Moed Katan 27a (כז.) — the Talmud in English

The Sages taught: One who travels from place to place

if he can reduce his business

business involving a matter that will be lost. Tosafot

should reduce it.

But if not—

that is, he cannot reduce it—

he should conduct it together with them .

He should not conduct his business by himself, but only together with others in a group .

The Sages taught: From when does one overturn the beds?

Once he has left the entrance of his house, the statement of Rabbi Eliezer.

Rabbi Yehoshua says: Once the burial cover has been sealed .

It happened that Rabban Gamliel the Elder died,

and Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Eliezer instructed his followers, each according to his position, as to when the bed should be overturned:

Once he had left the entrance of his house—

Rabbi Eliezer said

to the disciples of Rabban Gamliel the Elder:

Overturn your beds.

And once the burial cover had been sealed—

Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: Overturn your beds.

They said to him,

the disciples of Rabban Gamliel the Elder:

We have already overturned

our beds

on the instruction of

the

elder

Rabbi Eliezer.

The Sages taught: From when does one set the beds upright on the eve of Shabbat,

during the seven days of mourning?

From the afternoon prayer onward.

Rabba bar Huna said: Nevertheless,

although he sets it upright from the afternoon prayer onward,

he may not sit upon it until nightfall .

And at the conclusion of Shabbat, although he does not have

the mourner

to sit

after Shabbat

except

for another

one day

alone—

he overturns

it again .

The Sages taught:

A mourner who

overturns his bed—

it is not only his own bed that he overturns; rather, he overturns all the beds that he has in his house .

And even if he has ten beds in ten places—

he overturns them all .

And even

if there were

five brothers, and one died—

all of them overturn their beds .

And if it was a bed designated for storing utensils—

he need not overturn it .

A dargesh,

which is a surface of leather straps stretched over wooden posts, as the Gemara will explain below—

need not be overturned; rather, it is set upright .

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: A dargesh,

although it need not be overturned, since it is nevertheless a bed,

he loosens its straps,

the leather straps of the surface,

and it falls by itself .

And the Gemara explains:

What is a dargesh?

Ulla said: A bed of good fortune.

It serves as a bed for good fortune and is not used.

Rabba said to him: If so, concerning a king, as we learned in a Mishna: All the people recline on the ground, while he reclines on a dargesh .

Is there something that until now we did not seat him upon—

but now we seat him upon it?

Rav Ashi raised an objection to this: What is the difficulty?

It is just as with eating and drinking: Until now—

we did not feed him or give him drink, but now—

we feed him and give him drink!

Rather, if there is a difficulty—

this is the difficulty:

For it was taught: With regard to a dargesh—

it need not be overturned; rather, it is set upright .

And if it is a bed of good fortune—

why does it not need to be overturned?

And

it was taught: A mourner who overturns his bed—

it is not only his own bed that he overturns; rather, he overturns all the beds that he has in his house!

And what is the difficulty?

It is just as with a bed designated for storing utensils.

For it was taught: If it was a bed designated for storing utensils—

he need not overturn it!

Rather, if there is a difficulty, this is the difficulty:

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: A dargesh, he loosens its straps,

the leather straps,

and it falls by itself.

And if you would have thought that it is a bed of good fortune—

what straps does it have?

When Ravin came, a certain one of the Sages said to him—and his name was Rav

Taḥlifa bar Ma'arava, who was frequently found in the tanners’ market: What is a dargesh—

a leather bed.

A bed made of leather .

It was likewise stated: Rabbi Yirmeya said: A dargesh—

its straps are woven from within; a regular bed—

its straps are woven over it.

Rabbi Yaakov bar Aḥa said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: The halakha is in accordance with Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel.

And Rabbi Yaakov bar Aḥa said in the name of Rabbi Asi: With regard to a bed whose canopy posts

are the wooden posts on its two sides

project

upward above the bed, with a rod placed between them and a curtain stretched over it—

he sets it upright

the bed,

and that is sufficient,

since it cannot be overturned completely and stood on its two canopy posts .

The Sages taught:

A mourner who

sleeps on a chair, on a large cushion, or on the ground—

has not fulfilled his

obligation.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said:

Because he

did not fulfill the requirement of overturning the bed .

The Sages taught: They sweep and sprinkle water in the mourner’s house, and they wash bowls, cups, saucers, and jugs in the mourner’s house

, and they do not bring incense or perfumes into the mourner’s house.

And we challenge this:

Is that so? But Bar Kappara taught: One does not recite a blessing either over incense or over perfumes in the mourner’s house.

The Gemara infers: Only

is it that one does not recite a blessing, but bringing them—

we do bring them!

And we answer:

This is not difficult:

This—

in the mourner’s house,

incense is not brought.

This—

in the house of the comforters,

that is, in the house where the deceased is located, in order to remove the odor of the deceased [according to Maimonides and the Shulḥan Arukh. According to Rashi, it appears that he had a different version].

Mishna:

A. The Sages further enacted that

one may not bring

the food that neighbors send

to the mourner’s home

for the mourner’s restorative meal (seudat havra’a) [held for mourners upon their return from the burial], in an honored vessel, even during the Festival.

Not on a tabla,

an ornate tray,

nor in an askutla,

a silver or gold vessel,

nor in a kanon

like an elaborate cylinder,

but

only

in baskets

made from woven strips of peeled willow.

They enacted this so as not to embarrass the poor, who would come to partake of the restorative meal but did not have special vessels, and decreed that everyone should send their food for the restorative meal in vessels equally available to all.

And one does not recite

the

blessing of mourners [

in Ketubot 8b]

during the Festival when returning from the funeral procession.

But those standing

who accompanied the deceased after the burial

in a line

even during the Festival,

comfort

the mourners who pass before them.

And they dismiss the multitude

by telling them, “Go to your homes in peace.”

B.

One may not leave

during the Festival

the bier

of the deceased

in the street

of the city in order to eulogize him, so as

not to accustom people to eulogizing.

That is, so that people will not come to eulogize during the Festival, when eulogizing is prohibited.

Nor

do they leave the bier in the street

of women

ever,

even on weekdays,

out of respect,

as the matter will be explained in the Gemara [at the beginning of page 28a].

Gemara:

The Sages taught: At first,

before the enactment of the Sages mentioned in the Mishna,

they would bring

for the restorative meal

at the mourner’s home,

each person according to his means:

The wealthy

would bring their portion

in kalatot,

vessels

of silver and gold.

And

the

poor

would bring theirs

in baskets woven from peeled willow.

And the poor would be embarrassed

to come with their vessels among the wealthy, who carried ornate vessels.

Therefore,

the Sages enacted

that

everyone should bring their food in baskets woven from peeled willow,

which were available to all,

out of consideration for the dignity of the poor.

The Sages taught: At first,

before the enactment of the Sages,

they would serve drinks in the mourner’s home,

according to the honor and means of the mourners.

The wealthy

would serve drinks

in

cups

of clear glass, while the poor used colored glass.

And the poor would be embarrassed.

The Sages enacted

that

everyone should be served drinks in colored glass, out of consideration for the dignity of the poor.

At first, they would uncover the faces of

the

wealthy dead, and cover the faces of

the

poor dead, because their faces had been blackened by

hunger when there was a

famine.

And

the

poor

who were alive

would be embarrassed.

They enacted that the faces of everyone should be covered, out of consideration for the dignity of the poor.

At first, they would take out

the

wealthy dead on a dargesh,

a bier made of leather straps extending from the wooden frame of the bier,

and

the

poor

they would take out

on a keliva,

a bier woven from simple ropes.