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Moed Katan, 19

1) WHEN DOES THE FESTIVAL ANNUL THE SEVEN DAYS OF AVEILUS

QUESTION: The Mishnah states that if a person becomes an Avel before a festival, the festival annuls the seven days of Aveilus ("Regalim Mafsikin"), and, in addition, the festival does not count ("Einan Olin") as part of the days of the Aveilus.

"RASHI" questions why the Mishnah has to say that the festival does not count as part of the days of the Aveilus -- since the festival annuls the Aveilus, it is obvious that the festival does not count as part of the Aveilus! In what way would we have thought that the festival counts towards the days of Aveilus? (It cannot be that the Mishnah mentions "Einan Olin" simply because the first part of the Mishnah, regarding Shabbos, says that Shabbos does count ("Olah"), because the Gemara later (23b) says that it only says "Olah" in the first part of the Mishnah with regard to Shabbos because the second part of the Mishnah says "Einan Olin" with regard to Regalim!)

Rashi explains that when the Mishnah says that the festivals are "Einan Olin," it refers to a case where the burial was less than three days before the festival. In such a case, the seven days of Aveilus are not annulled, but they continue after the festival and it is appropriate to say that the festival does not count towards those seven days. (This is the explanation given by the PERUSH RABEINU GERSHOM ME'OR HA'GOLAH, published by Mechon ha'Talmud ha'Yisraeli with footnotes by Rav Nisan Zaks, which seems to be based on the same manuscript as the commentary we are discussing, dubbed "Rashi" which is printed in the margins of this Maseches -- see our Introduction to Moed Katan.)

A Talmid of "Rashi" wrote a marginal note on this explanation of Rashi, which is included in the text of Rashi's commentary as it is printed in today's editions of the Shas. The Talmid criticizes the explanation of Rashi, claiming that it is based on a mistake. When the Mishnah says that the festival annuls the Shiv'ah in a case where the Aveilus began three days before the festival, it is "Lav Davka" -- even if the Aveilus began just one minute before the festival, the festival it annuls the Shiv'ah. What, then, does the Mishnah mean when it says that the festival "does not count" towards the Shiv'ah, if the Shiv'ah anyway is entirely annulled right away? It means that if the Aveilus began *during the festival* itself, then the days of the festival do not count as part of the seven days of Aveilus (and one must observe the Shiv'ah after the festival), because none of the Shiv'ah was observed before the festival. (RASHI on the Rif writes both explanations for the words "Ein Olin.")

Many Acharonim ask that the comment of the Talmid here appears to be a blatant error. The Gemara later (20a) says explicitly that Rebbi Eliezer and the Chachamim, as well as Beis Shamai and Beis Hillel, argue whether the festival annuls the Shiv'ah when the Aveilus begins immediately before the festival, or only if it begins three days before the festival. How, then, could the Talmid say that our Mishnah is Lav Davka, when the Beraisa says clearly that such an opinion (requiring that the Aveilus be observed for at least three days before the festival in order for the festival to annul it) does exist. Since our Mishnah clearly says that three days must be observed before the festival, we must assume that our Mishnah means what it says, and is reflecting the opinion of Beis Shamai/Rebbi Eliezer! (GILYON HA'SHAS, HAGAHOS HA'BACH, etc.)

ANSWERS:

(a) RAV BETZALEL RENSBURG (20a) answers that the since the Mishnah says that festivals annul the Aveilus ("Regalim Mafsikin"), it implies that festivals annul the Aveilus *no matter* how much has already been observed before the festival (see Insights to 20:2:a).

(b) The Talmid does not mean that our Mishnah holds that the festival annuls the Aveilus even when three days of Aveilus were not yet observed. Rather, he means to say as follows.

When the Beraisa says that Beis Shamai and Beis Hillel argue about how many days of Aveilus need to have been observed in order for the festival to annul the Shiv'ah, it is referring back to the Mishnah. Beis Hillel in the Beraisa is saying that the Halachah *of our Mishnah*, that "Regalim Mafsikin," applies when *any amount* of Aveilus was observed before the festival. As such, Beis Hillel agrees to everything mentioned in the Mishnah except for the fact that three days of Aveilus before the festival are needed in order for the festival to annul the Aveilus. Since Beis Hillel agrees with everything that the Mishnah says, it must be that he also agrees that "Regalim Mafsikim," they annul the Aveilus, and "Einam Olin" -- they do not count towards the seven days of Aveilus. Indeed, the very Tosefta (2:5) which records the opinion of Beis Hillel that even one moment of Aveilus before the festival suffices, begins by saying that the festival does not count for the seven days (Eino Oleh). How could Beis Hillel agree to those words, though? Beis Hillel maintains that even after one minute of Aveilus, the festival annuls the entire Aveilus, and if so, it is meaningless to say that the festival "does not count" towards the seven days! The seven days were annulled! It must be that Beis Hillel understands the Mishnah to be discussing a case where the Aveilus occurs during the festival itself.

