Moed Katan 26: The Poetics of Grief

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Our Daf brings a passage in II Shmuel (1:11-12) that describes King David’s reaction to the news that King Saul and his son Yehonatan had been killed and that the army of the Jewish people had been defeated.

From the fact that David and his men tore their clothes, mourned and fasted, the Sages deduce that one is obligated in keriya (tearing one’s clothes) over the Nasi (King Saul), the Av Bet Din (Yehonatan), and news of tragedy (the Jewish people who lost the war).

We explore the scene where the Amaleki brings the news of Saul’s death and compare the discrepancies with the same narrative in the last chapter of I Samuel….how does the reader use them to uncover tensions in the set about what occurred and David’s ambivalence.

What does the lament tell us about the character of King David and how might that compare to the kings of England portrayed in Shakespeare's’ historical plays?

Moed Katan 25: Kiss of Death

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The mishna teaches that only the relatives of the deceased rend their clothes. The Gemara asks: And is this the case even if the deceased was a Torah Sage? But isn’t it taught otherwise in a baraita: When a Torah scholar dies, everyone is his relative.

We review the idea of the misas neshika... the kiss of death reserved for the righteous.. and cite a hesped for the Rov that evoked such memories.

Having discussed our daf’s minhagim on the death of a teacher and a Rebbe at the “moment of death” when one tears kriah, and having discussed the “kiss” the misas neshika in the bible and in midrash/Zohar, we now turn to the most infamous kiss of all… the betrayal by Judas Iscariot and how that fateful kiss has informed antisemitic tropes from the Church to Hitler for a millennium….

Moed Katan 24: Infant Loss

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The traditions associated with the burial and mourning of a baby who died less than 30 days after birth differ from normal customs. Specifically, the Gemara teaches that such a child is carried to the cemetery in a woman’s arms, rather than in a coffin, and the statements of consolation are not uttered, neither in the cemetery nor in the home.

These differences stem from the possibility that a child who perishes after less than one month is considered a stillborn.

We explore the particular halachos of fetal and newborn deaths then move on to how grief differs between fathers and mothers.

We review the neurobiology of grief and the functional anatomy that subtends this most excruciating loss imaginable.

Moed Katan 23: Condolences

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Our daf focuses on mourning and Shabbat. Are we allowed to mourn on Shabbat, or does the

'delight' of Shabbat override our right to mourn? Which mitzvot must we continue to observe on Shabbat? Are we asked to observe all or none?

And what difference might it make whether we are observing in private or in public? Does it matter how the community might understand our experience of mourning?

We explore the minhag of comforting after lecha Dodi on Shabbat and it complexities as well as the notion of Nichum Aveilim be'halacha and emotionally.

We examine other letters of comfort in antiquity to compare.

Moed Katan 22: Revealing the Heart of Grief

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The rabbis share various halachot of mourning, each time noting how much more pronounced our practice should be when mourning our parents. Some examples include wearing one's garment with one shoulder showing (men only) and avoiding social gatherings.

The example of rending one's clothing is detailed and very telling. It notes the differences between men and women in rending clothing; women cannot show the skin of their chests, and so they rend an inner garment and turn it around. The outer garment is also torn - by hand, and irreparably, if done for a parent. It seems that people layered their clothing and revealed the heart of grief if males and did not if females for tzenius reasons.

We explore ancient grief practices and clothing as well as modern responses to the grief following the pandemic.

Moed Katan 21: The Joy of Torah and Aveilus

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One is prohibited from learning Torah while in mourning because it is a source of joy

(Our daf Mo’ed Katan 21a and Rashi s.v. “v-assur”).

Yet, R’ Soloveitchik asserts that the learning of Torah on Tish’ah be-Av in order to appreciate and consequences of the events on that day, is a fulfillment of mourning:

While the study of Torah is prohibited on Tish’ah be-Av, the study of the events that happened on Tish’ah be-Av is not only permitted but is, in itself, a fulfillment of avelut (mourning).

Understanding what Tish’ah be-Av means – a retrospective reexperiencing and reliving of the events it commemorates, appreciating its meaning in Jewish history and particularly the consequences and results of the catastrophe that struck us so many years ago that it commemorates – is identical to kiyyum avelut (a fulfillment of mourning).

