Non è permesso prendere moglie su Chol Hamoed, né una vergine né una vedova; ed è vietato entrare in matrimonio levirato (yibum); poiché da ciò deriva gioia, [ed è vietato mescolare un'altra gioia con la gioia del festival, vale a dire. (Deuteronomio 16:14): "E ti rallegrerai del tuo festival"—nel tuo festival, e non in tua moglie.] Ma è permesso riprendersi il divorzio, [poiché in questo caso non si ottiene tanta gioia quanto si fa nel prendere una moglie completamente nuova.] E una donna può adornarsi su Chol Hamoed [ad esempio, può dipingere gli occhi, raddrizzare i capelli in modo che non sembri spettinata, rizzare il viso, radersi la pudenda e simili.] R. Yehudah dice: Non può usare la calce (come depilatoria) , perché è doloroso per lei. [L'halachah non è conforme a R. Yehudah.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Moed Katan
מפני ששמחה היא לו – for we do not mix another rejoicing with the joy of the Festival, as it is written (Deuteronomy 16:14): “You shall rejoice in your Festival…” – in your holiday and not with your wife.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Moed Katan
Introduction
This mishnah prohibits marriage during the festival. It seems that the central idea is that one should use the festival to celebrate the festival and not as an opportunity to celebrate something else. The rabbis did not want people to say, “Since I can’t work on the festival anyway, I might as well use it for a wedding celebration.” Rather, both the week of the festival and the week of the wedding celebration should have their own separate times.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Moed Katan
אבל מחזיר הוא את גרושתו – which is not a rejoicing so much, but with a new wife, that he had never had.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Moed Katan
One may not marry a woman during the festival, whether a virgin or a widow, nor may one perform levirate marriage, because this is a joy for him. But one may remarry his divorced wife. As stated in the introduction, one may not get married during a festival. The mishnah emphasizes that this is true even if the woman is a widow, for whom a wedding celebration was not as expansive. It is forbidden even to have levirate marriage with one’s dead brother’s widow. Even though this was probably not as celebratory occasion as a more typical marriage, it is still a joy and therefore it is prohibited. There is only one type of marriage remarrying one’s divorcee which one can have on a festival. Since the couple has already been married, this is not as joyous of occasion and therefore it is permitted. This clause sheds some light on the first clause. Marriages are prohibited when they are the first time that a couple will have a chance to be married. It is partly, at least, the anticipation of the new that makes a marriage a joyous occasion and therefore prohibited during the festival. When the novelty is gone, the joy is diminished. [I realize that many will disagree with this assessment, thinking that remarriage is a great joy. While this point is debatable, the rabbis thought otherwise.]
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Bartenura on Mishnah Moed Katan
ועושה אשה תכשיטיה – such as to put kohl/a powder used for painting the eyelids in her eyes and to smooth out her hair so that it does not scatter, and to add red coloring to her face and or cause to pass a knife on her lower face, and everything that is similar to this.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Moed Katan
And a woman may make the adornments [for her wedding] during the festival. Rabbi Judah says: she may not put on lime, as that is a [temporary] disfigurement to her. Although marriage is prohibited on the festival, a woman use that week to make the adornments (the perfumes and makeup) that she will need on her wedding day. Although she is using the festival to prepare for something that she will not need during the festival, since it is not a lot of work she is allowed to do so. Rabbi Judah places one limitation on this. She cannot put lime on her body to remove hair and to make her skin look better because while the lime is on she is disfigured. Rabbi Judah holds that she should not do anything that will make her look ugly on the festival, even if it is only temporary.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Moed Katan
שניוול הוא לה – it is painful to her , and the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yosi.
