Moed Katan 24 - Shabbat February 5 - a podcast by Michelle Cohen Farber

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Shmuel held there are no laws of mourning on Shabbat. The rabbis said that Shmuel held that a mourner who engages in sexual relations is liable for death at the hands of God. Rav Papa questions this as it merely says one can’t do it, but never says anything about the death penalty. He corrects them by saying that one who cuts one’s hair and doesn’t rend one’s garments is liable to the death penalty as can be derived from verses in the Torah when Nadav and Avihu died. Rav Papa's son quotes Masechet Avel Rabati that tells the story of a mourner who engaged in sexual relations and was killed by a pig. Which mourning practices can be observed on Shabbat and which cannot? A distinction is made between private and public. Rav and Shmuel debate which are private and which are public. Shmuel also held that rending one’s garments is only performed upon hearing of the person’s death but not the next day. If so, why did Shmuel rend 13 different garments when Rav died? What are the other exceptions to the rule? Is one permitted to fix the clothing that one tore? On Shabbat one either changes out of the torn garments or moves the tear to the back. Rava says that one can wear the torn garment in its regular way in one’s house. Rav Yosef covered his head in his house in the way of the mourners. Both of these are considered keeping mourning practices in private which are permitted on Shabbat. According to Rav Gidel bar Menashia, Shmuel ruled like Rabban Gamliel in the Mishna who held that all the holidays including Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur override shiva. Some say that his ruling was issued about infant burial. How many people need to bury the infant? An infant under 30 days is carried out by hand, over 30 days is put in a small coffin, over a year in a regular coffin, and according to Rabbi Akiva only if the child is two or has a body the size of a two-year-old. At thirty days a shura is done and the blessing of mourners and there is shiva. There is a debate regarding at what stage the community joins the funeral and the child is eulogized. It is regarding that debate that Rav Gidel passed down Shmuel’s psak. If one sat a day of shiva before Shavuot, when Shavuot ends, the mourner is considered at day fourteen as the holiday counts it as if shiva happened before and the one day of holiday counts as an additional seven days. The same is true for Rosh Hashana. Sukkot counts as 21 as Shmini Atzeret adds another 7. Kriya, revealing one’s shoulder after tearing and the meal called the seudat havraa are only for the actual mourners.

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