On Tish’ah be-Av avelut means to understand what happened, and that understanding or intellectual analysis is to be achieved… in the light of both Torah she-bi-khtav and Torah she-be-al peh, the Written and Oral Law. These are our only frames of reference…

We explore notions of Torah joy, learning, aveilus and the niggun of Torah joy...

Moed Katan 20: Keryah

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The Gemara asks: Upon receiving a belated report of a close relative’s passing, does one rend his garment or does he not rend it?

Rabbi Mani said: He does not rend it, whereas Rabbi Ḥanina said: He does rend it.

Rabbi Mani said to Rabbi Ḥanina: Granted, it makes sense that according to my position this is consistent, as I say that he does not rend his garment, and this is because there is no seven-day period of mourning.

We examine the halachos of keryah and especially regarding the customs when coming to the Kotel.

We also explore expressions of grief through rending clothes in the bible, and Jastrow's classical article on ancient near eastern mourning practices,

and psychologically as part of the stages of grief.

Moed Katan 19: God's Tefillin

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Although the Mishna’s concern is whether a person is allowed to write tefillin or mezuzot on Hol HaMoed (we follow the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda who permits a sofer(scribe) to write for himself, but not for reasons of business), the issue that is raised by the rishonim is one that is not discussed by the Talmud at all. Is a person obligated in the commandment of tefillin during this holiday period?

We explore the diversity of opinion that cut across the spectrum of Ashkenazi/Sefardi, Chassidish/Mitnaged and Modern Minhag Erezt Yisrael.

We then review the anthropomorphism of Hashem wearing tefillin Himself (kivyachol) and what that implies...

and the dazzling vort from Reb Zisha (at the very end)...

Moed Katan 18: Baashert

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One may betroth a woman on the intermediate days of a Festival, but he may not marry her, nor may he make a betrothal feast, nor may he perform levirate marriage, because that would be a joyous occasion for him, and one may not mix the joy of a wedding with the joy of the Festival.

Shmuel said that we are concerned that perhaps another man will come and betroth the woman first? But didn’t Rav Yehuda say that Shmuel said:

Every day a Divine Voice issues forth and says: The daughter of so-and-so is destined to be the wife of so-and-so; the field of so-and-so will belong to so-and-so? If this is the case, why should one be concerned lest another betroth her first? It is predestined that he will marry his designated mate.

We explore the debate between Rav and Shmuel then review the notion of basheert as the problems couples face today,

Are arranged marriages more successful? What is the nature of romantic love from a neurological perspective?

Moed Katan 17: The Maid who was a Rebbe (Ludmir)

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We explore the notion of:

A Torah scholar may execute judgment for himself with regard to a matter about which he is certain, and this included Reb yehuda hanassi's maid!

The Gemara asks: What is the story mentioned by Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani involving the maidservant in the house of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi? It was related that the maidservant in Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi’s house saw a certain man who was striking his adult son. She said: Let that man be excommunicated, due to the fact that he has transgressed the injunction:

“You shall not place a stumbling block before the blind” as it is taught in a baraita that the verse states: “You shall not place a stumbling block before the blind,” and the verse speaks here of one who strikes his adult son, as the son is likely to become angry and strike his father back, thereby transgressing the severe prohibition against hitting one’s parent.

Rebbi’s maid was known to be a woman of unique intelligence and was truly God-fearing, to the extent that it was difficult to find someone with her qualities who could lift the ban. It should be noted that we find “the maid of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi” mentioned in other contexts in the Gemara.

In one case she is quoted offering interpretations to difficult words whose meaning escaped the Sages, explaining that these were words that she was familiar with from listening to the conversation in the home of her master.

We review her mentions in Talmud then present another maid who was a Rebbe in her own right....the Maidl from Ludmir.

Moed Katan 16: The Last Hour

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The first two kings of the Jewish People in the Land of Israel were both plagued by actions so severe that they brought censure by God and His prophets. In King Saul’s case (see I Shmuel, chapter 15), the war against Amalek – where he allowed King Agag to live and did not destroy the animals of the Amalek nation, as commanded – led to Shmu’el’s rebuke, Saul’s admission of fault (see ibid:24), and the loss of his kingdom. In the case of his successor, King David (see 2 Shmuel, chapter 11), the incident with Bat-Sheva leads to Natan’s parable of the rich man who steals a poor man’s sheep, David’s admission of fault (see ibid 12:13) and a series of family tragedies.

