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Moed Katan, 8


8b

1) DIGGING A GRAVE ON CHOL HA'MO'ED
QUESTION: The Mishnah states that we may not dig graves ("Kuchin" and "Kevaros") on Chol ha'Mo'ed, but we may adjust ("Mechanchin") them, which means to widen or lengthen them to fit the Mes being buried there.

The Rishonim ask that this Mishnah contradicts the Gemara in Beitzah (6a), which says that on Yom Tov Sheni, we are permitted to bury the dead and to do whatever the Mes needs, such as sewing the shrouds and even cutting a myrtle branch (to provide a sweet scent). If we are permitted to do everything for a Mes even on Yom Tov Sheni, then certainly we should be permitted to dig a grave on Chol ha'Mo'ed! Yom Tov Sheni is no less prohibited in Melachah than is Chol ha'Mo'ed (after all, Yom Tov Sheni itself is a Safek Yom Tov, Safek Chol ha'Mo'ed). How can our Mishnah say that it is prohibited to dig a grave on Chol ha'Mo'ed, if it is permitted to do any Melachah for the sake of a Mes on Yom Tov Sheni?

(It would be possible to answer that when the Gemara there says Yom Tov Sheni, it is referring to the second day of Yom Tov of the *last* Yom Tov of Pesach or Sukos, in which case the day might be not be part of the festival at all but rather a regular weekday. As a result it may indeed be more lenient than Chol ha'Mo'ed, which is certainly a part of the holiday. However, the Rishonim point out that this answer is not practical. The Gemara in Beitzah does not differentiate between Yom Tov Sheni at the beginning of the festival (when it has at least the sanctity of Chol ha'Mo'ed) and Yom Tov Sheni at the end of the festival.)

ANSWERS:

(a) RABEINU CHANANEL, the RIF and the RAMBAM (Hilchos Yom Tov 8:8) explain that our Mishnah is discussing a grave dug in advance, before anyone has died. That is why it may not be dug on Chol ha'Mo'ed. If a person has already died, though, it is permitted to dig a grave for him, as the Gemara in Beitzah says.

The BA'AL HA'ME'OR asks why does the Mishnah need to tell us that one may not dig a grave on Chol ha'Mo'ed that will only be used after the festival has passed? One may not do *any* Melachah on Chol ha'Mo'ed for after the festival! Moreover, adds the RA'AVAD, when the Mishnah concludes that one *may* adjust the size of the grave, it is referring to the same situation that was discussed at the beginning of the Mishnah, when it said that one may not dig a grave (i.e. before the person has died). If one is adjusting the size of the grave for use after Yom Tov, why is it permitted?

The RAMBAN (Milchamos) answers that there is actually a very good reason to permit digging graves on Chol ha'Mo'ed for use after Yom Tov. The Gemara (5a) says that one may clean out water pits, but one may not dig them to begin with on Chol ha'Mo'ed. Since it is for the sake of benefiting the general public (Tzorchei Rabim), it is permitted to do work even if it is not needed until after Yom Tov. (The Gemara (6a) says that the reason for this is because workers can be hired for less on Chol ha'Mo'ed, thereby sparing the public coffers.) That is why the Mishnah says that it is permitted to adjust the graves for after Yom Tov -- it is needed for the sake of Tzorchei Rabim.

Why, then, is it not permitted to dig a grave to begin with, if that is also Tzorchei Rabim? The reason for that, says the Ramban, is the same reason why one may not dig a water pit on Chol ha'Mo'ed, but one may only clean it out (Chotetin, as the Mishnah puts it, or "Mechanchin," as the TOSEFTA puts it in Moed Katan 1:3). Starting a new Melachah on Chol ha'Mo'ed for the sake of Tzorchei Rabim is not permitted. One may only *fix* things for the sake of Tzorchei Rabim. (The nephew of the Ba'al ha'Me'or, in SHITAS RIVAV, gives a similar answer, but he says that the reason a grave may not be dug on Chol ha'Mo'ed in the first place is because it is a skilled labor, "Ma'aseh Uman," while adjusting the size of the grave is a "Ma'aseh Hedyot" -- it does not require skilled labor.)

(b) RASHI also says that the Mishnah is referring to digging graves in advance, which will only be needed after Yom Tov. Rashi adds, though, that the reason one may not dig a grave is because it involves excessive exertion, Tircha Yeseirah. Rashi might be learning like the Ramban, that even if it is being done for the sake of Tzorchei Rabim, one may not dig a new grave because it involves too much Tircha.

However, RASHI ON THE RIF and RASHI KESAV YAD *adds* another line, in which he asks our question -- why is digging graves not permitted, when the Gemara in Beitzah permits doing everything for a Mes. Rashi answers that what the Gemara in Beitzah permits is only a Melachah that is not a strenuous labor, which involves no Tircha. Digging a grave, which is a strenuous task, is not permitted even for a Mes. This is how all of the Rishonim quote Rashi.

