Moed Katan 27b — the Talmud in English

And the

H

poor

living

were ashamed.

They instituted that everyone should take out

their dead

in a bier, because of the honor of the poor.

At first, they would place the incense,

they would place a vessel containing spices upon coals,

under the dead with intestinal illness,

to dispel the foul odor rising from them.

And the people with intestinal illness

l

iving were ashamed,

knowing what awaited them after death: that they would become foul-smelling, and that incense would be placed beneath their beds in order to remove their foul odor, so that everyone would know of their stench.

They instituted that they should place

incense

under everyone,

even under those dead who had not died from intestinal illness,

because of the honor of the living with intestinal illness.

At first, they would immerse the vessels on account of dead menstruants.

That is, vessels which the menstruants had used during their lifetimes and which had become impure through their touch; they would immerse their vessels to purify them after they died,

and living menstruants were ashamed

because they immersed specifically the vessels of menstruants and did not do so for other dead women.

They instituted that they should immerse on account of all women,

that is, they would immerse all the vessels of dead women, even vessels of women who died while pure, whose vessels were pure,

because of the honor of living menstruants.

At first,

they would

immerse

vessels that they had used during their lifetimes

on account of dead men with gonorrhea.

And living men with gonorrhea were ashamed.

They instituted that they should immerse on account of everything, because of the honor of living men with gonorrhea.

At first, taking out the dead

from his house for burial

was difficult for his relatives,

who had to purchase expensive shrouds, and this expense was difficult for them,

more than his death, to the extent

that

his relatives would abandon him and flee,

so that they would not be forced to spend a great deal of money in order to bury him honorably.

Until Rabban Gamaliel came and conducted himself

as though

lightly regarding himself, and went out,

he commanded that after his death he be taken out for burial

in linen garments.

And

from then on,

the

whole

people followed him in going out

only

in linen garments.

Rav Pappa said: And nowadays, the world is accustomed

to take out the dead

even in

shrouds of

hemp,

made from hemp,

worth one zuz,

purchased for only one zuz.

We learned in the Mishna:

They do not place the bier in the street.

Rav Pappa said: A festival does not

prevent

a disciple

who died from being eulogized, and it is permitted to eulogize him.

And all the more so

they may eulogize him if he died on

Hanukka or Purim,

whose law is not as stringent as that of a festival.

And

indeed,

these matters

apply only

in his presence,

when the dead Torah scholar is lying before us.

But not in his presence, they did not

permit eulogizing him.

And we object:

Is that so? But

we find that

Rav Kahana eulogized Rav Zevid of Nehardea in Pum Nahara

during the intermediate days of the festival.

Thus, even elsewhere it is permitted to eulogize a Torah scholar during a festival, and even not in his presence.

And we answer:

Rav Pappi said:

The eulogy for Rav Zevid was on

the day of the report, and

therefore

it is considered as in his presence, and it was permitted to eulogize him, since Nehardea and Pum Nahara were close to one another and they heard of Rav Zevid’s death that very day, it was considered like a eulogy in his presence.

and it was permitted to eulogize him [since Neharde’a and Pum Nahara were nearby, and they heard of Rav Zevid’s death that same day, it was considered a eulogy in his presence].

Ulla said: “

Eulogy”

means that the eulogizer strikes

upon

the

heart,

and its source is:

as it is written: “

Upon the breasts they lament,”

and they are located over the heart. “

Clapping,”

which women do when lamenting, is

with the hand,

when they strike palm against palm in distress. “

Stamping” —

with the foot,

when he stamps upon the ground out of great distress.

The Sages taught: One who stamps should not stamp

and stamp with his foot enclosed

in a sandal,

which is made of hard leather,

but

he should stamp only if his foot is enclosed

in a shoe,

which is made of soft leather,

because of the danger,

lest the sandal turn over and break his foot. With a soft shoe, he takes care to stamp properly.

Rabbi Yohanan said: A mourner, once he nods his head,

and it is evident that he has been comforted and no longer needs additional consolation,

the consolers are no longer permitted to sit beside him.

And Rabbi Yohanan said: Everyone is obligated to rise before

the honor of

the Nasi

of Israel who passes by,

except a mourner and a sick person,

since there is no enhancement in their rising.

And Rabbi Yohanan said: To all

who stand before the Nasi,

they say “

Sit,”

except a mourner and a sick person,

since they stood without needing to, for they are not obligated to stand, as above, and obviously they may sit without permission.

Rav Judah said in the name of Rav: A mourner,

on

the first day

of his mourning,

is forbidden to eat bread of his own,

but only that of others who bring it to him.

