txt/Mishnah/Seder Moed/Mishnah Moed Katan/English/William Davidson Edition - English.txt

Mishnah Moed Katan
משנה מועד קטן
William Davidson Edition - English
https://korenpub.com/collections/the-noe-edition-koren-talmud-bavli-1

Mishnah Moed Katan



Chapter 1

<b>One may irrigate a field that requires irrigation on</b> the intermediate days of <b>a Festival as well as during the Sabbatical Year, both from a newly emerged spring</b> that began to flow only during the Festival, <b>and from a spring that did not just emerge</b> and that has been flowing for some time. <b>However, one may not irrigate</b> a field <b>with rainwater</b> collected in a cistern, a procedure that requires excessive exertion, <b>or with water drawn with a shadoof [<i>kilon</i>],</b> a lever used to raise water with a bucket from deep down in a well. <b>And one may not construct circular ditches</b> around the bases of <b>grapevines</b> on the intermediate days of a Festival.
<b>Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya says: One may not construct a new</b> water <b>channel during</b> the intermediate days of <b>a Festival or during the Sabbatical Year. And the Rabbis say: One may construct a new</b> water <b>channel during the Sabbatical Year and one may repair damaged</b> water channels <b>during</b> the intermediate days of <b>a Festival.</b> In addition to performing labor on one’s own property in order to avoid financial loss, it is also permitted to perform labor on the intermediate days of a Festival for the public welfare: <b>One may repair damaged water</b> cisterns <b>that are in the public domain, and clean them out</b> by removing the dirt and sediment that accumulated there; <b>one may repair roads, streets, and ritual baths; and one may tend to all</b> other <b>public needs.</b> So too, <b>one may mark graves</b> to inform the public of their ritual impurity, <b>and</b> inspectors <b>may even go out to</b> uproot <b>the</b> shoots of prohibited <b>diverse kinds</b> [<b><i>kilayim</i>]</b> that grew in the fields during the rainy season.
<b>Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov says:</b> In a field that is filled with trees, <b>one may draw water</b> via channels <b>from</b> one <b>tree to</b> another <b>tree</b> on the intermediate days of a Festival because trees are in dire need of water. <b>And</b> this is permitted <b>provided that</b> in doing so <b>he does not water the entire field.</b> With regard to <b>plants that were not watered prior to the Festival, one may not water them on</b> the intermediate days of <b>the Festival</b> because they do not need the water. <b>But the Rabbis permit</b> watering in <b>this</b> case, i.e., trees, <b>and that</b> case, i.e., plants.
<b>One may trap moles</b> [<b><i>ishut</i></b>] <b>and mice in an orchard and in a field of grain in a way that is not his</b> usual <b>manner,</b> i.e., as he would trap them all year round, both <b>on</b> the intermediate days of <b>a Festival and during the Sabbatical Year. But the Rabbis say: In an orchard</b> he may trap them <b>in his</b> usual <b>manner, but in a field of grain,</b> where there is no danger of substantial financial loss, he may only trap them in a way that is <b>not his</b> usual <b>manner.</b> <b>And one may seal a breach</b> in the wall of his garden <b>on</b> the intermediate days of <b>a Festival, and during the Sabbatical Year one may</b> even <b>build</b> a wall <b>in his</b> usual <b>manner,</b> as this is not considered an agricultural labor. Consequently, despite the fact that this benefits the garden by offering it protection, it is not prohibited during the Sabbatical Year.
