La litière n'est pas placée à l'extérieur [sur Chol Hamoed] pour ne pas susciter l'éloge (ce qui est alors interdit). Et la litière des femmes n'est jamais placée à l'extérieur, pour (des considérations de) dignité. [("jamais" :) même sur Chol Hamoed, à savoir. (Nombres 20: 1): "Et Miriam y mourut et elle y fut enterrée"—immédiatement après la mort, enterrement.] Les femmes peuvent se lamenter sur Chol Hamoed, mais elles ne peuvent pas applaudir (en deuil). R. Yishmael dit: Ceux qui sont près de la litière peuvent le faire.
Bartenura on Mishnah Moed Katan
אין מניחין את המטה – [bier] of the dead person.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Moed Katan
Introduction
This mishnah continues to deal with mourning practices during the festival.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Moed Katan
ברחוב – [in the street] during the Festival (i.e., the Intermediate Days of the Festival/Hol HaMoed).
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Moed Katan
They do not place the bier on the thruway [during the festival] so as not to encourage eulogizing. Normally, the bier, a stretcher with the body on it, would be placed on the thruway, the central road that passes through the town, so that people would have the opportunity to offer up public eulogies. Since eulogies are forbidden on the festival, the bier is not placed on the thruway.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Moed Katan
לעולם – even during the weekdays, as it is written (Numbers 20:1): “Miriam died there and was buried there.” The burial is juxtaposed to the death.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Moed Katan
And the bier of women is never [set down on the thruway] for the sake of propriety. The body of the dead person was covered only with a shroud while it was on the bier. It could become exposed. Due to the rabbis’ concerns of modesty, they did not wish the woman’s bier to be placed on the thruway even on non-festival occasions.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Moed Katan
מטפחות – clap palm to palm
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Moed Katan
Women may raise a wail during the festival, but not clap [their hands in grief]. Rabbi Ishmael says: those that are close to the bier clap [their hands in grief]. Women played a significant role at funerals. A common role attributed to them is that of professional wailers (people who cry out loud, not those who hunt big animals in the sea). The mishnah allows them to wail during the festival, but they may not clap their hands. This seems to have been a common funerary practice. Others explain that this doesn’t refer to clapping one’s hands or slapping one’s hands on thigh but beating one’s breast. Rabbi Ishmael is more lenient and allows the women closest to the bier to also clap their hands.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Moed Katan
ור"ש אומר כו' – But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Shimon.