That is what the Talmid means when he says that the three days mentioned in the Mishnah are Lav Davka. He means that, l'Halachah, one does not have to observe Aveilus for three days before the festival, like Beis Hillel says, in order for the festival to annul the Aveilus. At the same time, though, Beis Hillel agrees with the Mishnah when it says that the festival "does not count" towards the seven days. The Mishnah must mean, therefore, that when the Aveilus begins during the festival, the festival does not count towards the seven days.

The Talmid would agree to Rashi on the Rif who writes that there are *two* possible scenarios in which the festival does not count towards the seven days of Aveilus: when the Aveilus started two days before the festival (according to Beis Shamai), or when the Aveilus started *on* the festival (according to Beis Hillel).

If this was the question of the Talmid on Rashi's explanation, then we might be able to answer the question. According to the explanation of Rashi (20a, DH Tana Didan, as we explain in the Insights there), even Beis Hillel agrees that the festival annuls the Halachos of Aveilus only if three days of Aveilus have been observed before the festival -- except for the Halachah of Kefiyas ha'Mitah. That is, Beis Shamai and Beis Hillel (and Rebbi Eliezer and the Chachamim) are only arguing with regard to how many days of Avielus must be observed before the festival to annul the obligation of Kefiyas ha'Mitah. Everyone agrees, though, that in order for the festival to annul *all* of the Halachos of Aveilus, the Aveilus must have been observed for at least three days prior to the festival. Accordingly, Rashi here is following his opinion in that Sugya, and the wording of the Tosefta poses no problem (for when the Tosefta says that the festival "does not count" towards the seven days of Aveilus, it is referring to a case where the Aveilus began two days before the festival, and when it says that the festival annuls the Aveilus when the Aveilus was observed for only one minute before the festival, it is referring only to the specific Halachah of Kefiyas ha'Mitah). (M. Kornfeld)

19b

QUESTION: The Gemara cites a Beraisa in which the Chachamim and Aba Shaul argue whether the principle of "Miktzas Yom k'Kulo" applies to the seventh day of Aveilus. According to Aba Shaul, if the seventh day of Aveilus occurs on Erev Yom Tov, one is considered to have completed his seven days of Aveilus by observing just a part of that day, and the rest of the day is considered part of the Sheloshim. Then, when the Yom Tov arrives, it completely annuls the rest of the Sheloshim (and he is permitted to shave before Yom Tov). According to the Chachamim, though, if the seventh day of Aveilus occurs on Erev Yom Tov, then the seven days of Aveilus do not end until that night, and none of the Sheloshim is observed before the festival. Thus, the festival cannot annul the Sheloshim (and he is not permitted to shave before Yom Tov).

In one case, though, the Chachamim agree that the principle of "Miktzas Yom k'Kulo" applies to the seventh day of Aveilus. That case is when Erev Yom Tov occurs on Shabbos, and is the *eighth* day from the beginning of the Aveilus. Had that day not been Shabbos, it would have been permitted for him to shave, since it would have been the beginning of the Sheloshim which the festival would annul. However, now that Erev Yom Tov is a Shabbos, on which it is prohibited to shave, the Chachamim permit him to shave on the day before, even though it is the seventh day of Aveilus, because they apply the principle of "Miktzas Yom k'Kulo" so that the Aveilus is considered to have ended in the morning, and the rest of Erev Shabbos is part of the Sheloshim and not part of the Shiv'ah.

What is the logic of the Chachamim in this ruling? Since the Chachamim hold that when the seventh day of Aveilus is Erev Yom Tov one may not shave, apparently they hold that we do not apply "Miktzas Yom k'Kulo" even for the sake of honoring Yom Tov by shaving prior to its entry. Why, then, are they lenient when the eighth day after the beginning of the Aveilus occurs on Shabbos-Erev Yom Tov, applying "Miktzas Yom k'Kulo" to the seventh day of Aveilus (Friday)? (The RITVA (17b) says that in such a case, Chazal make the seventh day like the eighth day, since the Avel has no choice and is unable to shave on the eighth day because it is Shabbos. But why should Chazal "make the seventh day like the eighth day in this situation?)