When symptoms of leprosy appear, they must be examined by a priest, who determines whether or not the symptoms qualify as leprosy. <b>Rabbi Meir says:</b> A priest <b>may initially examine</b> an individual showing <b>symptoms of leprosy on the intermediate days of a Festival</b> in order <b>to be lenient,</b> i.e., he may pronounce the individual to be free of leprosy, <b>but not</b> in order <b>to be stringent;</b> he may not pronounce the individual to be impure. The individual does not become ritually impure until the priest pronounces him to have leprosy, and therefore the priest may remain silent and thereby prevent causing the afflicted individual distress during the Festival. <b>And the Rabbis say:</b> The priest may <b>not</b> examine the symptoms in order <b>to be lenient or</b> in order <b>to be stringent.</b> <b>Rabbi Meir also stated</b> another leniency concerning the <i>halakhot</i> of the intermediate days of a Festival: <b>A person may gather the bones of his father and mother</b> from their temporary graves on the intermediate days of a Festival. In ancient times, it was customary to first bury a corpse in a temporary grave. After the flesh had decomposed, the bones would be collected, placed in a coffin, and buried in a vault together with the bones of the deceased individual’s ancestors. This is permitted on the intermediate days of a Festival <b>because</b> the fact that one merited to bring the bones of his deceased parents to the graves of their ancestors <b>is</b> a source of <b>joy for him.</b> <b>Rabbi Yosei says:</b> One does not gather these bones on the intermediate days of a Festival, because <b>it is</b> a source of <b>mourning for him.</b> Even though he is happy to be able to bury his parents’ bones in their ancestral graves, he is still pained by the memory of their death. And all agree that <b>a person may not arouse [<i>ye’orer</i>]</b>lamentation <b>for his deceased</b> relative, <b>and he may not eulogize him</b> during the <b>thirty days before a pilgrimage Festival.</b>
<b>One may not dig crypts or graves on</b> the intermediate days of <b>a Festival</b> in preparation for those who are still alive, <b>but one may adjust</b> previously dug <b>crypts on</b> the intermediate days of <b>a Festival</b> in order to receive a particular corpse. <b>And one may</b> also <b>construct</b> a laundry <b>pond on</b> the intermediate days of <b>a Festival</b> as it does not involve excessive effort. <b>And</b> one may also prepare <b>a coffin</b> if he is together <b>with the corpse in the</b> same <b>courtyard,</b> as in that case everyone knows that he is preparing the coffin for the deceased. <b>Rabbi Yehuda prohibits</b> making the coffin <b>unless</b> one <b>has</b> wooden <b>boards with him</b> that had already been cut before the Festival and that need only to be attached.
<b>One may not marry a woman on</b> the intermediate days of <b>a Festival, not virgins and not widows, and one may not perform levirate marriage</b> with his sister-in-law, if his brother died childless, <b>because it is</b> a <b>joyous</b> occasion <b>for him. However, one may remarry his divorced wife</b> on the intermediate days of a Festival, as this is not as great a joy for him. <b>And a woman may engage in</b> all <b>her</b> usual <b>cosmetic treatments</b> to enhance her physical appearance <b>on</b> the intermediate days of <b>a Festival. Rabbi Yehuda says: She may not apply lime</b> to her skin <b>because it</b> is temporarily <b>a disgrace to her,</b> as she is unattractive before the lime is peeled off and will therefore be distressed during the Festival.
The mishna continues: <b>A layman,</b> who is not a skilled tailor, <b>may sew in his</b> usual <b>manner</b> if necessary for the Festival, <b>whereas a craftsman may form</b> only <b>temporary stitches. And one may interweave</b> the cords attached to the frames of <b>beds</b> upon which a mattress is placed. <b>Rabbi Yosei says: One may</b> only <b>tighten</b> the cords but not interweave them.
<b>One may set up an oven, a stove, and a mill on</b> the intermediate days of <b>a Festival. Rabbi Yehuda says: One may not chisel millstones for the first time</b> on the intermediate days of a Festival.
<b>One may construct a railing for a roof or a balcony</b> if it is done in a nonprofessional manner, as <b>the work of a layman, but not</b> if it is done skillfully, as <b>the work of a craftsman. One may plaster the cracks</b> in an oven <b>and roll over them with a roller,</b> a wooden tool used to smooth out clay, <b>with a hand or a foot, but not with a presser,</b> a tool that is specially designed for this task. With regard to <b>the hinge</b> of a door, <b>and the cylinder</b> of the hinge, <b>and the</b> cross <b>beam</b> that holds the door, <b>and a lock and a key that broke, one may fix them on</b> the intermediate days of <b>a Festival</b> as these items are essential for the Festival and their repair cannot be delayed. This is permitted, <b>provided that he does not intend</b> ahead of time <b>to do his labor on the Festival</b> and delay it until that time. <b>And</b> with regard to <b>all preserved food from which one can eat on the Festival,</b> since they become ready to be eaten in a short amount of time, <b>he</b> may <b>preserve them</b> on the intermediate days of a Festival.