On our daf Zutra bar Toviyya was once reading the portion of the Bible before Rav Yehuda. When he reached the verse: “Now these are the last words of David” (II Samuel 23:1), Zutra bar Toviyya said to Rav Yehuda: If it is written that these are the last of David’s words, by inference there are first words as well.

We explore the difference between the Tanach's portrayal of King David's character with the Midrashic, and possible reasons for the difference.

Moed Katan 15: Rabbinic Authority and Nidui

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Our Daf begins with a series of questions regarding the leper and the ostracized (excommunicated) for instance The Gemara asks whether a Menudeh (one who has been placed in Niduy, or excommunication) is permitted to be with his wife.

What is the Gemara's question? The Gemara earlier clearly states that no one may go within four Amos of a Menudeh, and this prohibition applies to his wife as well.

We learn that there are three stages of banishment from the community. The first is ostracism, or menudeh. It is a warning. The second is an intermediary stage called, according to the Ra'avad, shamta. The most serious stage is excommunication, or mucharah. The seriousness of banishment is obvious; without community, one cannot survive in the times of the Talmud.

We explore the status of nidui vs cherem then discuss some examples of the most infamous case of cherem, that of Baruch Spinoza, and follow it with the Gra's cherem on the Hassidim.

All the while we struggle between notions of rabbinic authority and personal religious freedom.

Moed Katan 14: Childhood Traumas

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On our Daf a braisa is cited which states: One rends the clothes of a minor whose relative has passed away, due to the desire to bring about feelings of grief among those who see him? However, there is no inherent requirement for the minor to observe any of the halakhot of mourning.

Rashi suggests the child evokes others to participate in the mourning and add to the honor of the deceased.

We explore what childhood trauma such as loss does later in life (PTSD) as well as the new field of epigenetics whereby massive trauma is transmitted to the next generation based on Prof Rachel Yehudah's landmark studies on World Trade Center disaster survivors and Holocaust survivors.

Moed Katan 13: Theology of Facial Hair

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Our new perek (3) begins with the Mishna as follows:

"And these may shave and cut their hair on the intermediate days of a Festival: One who comes from a country overseas; and one who is released from a house of captivity; and one who comes out of prison on the intermediate days of a Festival...”

We review the Halochos of shaving on Chol Hamoed which leads us to the very license to shave in Poskim.

We explore the cultural history of shaving in antiquity and the way the beard represented an impediment to Jews wishing to participate in the enlightenment west.

Moed Katan 12: Kafe and Kultur

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Rabbi Ami was dismayed because Rabbi Yehuda Nesia drank water heated by a gentile cook [kapeila], didn’t Shmuel bar Yitzḥak say that Rav said: With regard to anything that is eaten raw, like water, even if it was cooked by a gentile, it is not subject to the prohibition against eating food cooked by gentiles?

Rabbi Yaakov Emden in his sefer Mor U’ktziah (204) writes that actually the proper blessing on coffee should be ha’eitz since it is a fruit from a tree and that was the original intent of those that planted the coffee beans; to drink from the liquid. He concludes that the custom is to recite a shehakol anyway, similar to date beer and barley beer.

We explore the halochos of hot water on shabbos and drinking coffee on planes and caffe houses, followed by a review of the chemistry and health of coffee consumption.

We end on the colonial history of coffee and the history of slavery and the culture of the coffee house in Jewish history and modernity.

Moed Katan 11: Fishy Tales

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The Gemara presents a number of rules regarding the consumption of fish in the last mishnah of the first perek. 

It establishes that it is more healthful to eat old fish rather than fresh fish, and that it is harmful to drink water immediately after eating fish. Tosafos comment that the first of these guidelines – that old fish is preferable to fresh fish – applied only in Talmudic times. 

In the new Perek we review how we are permitted to work on the Moed if refraining from work would cause financial hardship.

Our daf explores what 'financial hardship' means.  It uses a number of situations to explore the fences built around this concept of financial hardship.  Coincidentally, one of those examples is a fence.