As many Rishonim point out, Rashi seems to be contradicting himself. If he is answering that Tircha Yeseirah is prohibited, then why did he have to say that the Mishnah is referring to digging a grave for someone who has not yet died? He could have said that even if the Mes is present, the grave may not be dug because it is a Tircha Yeseirah! Conversely, if Rashi maintains that the Mishnah is referring to digging a grave for someone who has not yet died, then why does he ask a question from the Gemara in Beitzah, which is referring to doing Melachah for a Mes that has already died? (ROSH)

To answer the first question, it seems that Rashi was bothered by the plural form of the words in the Mishnah, "Kuchin u'Kevaros." If the Mishnah is referring to digging a grave for someone who has died, why does it mention digging multiple graves? Rashi therefore explains that it was the practice to dig many graves in advance, and that is what the Mishnah means.

To answer the second question, why Rashi was bothered by the Gemara in Beitzah if our Mishnah is referring to a case where the person has not died yet, the ROSH answers that the Gemara in Beitzah implies that it is permitted to do Melachah for the sake of the Mes anytime on Yom Tov Sheni, even near the end of Yom Tov Sheni, when it is clear that the burial will not take place until the following day (after the festival is over). Hence, we see from the Gemara there that one may do Melachah for a Mes even when that Melachah is only needed for after Yom Tov!

The MAHARSHAL (Yam Shel Shlomo, cited by the KORBAN NESANEL #90) rejects the answer of the Rosh because Rashi still should not have had a question from the Gemara in Beitzah. The Gemara permits doing Melachah to prepare for the burial of a Mes even when the burial will only occur after Yom Tov because the person is already dead, and we do not want to delay his burial. It is not permitted to do Melachah for a Mes who has not died yet, as our Mishnah says, since there is no delay of the burial involved! (See Korban Nesanel there.)

It could be that Rashi learned the Sugya like the Ramban cited by the Rosh (in (a) above). The Ramban explains that we may not dig a grave even for Tzorchei Rabim, because of the Tircha involved. Rashi learned that just like we do not permit Tzorchei Rabim which will be needed after Yom Tov because of the Tircha, so, too, we should not permit digging a grave for the need of a single Mes today because of Tircha as well.

(However, Rashi in Beitzah (6a, DH d'Ika) writes clearly that on Yom Tov Sheni it is permitted even to dig the grave for the need of a single Mes who has already died. Perhaps he means that it is permitted to *adjust* the size of the grave ("Mechanchin"), or perhaps he is referring to the last day of Yom Tov, for which there is reason to be more lenient than Chol ha'Mo'ed, as we mentioned earlier.)

(c) The RA'AVAD (cited by the ROSH, and in Hilchos Yom Tov 8:4) says that even though doing Melachah for all the needs of the Mes is permitted, digging a grave on Chol ha'Mo'ed is prohibited, because it suffices to use a temporary interment. The Mishnah permits making a "Nivreches," which the Ra'avad explains is a temporary grave, which looked like the modern-day burial plot (a simple hole in the ground). After Yom Tov, the Mes may be moved into a more respectful grave. Thus, on Chol ha'Mo'ed, we may not build a nice grave, because a temporary one will suffice. The "Nivreches" does not involve any sort of construction, and therefore it is a lesser form of Melachah on Chol ha'Mo'ed (see also Ba'al ha'Me'or, citing "some who say...").

The Rosh rejects this opinion, saying that putting the Mes in a temporary grave and then moving the Mes after Yom Tov is not an option, because doing so is a disgrace for the Mes.

(d) The BA'AL HA'ME'OR says that even though the Mishnah prohibits building a grave, that applies only when the Mes is not present in the graveyard. If, however, the Mes is present at the time that the grave is being made, then it is permitted, as the end of the Mishnah says with regard to building a coffin.

Other Rishonim reject this approach, because the Mishnah implies that the presence of the Mes permits only building a coffin, but not building a grave (for building a grave, the presence of the Mes will not help, and for adjusting the size of a grave, it is permitted even without the Mes there). The reason why the Mes must be present in order to permit building a coffin is because a wooden box is usually not used for burial, but for other purposes (such as to store things in). Therefore, in order to prevent people from suspecting that one is building a box for storage or other purposes, the Mes must be present (RAMBAN).

The RITVA says that it is not permitted to build a coffin unless the Mes is present, as opposed to other Melachos done for a Mes, because it is preferable not to bury in a coffin in the first place, but rather to inter directly in the ground.

HALACHAH: The Halachah follows the Rif and the Rambam (a). On Yom Tov Sheni it is permitted even to dig a grave, if someone has already died (MISHNAH BERURAH OC 547:24). The SHA'AR HA'TZIYON points out that this would be permitted even the Ra'avad (c), who prohibits building a "Kuch" or a "Kever" for a Mes, since he permits building a "Nivreches," which is similar to the graves dug today.
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