Chapter 2

The mishna discusses <b>one who had</b> already <b>turned over his olives</b> as part of the process of preparing them for pressing, <b>and mourning</b> for a close relative <b>befell him</b> and as a result he was prohibited from engaging in work, <b>or</b> some other <b>unavoidable accident</b> occurred, <b>or</b> his <b>workers misled him,</b> promising to come but failing to do so, so that he could not press his olives before the Festival. Under these circumstances, during the intermediate days of the Festival, <b>he may</b> place the olives in the press and <b>load the beam</b> with weights for the <b>initial</b> pressing of the olives and <b>leave it</b> this way <b>until after the Festival;</b> this is <b>the statement of Rabbi Yehuda.</b> <b>Rabbi Yosei says: He may press</b> the olives <b>and complete</b> the process <b>and</b> then <b>plug</b> each barrel of oil <b>in its</b> usual <b>manner.</b> Since delay can entail financial loss, the Sages did not require him to alter the normal process of extracting the oil.
<b>And similarly,</b> with regard to <b>one whose wine was</b> already <b>in the</b> collection <b>pit</b> beside the wine press and needed to be removed lest it sour, <b>and mourning</b> for some close relative <b>or</b> some other <b>unavoidable accident befell him, or</b> his workers <b>misled him,</b> promising to come but failing to do so, during the intermediate days of the Festival <b>he may draw off</b> the wine <b>and complete</b> the process, <b>and</b> then <b>plug</b> each barrel of wine <b>in its</b> usual <b>manner;</b> this is <b>the statement of Rabbi Yosei. Rabbi Yehuda says: He should construct a wooden panel</b> to cover the collection pit <b>so that</b> the wine <b>will not sour.</b>
<b>A person may bring his fruit in</b> from the field on the intermediate days of the Festival <b>because</b> he is concerned <b>about thieves, and he may draw his flax out of the soaking pool so that it is not ruined</b> from soaking too long in the water, <b>provided that he does not plan</b> from the outset to perform <b>his work on</b> the intermediate days of <b>the Festival. And</b> with regard to <b>all</b> of these cases, <b>if one planned</b> from the outset to perform <b>his labor on</b> the intermediate days of <b>the Festival,</b> the fruit of that labor <b>must be lost</b> and no benefit may be derived from it.
<b>One may not purchase houses, slaves, and cattle</b> on the intermediate days of a Festival <b>unless</b> it is <b>for the sake of the Festival, or</b> to provide <b>for the needs of the seller who does not have anything to eat.</b> <b>One may not move</b> his possessions <b>from house to house</b> during the intermediate days of a Festival, <b>but he may move</b> them <b>to his courtyard</b> if that is necessary. <b>One may not bring</b> home <b>utensils from the house of a craftsman</b> after he has completed his work, but <b>if one is concerned about them</b> that if he leaves them in the craftsman’s house they are likely to be stolen, <b>he may move them to another courtyard.</b>
On the intermediate days of a Festival, <b>figs</b> that were spread out to dry <b>may be covered with straw</b> to protect them from rain and dew. <b>Rabbi Yehuda says: One may even condense</b> the figs. <b>Those who sell produce, clothing, and utensils may sell</b> them <b>in private, for the sake of the Festival. Fishermen, and groats makers [<i>dashoshot</i>], and</b> bean <b>pounders,</b> who pulverize the beans, <b>may ply</b> their trades <b>in private for the sake of the Festival. Rabbi Yosei says: They were stringent with themselves</b> to refrain from this work even with respect to what was needed for the Festival.

Chapter 3

<b>And these may shave</b> and cut their hair <b>on</b> the intermediate days of <b>a Festival: One who comes from a country overseas; and</b> one who is released <b>from a house of captivity; and one who comes out of prison</b> on the intermediate days of a Festival; <b>and one who had been ostracized</b> and therefore prohibited from cutting his hair, <b>and the Sages released him</b> from his decree of ostracism on the intermediate days of the Festival; <b>and similarly, one who</b> had vowed not to cut his hair and then <b>requested of a Sage</b> to dissolve his vow <b>and was released</b> from it on the intermediate days of the Festival; <b>and the nazirite</b> whose term of naziriteship ended on the intermediate days of a Festival; <b>and the leper</b> who needs to purify himself on the intermediate days and must shave his entire body in order to leave <b>his</b> state of ritual <b>impurity</b> and regain <b>his</b> ritual <b>purity.</b> Since these people were not able to cut their hair on the eve of the Festival, they are permitted to do so on the intermediate days of the Festival.