ANSWERS:

(a) Perhaps the logic is that Chazal wanted to alleviate the Aveilus in order to show honor to the Yom Tov. They lifted the restrictions of Aveilus (to some extent), so that a person should be able to prepare himself for Yom Tov. It was sufficient for them to remove one level of the Aveilus to show honor to the Yom Tov; the level that the Avel was observing before the Yom Tov arrived. Thus, if the Avel is still observing the Shiv'ah, they removed the restrictions of Shiv'ah but not those of Sheloshim. Removing one level is enough to show respect for the Yom Tov. If the Avel is observing the Sheloshim, Chazal removed the Sheloshim and permitted him to shave.

If the seventh day of his Aveilus is Erev Yom Tov, then Chazal alleviated the Aveilus, in order to give honor to the festival by removing the laws of Shiv'ah before the end of the seventh day (and they permitted him to wash; they did not remove the Sheloshim in such a case, though, since he has not observed any of the Sheloshim yet). However, when the eighth day from the start of the Aveilus occurs on Shabbos which is also Erev Yom Tov, then removing the laws of Sheloshim does not help him, because he still will not be able to shave or iron his clothes to honor the Yom Tov (since the day his Sheloshim is annulled is Shabbos). Removing the laws of Shiv'ah also will not add honor to the Yom Tov, because the Shiv'ah is over anyway before Shabbos (since an Avel is permitted to prepare for any Shabbos which occurs during the Shiv'ah). Therefore, since there is no other way to honor the Yom Tov, the Chachamim removed the laws of Sheloshim before Shabbos on the seventh day of Aveilus, relying on Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo, to show honor to the Yom Tov. When the *seventh* day, and not the eighth, occurs on Shabbos-Erev Yom Tov, though, they did not remove he laws of Sheloshim before Shabbos in order to honor the Yom Tov, since they could not apply Miktzas ha'yom k'Kulo to allow for leniency in that case.

(b) Alternatively, perhaps when the Avel cannot shave before Yom Tov due to the laws of Shabbos alone (such as in our case, when the eighth day of Aveilus is Shabbos-Erev Yom Tov, and the Yom Tov has removed the laws of Sheloshim), he is equated with a person who just arrived from his travels on Yom Tov who is permitted to shave. The Mishnah at the beginning of the Perek (13b) permits anyone who did not shave prior to Yom Tov due to extenuating circumstances to shave during Chol ha'Mo'ed, and the person who did not shave because it was Shabbos should be no exception. Since the prohibition of shaving during Aveilus is less severe than the prohibition of shaving during Chol ha'Mo'ed (according to most Rishonim; see ROSH 3:3, Gemara 11b), and the prohibition of shaving on the seventh day after Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo is *certainly* less severe than the prohibition of shaving during the Mo'ed, Chazal preferred to allow him to shave on the seventh day of his Aveilus (Friday), relying on Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo, rather than allowing him to shave during the Mo'ed.

One may question this theory by asking that if so even if the seventh day of Aveilus (which is not Shabbos) falls on Erev Yom Tov, the Chachamim should permit him to shave on Yom Tov, since he did not shave prior to Yom Tov due to circumstances beyond his control -- the Aveilus! And since it is better to permit him to shave on the last day of Aveilus than on Yom Tov, they should have agreed to Aba Shaul that such an Avel shaves on the seventh day of his Aveilus which is Erev Yom Tov, relying on Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo!

However, it would clearly be a mistake to ask such a question. There is no doubt that Chazal did *not* permit shaving on Yom Tov due to the fact that a person was an Avel prior to Yom Tov -- this is clear from the Sugya (here and on 17b). The Acharonim (NODA B'YEHUDAH Mahadura Kama, RASHASH 17b, CHIDUSHIM U'BI'URIM ibid.) suggest two reasons for this. Either, Chazal did not permit shaving in such a situation because the laws of *Avel* still prohibit the Avel from shaving during Yom Tov (since the Yom Tov did not remove the laws of Sheloshim, in this situation). This is true according to the RAMBAN (in Toras ha'Adam) who rules that all the laws of Sheloshim apply during Chol ha'Mo'ed. Alternatively (according to the Tur YD 399 in the name of the ROSH, who rules that Aveilus Sheloshim does not apply during the Mo'ed, as the Gemara implies at the end of 19b -- see also Insights to 24b), the reason he cannot shave on Chol ha'Mo'ed is not because of his Aveilus. It is because one is not allowed to shave on Chol ha'Mo'ed. Even though he was not able to shave prior to Yom Tov because of his Aveilus, Aveilus is not considered an Ones and does not put him in the same category as a person who returned on Yom Tov from a trip abroad. (See also Insights to 14:2:b; this is also clear from Rashi 17b DH Savar k'Rabanan as well.) (M. Kornfeld)