the seven days of the festival are included in the shloshim. For even though we learned: "Festivals interrupt and are not included," they are not included in the shivah, but they are included in the shloshim — making fourteen days. And Shemini Atzereth is a festival in itself and counted as if it were seven days — making twenty-one days; so that he counts another nine days and this suffices (to complete the shloshim). The decree of shivah: A mourner, all seven days, may not bathe, even part of his body, in warm water, and all of his body, in cold water. He is forbidden to wash his clothing, to anoint himself, to wear shoes, to cohabit, to do work, and to greet people. He must wrap his head (in mourning), he must turn over all of the beds in the house on the ground and sleep in them and not on an upright bed. He may not cut his nails with an instrument, nor the hair of his moustache, even if it interferes with his eating. He is forbidden to read in the Torah, both the written or the oral. He may not baste the rent of his garment. The decree of shloshim: From shivah until shloshim he may not wear a new garment or an ironed white garment, he may not cut his hair, he may not partake of a mundane (non-mitzvah) repast, he may not go out to trade with his friends, he may not take a wife if he already has a wife and children, and he may not sew up his (mourner's) rent.]

אֵין קוֹרְעִין, וְלֹא חוֹלְצִין, וְאֵין מַבְרִין, אֶלָּא קְרוֹבָיו שֶׁל מֵת, וְאֵין מַבְרִין אֶלָּא עַל מִטָּה זְקוּפָה. אֵין מוֹלִיכִין לְבֵית הָאֵבֶל לֹא בְּטַבְלָא וְלֹא בְאִסְקוּטְלָא וְלֹא בְקָנוֹן, אֶלָּא בְסַלִּים. וְאֵין אוֹמְרִים בִּרְכַּת אֲבֵלִים בַּמּוֹעֵד, אֲבָל עוֹמְדִין בְּשׁוּרָה וּמְנַחֲמִין וּפוֹטְרִין אֶת הָרַבִּים:

Only the close kin of the dead one rend (their garments), bare (their shoulders), and are given the mourners' meal [on Chol Hamoed. (The above are performed for) father and mother, son and daughter, brother and sister, and wife. These are the seven for whom one must mourn. One does not rend his garments on Chol Hamoed for other kin, for whom he is not obligated to mourn. This, only if he were not a sage or a G d - fearing man and a doer of mitzvoth. But all are the kin of a sage who died, and all rend their garments over him, even on Chol Hamoed, and, likewise, for one who was known to be upstanding and saintly. And all who stand at the expiration of the soul of any Jew must rend their garments, even on Chol Hamoed. Rending for father and mother is (rending of) all his garments, until he bares his heart. He tears with his hand and separates the upper edge of the garment and rends it from the outside, not inserting his hand beneath his garments as he does so. He may baste them after thirty days, but he may never sew them together. And so, with his teacher who taught him Torah. But for his other kin he tears a handbreadth of the outer garment alone. And he may rend with an instrument if he desires and he need not separate the edge, and he may insert his hand under his garments when he rends. And he bastes after shivah and sews together after shloshim. Rending is done only while standing. And there is no baring of arms and shoulders on Chol Hamoed. The mourners' meal is the first meal (after the burial), which the mourner may not prepare for himself and which others provided for him in the open place of the city. And on Chol Hamoed only his kin have the meal (and not in the open place, but) in his house.] And the mourners' meal is eaten only on an upright bed. [Even in his house, he is not served the mourners' meal on an overturned bed. For all of his kin and close acquaintances would regularly eat (the mourners' meal) with him on an overturned bed; but on Chol Hamoed they would eat it only on an upright bed.] The mourners' meal is not brought [to the mourner's house] on a tray ["honorifically"] or on a salver [of silver, gold, or glass. I have heard (it interpreted as) a silver dish.], or in a reed basket, but in a basket [of peeled willow, so as not to embarrass the poor who come to bring the meal and who have neither tray nor salver.] And the mourners' blessing is not recited on Chol Hamoed, but they stand in a row and console (the mourners), and those assembled there are permitted to leave immediately.

אֵין מַנִּיחִין אֶת הַמִּטָּה בָּרְחוֹב, שֶׁלֹּא לְהַרְגִּיל אֶת הַהֶסְפֵּד, וְלֹא שֶׁל נָשִׁים לְעוֹלָם, מִפְּנֵי הַכָּבוֹד. נָשִׁים בַּמּוֹעֵד מְעַנּוֹת, אֲבָל לֹא מְטַפְּחוֹת. רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל אוֹמֵר, הַסְּמוּכוֹת לַמִּטָּה, מְטַפְּחוֹת:

The litter is not placed outside [on Chol Hamoed] so as not to arouse eulogizing (which is forbidden then). And the litter of women is never placed outside, for (considerations of) dignity. [("never":) even on Chol Hamoed, viz. (Numbers 20:1): "And Miriam died there and she was buried there" — immediately after death, burial.] Women may lament on Chol Hamoed, but they may not clap (in mourning). R. Yishmael says: Those near the litter may do so.

בְּרָאשֵׁי חֳדָשִׁים, בַּחֲנֻכָּה וּבְפוּרִים, מְעַנּוֹת, וּמְטַפְּחוֹת בָּזֶה וּבָזֶה, אֲבָל לֹא מְקוֹנְנוֹת. נִקְבַּר הַמֵּת, לֹא מְעַנּוֹת וְלֹא מְטַפְּחוֹת. אֵיזֶהוּ עִנּוּי, שֶׁכֻּלָּן עוֹנוֹת כְּאֶחָת. קִינָה, שֶׁאַחַת מְדַבֶּרֶת וְכֻלָּן עוֹנוֹת אַחֲרֶיהָ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ירמיה ט), וְלַמֵּדְנָה בְנֹתֵיכֶם נֶהִי, וְאִשָּׁה רְעוּתָהּ קִינָה. אֲבָל לֶעָתִיד לָבֹא הוּא אוֹמֵר (ישעיה כה), בִּלַּע הַמָּוֶת לָנֶצַח, וּמָחָה ה' אֱלֹהִים דִּמְעָה מֵעַל כָּל פָּנִים וְגוֹ':

On Rosh Chodesh, Channukah, and Purim, the women lament and clap hands together, but they do not keen. Once the body has been buried, they neither lament nor clap. Which is "lamenting" (inui)? All answering (onoth, i.e., lamenting) as one. (Which is) "keening" (kinah)? One speaking and the others answering after her, viz. (Jeremiah 9:19): "And teach (lamednah) your daughters lamentation, and a woman her neighbor, kinah." ["lamednah" (feminine plural, for "lamentation") indicates (by contrast) that with "kinah," one speaks and the other responds.] But, in time to come, (Isaiah 25:8): "He will swallow up death for all eternity, and the L rd G d will wipe the tear from every face, etc." [And all will respond in song, there being no death and no tear. This verse (Isaiah) is adduced here by reason of (Koheleth 8:3): "Do not stand at (i.e., conclude with) an evil thing."]