<b>And these may launder</b> their clothes <b>on</b> the intermediate days of <b>a Festival: One who comes from a country overseas; and one who</b> is released <b>from a house of captivity; and one who comes out of prison</b> on the intermediate days of a Festival; <b>and one who had been ostracized and the Sages released</b> him from his decree of ostracism; <b>and similarly, one who</b> had vowed not to launder his clothes and he <b>requested from a Sage</b> to dissolve his vow <b>and was released</b> from it on the intermediate days of a Festival. <b>Hand towels; and barbers’ towels,</b> which are used to cover a person having a haircut; <b>and body-drying towels,</b> all of which get quickly soiled, may be laundered on the intermediate days of a Festival. <b><i>Zavim</i>,</b> men suffering from an impure venereal emission; <b><i>zavot</i>,</b> women who experience a flow of menstrual-type blood on three consecutive days during a time of the month when they do not expect to experience menstrual bleeding; <b>menstruating women; women who have</b> just <b>given birth; and all others who leave</b> a state of <b>ritual impurity for</b> a state of <b>ritual purity</b> on the intermediate days of the Festival, <b>these</b> people <b>are</b> all <b>permitted</b> to launder their clothes in order to purify themselves. <b>But all other people are prohibited</b> from laundering during the intermediate days of the Festival.
<b>And these</b> are the documents that <b>may be written on</b> the intermediate days of <b>a Festival:</b> Documents of <b>betrothal of wives,</b> through which bridegrooms betroth their brides; <b>bills of divorce; receipts</b> for the repayment of debts; <b>wills [<i>deyateiki</i>];</b> deeds of <b>gift; <i>perozbolin</i>,</b> documents through which lenders authorize the courts to collect their loans on their behalf, thereby preventing the Sabbatical year from canceling their debts; <b>letters of valuation,</b> which were drawn up by the court when they valuated property and transferred it to the lender; and <b>letters of sustenance,</b> which were drawn up when one accepted upon himself to maintain another, e.g., his step-daughter. The list continues: <b>Documents of the ritual through which the brother-in-law frees the <i>yevama</i> of her levirate bonds [<i>ḥalitza</i>],</b> thereby freeing her from the obligation to marry one of her deceased husband’s brothers; documents in which the court records the <b>refusal</b> of a girl upon reaching majority to remain married to the man to whom her mother or brothers married her as a minor after the death of her father; <b>documents of arbitration,</b> in which the court summarizes a conflict that had been resolved through arbitration; <b>court rulings; and</b> the official <b>correspondence of the</b> ruling <b>authorities.</b>
<b>One may not write bills of debt on</b> the intermediate days of <b>a Festival. But if</b> the lender <b>does not trust</b> the borrower, and he is concerned that the borrower will later deny the loan, <b>or</b> if the scribe <b>has nothing to eat,</b> then <b>he may write</b> a bill of debt during the Festival week. <b>One may not write</b> Torah <b>scrolls, phylacteries, or <i>mezuzot</i> on the</b> intermediate days of <b>a Festival, nor may one correct a single letter, even in the</b> Torah <b>scroll of Ezra,</b> which was kept in the Temple and upon which all the Jewish communities relied. <b>Rabbi Yehuda says: One may write phylacteries and <i>mezuzot</i> for himself</b> on the intermediate days of a Festival if he needs them. <b>And one may spin sky-blue</b> wool <b>for</b> his <b>ritual fringes on his thigh,</b> but not in the ordinary manner with a spindle, as this procedure must be performed in an altered manner on the intermediate days of a Festival.
<b>One who buries his deceased</b> relative <b>three days before a pilgrimage Festival</b> has <b>the decree of</b> the <b>seven-</b>day period of mourning, i.e., the <i>halakhot</i> and prohibitions associated with that period, <b>nullified for him</b> by the Festival. He is not required to complete this seven-day mourning period after the Festival. If one buries his deceased relative <b>eight</b> days before a pilgrimage Festival, then <b>the decree of thirty</b> days <b>is nullified for him.</b> The restrictions that ordinarily apply during this thirty-day mourning period no longer apply after the Festival. This is <b>because</b> the Sages <b>said</b> a principle with regard to this issue: <b>Shabbat counts</b> as one of the days of mourning, although one may not mourn on it <b>and it does not interrupt</b> the mourning period, which continues after Shabbat. The <b>pilgrimage Festivals,</b> on the other hand, <b>interrupt</b> the mourning period, so that if one began mourning before such a Festival, then the mourning period is canceled by the Festival. <b>They do not,</b> however, <b>count.</b> If one did not begin mourning before the Festival, or if his relative died during the Festival, then he is required to complete his mourning period afterward, as the days of the Festival do not count toward the requisite days of mourning.