From the fact that the Merciful One said to Ezekiel,

when his wife died, “

And the bread of men you shall not eat,”

making him a sign for Israel: just as he should not mourn for his wife, so Israel should not mourn for their dead, who would become exceedingly numerous. It follows that only he should not eat “the bread of other men,” but other mourners must specifically eat “the bread of other men.”

Rabba and Rav Yosef would exchange their meals with one another,

each giving his fellow, who was a mourner, food from his own.

It is permitted even when both of them are mourners.

And Rav Judah said in the name of Rav:

When there is a

dead person in a city, all the inhabitants of the city are forbidden to perform work,

so that they will concern themselves with the needs of the dead person.

Rav Hamnuna happened to come to Darometa and heard the sound of a shofar

announcing

that someone had died,

that a person had died in the city.

He saw these people engaged in their work,

and they had not stopped their work even though they had heard that someone had died in the city.

He said to them: Let these people be under a ban!

He placed them under a ban because they were transgressing the words of the Sages and were not stopping their work.

And he said to them: Is it not the case that

there is a dead person in the city!?

They said to him,

those engaged in their work: We are not needed to attend to the dead person’s affairs, since

there is a burial society in the city,

for each society buries its dead and attends to their needs.

He said to them: If so, it is permitted for you,

the ban imposed upon you is lifted, and it is permitted for you to work until they take out the dead person to accompany him to his grave.

And Rav Judah said in the name of Rav: Anyone who grieves excessively over his dead,

who cries over him for more than three days, as follows, will ultimately

cry over another dead person.

And so there was an incident involving a certain woman who lived in the neighborhood

of

Rav Huna: she had seven sons; one of them died, and she was crying excessively

with excessive crying

over him.

Rav Huna sent to her: Do not act this way!

She paid no attention to him

and continued crying over her son.

He sent to her: If you obey,

if you listen to my words and stop your crying,

it is better.

And if not, prepare grave goods for another dead person,

prepare shrouds for another dead person!

And since she did not stop crying, so it was:

and all of them died,

her seven sons, and she did not stop crying.

In the end he said to her: Use up the grave goods for yourself,

prepare shrouds for yourself,

and she died.

And the Gemara brings a source establishing the measure of how long it is permitted to cry over the dead:

As it is written: “

Do not cry for the dead and do not mourn for him,”

and the explanation of the verse is:

Do not cry for the dead excessively, and do not mourn for him beyond the measure.

And we explain:

How so?

Three days

are the appropriate measure

for crying, and seven

days are appropriate

for eulogizing,

and

thirty

days are for

the

prohibition of

pressing and haircutting

of the mourners.

From this point onward, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: You are not more compassionate toward him than I am,

for the dead person is the work of My hands, and I killed him because of his sin; and anyone who adds to or prolongs crying or eulogizing beyond this measure is grieving over his dead excessively.

And we expound the end of the verse: “Do not cry for the dead,” but

cry, cry for the one who goes,

for one who is called “the one who goes.”

Rav Judah said:

Cry

for the one who goes

to his world

without children.

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi did not go to a house of mourning, to

the house of mourning

except

f

or one who went without children.

And his reason was because of

as it is written: “

Cry, cry for the one who goes.”

And we expound the end of the verse, “Cry, cry for the one who goes”:

“For he will no longer return and see the land of his birthplace.”

Rav Huna said:

The intention is even a living person; and what is written, that he will not return,

this

is a person

who committed a transgression and repeated it.

Since it became permitted in his eyes, he will never return in repentance concerning it.

Rav Huna follows his own reasoning, for Rav Huna said: Once a person commits a transgression

once

and repeats it

and commits it again,

it becomes permitted to him.

And we wonder: Is it conceivable

that it becomes permitted to him!?

And we explain:

Rather, say: It becomes for him

in his eyes

like something permitted.

Rabbi Levi said: For the first three days, a mourner should view himself as though a sword is placed between his two thighs [It is also read “his shoulders,” and this is likewise implied by Maimonides, who wrote “upon his neck”],

for the measure of judgment that ruled in the house is stretched over the relatives of the dead person, and with the passage of time it gradually relaxes.

From three to seven

days, the mourner should view himself

as though

the sword

is placed for him

for his sake

opposite him in a corner.

From this point onward,

after seven days [according to Tosafot, until twelve months; according to the Tur, until thirty days], he should view it

as though it passes opposite him in the marketplace.

Maimonides concluded at the end of chapter thirteen of the Laws of Mourning: All this is in order to prepare himself to return and awaken from his sleep, as it says: “You struck them, but they did not become ill,” implying that he must awaken and become ill.

We learned in the Mishna:

And not

do they place a woman’s bier in the street

ever, because of the honor,

The sages of Nehardea said: They taught this only

that they do not place a woman’s bier in the street

but

that of

a woman who has given birth,

a woman who died in childbirth, who because of the birth has an abundant flow of blood.