Beyond financial hardship, the rabbis are concerned about related issues.  One regards communal service: is a person permitted to work on the Moed if s/he is not working for him/herself but for the community?  Further, if a person must work in order to survive day-to-day, and not to prevent financial hardship, is his or her work permitted?

We review further the laws of mourning in times of joy (Rav Soloveitchik's profound analysis) then reviewing recent halachic analyses of 'alternative" medicine (without diving into the COVID rabbit hole yest obliquely referencing recent unproven therapies and anti vaxxers).

Moed Katan 10: πραγματικός Yisachar-Zevulun Deals

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Rava said: Any “prakmatia”/commerce is prohibited on the intermediate days of a Festival. Rabbi Yosei bar Avin said: But only with regard to a matter that, if left unattended, will result in significant loss, it is permitted.

This is one of 8 rulings by Rava concerning work on chol hamoed, which leads us to review the Halachos of commerce during these intermediate days of the festivals.

The notion of “prakmatia” as commerce or business opens up the notion of those who support Torah scholars through their commerce and their participation in the reward for learning…

The same word “prakmatia” is used by the midrash זְבוּלֻן יוֹצֵא בִּפְרַקְמַטְיָא

we explore the cultural phenomenon of sharing the spiritual reward by one party with the other's financial support.

Moed Katan 9: Solomon's Closed Gates

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Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: When King Solomon sought to bring the Ark into the Temple the gates clung together and could not be opened. Solomon uttered twenty-four songs of praise, yet his prayer was not answered.

He then recited a verse invoking the merits of his father Dovid "remember the good deeds of David Thy servant." Upon witnessing this phenomenon, the enemies of Dovid were humiliated, and the Jewish People knew that Hashem had forgiven Dovid for the sin of Bathsheba, and the gates finally opened.

This stunning aggadah of the resistance of the Temple gates and the King's access to the structure he tirelessly built, points to the rabbinic imaginative guilt for the sin of Dovid Hamelech and how his indiscretion haunted his son's completion of the Beis Hamikdash's inauguration.

We explore some interesting recent archeological finds regarding the Temple doors, as well as Newton's obsession with the Temple Architecture .

Newton's interest in the Temple was fueled, in part, by his belief that the Temple would serve as the "site of revelation" for the apocalypse.

Moed Katan 8: Gathering Bones (Especially Joseph’s)

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Rabbi Meir also stated another leniency concerning the halakhot of the intermediate days of a Festival:

A person may gather the bones of his father and mother 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 because the fact that one merited to bring the bones of his deceased parents to the graves of their ancestors is a source of joy for him.

The Yerushalmi, however, sees the joy of the occasion in seeing that the flesh has decomposed, which indicates that the person’s sins have been forgiven.

We explore the halochos of digging graves and eulogies on cool hammed…then we review the midrashic sources regarding the search for Yosef’s bones (the Nile or in a Royal Tomb) then make use of archetypal psychology (C G Jung) to expose the inner dimensions of the paradox of Joseph’s bones being laid in the aron alongside the aron of the brit.

Moed Katan 7: Eros vs Agape

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There is a dispute between tanna’im in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi.

One Sage, holds that the company of the world at large is preferable to the leper. than being secluded with his wife...

Consequently, the priest may examine a confirmed leper during the Festival because the priest will either decide that the leper’s symptoms are still present, in which case the leper’s situation will be no worse than before,

or the priest will declare that his symptoms have subsided, in which case the leper may re-enter the community, which will bring him joy.

This braisa holds man’s main concern is to be allowed back into society even at the cost of not being with his wife,

And the other Sage, holds that the company of his wife is preferable to the leper.

Consequently, the priest may not examine a confirmed leper on the Festival, because if he declares that his symptoms have subsided, the leper will begin his seven day purification process,

during which time he is prohibited from engaging in conjugal relations with his wife.

Due to the distress that this causes him, it is preferable that the priest not examine him at all during the Festival.

This braisa holds that a man prefers to be with his wife even at the expense of entering into a community, preferring to remain sequestered outside the camp alone with his wife.

This debate opens us to the difference between eros and agape and whether recent studies confirm men’s preference of one over the other.

How does these to archetypes fit into Erich Fromm’s theory of love and how does chassidus extrapolate these two types of love in the service of the Divine?