<b>Rabbi Eliezer says: From the time that the Temple was destroyed, <i>Shavuot</i> is like Shabbat,</b> because nowadays the days following <i>Shavuot</i> are not treated like Festival days. When the Temple stood, many of the Festival’s offerings that could not be sacrificed on <i>Shavuot</i> itself would be sacrificed during the six days following the Festival. Nowadays, however, when offerings are no longer sacrificed, <i>Shavuot</i> lasts for only one day in Eretz Yisrael, and therefore it is treated like Shabbat with regard to mourning: It counts as one of the days of mourning, but does not interrupt the period of mourning. <b>Rabban Gamliel says:</b> Even <b>Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur</b> are considered <b>like</b> the <b>pilgrimage Festivals,</b> in that they interrupt the mourning period but are not counted toward the days of mourning. <b>And the Rabbis say:</b> The <i>halakha</i> <b>is neither in accordance with the statement of</b> Rabbi Eliezer <b>nor in accordance with the statement of </b> Rabban Gamliel. <b>Rather,</b> with regard to mourning, <b><i>Shavuot</i></b> is treated <b>like the</b> other <b>pilgrimage Festivals,</b> whereas <b>Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur</b> are treated <b>like Shabbat.</b>
Mourners <b>do not rend</b> their garments during the intermediate days of a Festival <b>and do not remove</b> their garments from their shoulders. <b>And</b> others <b>do not provide them with a meal [<i>mavrin</i>]</b> after the burial, <b>except for close relatives of the deceased. And</b> the consolers <b>provide the</b> first <b>meal</b> after the burial <b>only</b> while the mourner is sitting <b>on an upright bed,</b> and not on one that is overturned. <b>One does not bring</b> the first meal after the burial <b>to the house of mourning on a small tray [<i>tavla</i>], in a bowl [<i>iskutla</i>], or in a narrow-mouthed basket [<i>kanon</i>], but rather in</b> ordinary <b>baskets. And the mourners’ blessing is not recited on</b> the intermediate days of <b>a Festival, but</b> the consolers may <b>stand in a row</b> when the mourners leave the cemetery <b>and console</b> them. <b>And</b> the mourners <b>dismiss the many</b> consolers, by telling them that they may return home after they have fulfilled the mitzva of consoling the mourners.
<b>The bier</b> of the deceased <b>is not set down in the street</b> during the intermediate days of a Festival <b>so as not to encourage eulogies.</b> On an ordinary weekday, people would gather in the street around the bier to eulogize the deceased, but this should be avoided during the intermediate days of the Festival. <b>And</b> the biers <b>of women</b> are <b>never</b> set down, even if it is not the intermediate days of a Festival, <b>due to their honor.</b> Blood might drip from their bodies, and it would cause them dishonor if their blood stained the street. <b>On</b> the intermediate days of <b>a Festival women may wail</b> in grief over the deceased, <b>but they may not clap [<i>metapeḥot</i>]</b> their hands in mourning. <b>Rabbi Yishmael says: Those who are close to the bier may clap.</b>
<b>On New Moons, Hanukkah and Purim,</b> which are not Festivals by Torah law, the women <b>may</b> both <b>wail and clap</b> their hands in mourning. <b>On both</b> the intermediate days of a Festival <b>and on</b> New Moons, Hanukkah and Purim <b>they may not lament.</b> After <b>the deceased has been buried they may neither wail nor clap.</b> The mishna explains: <b>What is</b> considered <b>wailing?</b> This is <b>when they all wail together</b> simultaneously. And what is considered <b>a lament?</b> This is <b>when one speaks and they all answer after her</b> with a repeated refrain, <b>as it is stated: “And teach your daughters wailing and everyone her neighbor lamentation”</b> (Jeremiah 9:19). In order to conclude on a positive note, the mishna says: <b>But with regard to the future,</b> the verse <b>states: “He will destroy death forever; and the Lord, God, will wipe away tears from off all faces</b> and the reproach of His people He will take away from off all the earth” (Isaiah 25:8).