Mishnah Moed Katan
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Source: Sefaria (sefaria.org). Mishnah Moed Katan, Moed, source: Sefaria (merged), sefaria.org. License: Public Domain or CC-BY (per Sefaria source data).
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Mishnah Moed Katan / משנה מועד קטן

1:1	One may irrigate a field that requires irrigation on the intermediate days of a Festival as well as during the Sabbatical Year, both from a newly emerged spring that began to flow only during the Festival, and from a spring that did not just emerge and that has been flowing for some time. However, one may not irrigate a field with rainwater collected in a cistern, a procedure that requires excessive exertion, or with water drawn with a shadoof [kilon], a lever used to raise water with a bucket from deep down in a well. And one may not construct circular ditches around the bases of grapevines on the intermediate days of a Festival.
1:2	Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya says: One may not construct a new water channel during the intermediate days of a Festival or during the Sabbatical Year. And the Rabbis say: One may construct a new water channel during the Sabbatical Year and one may repair damaged water channels during the intermediate days of a Festival. In addition to performing labor on one’s own property in order to avoid financial loss, it is also permitted to perform labor on the intermediate days of a Festival for the public welfare: One may repair damaged water cisterns that are in the public domain, and clean them out by removing the dirt and sediment that accumulated there; one may repair roads, streets, and ritual baths; and one may tend to all other public needs. So too, one may mark graves to inform the public of their ritual impurity, and inspectors may even go out to uproot the shoots of prohibited diverse kinds [kilayim] that grew in the fields during the rainy season.
1:3	Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov says: In a field that is filled with trees, one may draw water via channels from one tree to another tree on the intermediate days of a Festival because trees are in dire need of water. And this is permitted provided that in doing so he does not water the entire field. With regard to plants that were not watered prior to the Festival, one may not water them on the intermediate days of the Festival because they do not need the water. But the Rabbis permit watering in this case, i.e., trees, and that case, i.e., plants.
1:4	One may trap moles [ishut] and mice in an orchard and in a field of grain in a way that is not his usual manner, i.e., as he would trap them all year round, both on the intermediate days of a Festival and during the Sabbatical Year. But the Rabbis say: In an orchard he may trap them in his usual manner, but in a field of grain, where there is no danger of substantial financial loss, he may only trap them in a way that is not his usual manner. And one may seal a breach in the wall of his garden on the intermediate days of a Festival, and during the Sabbatical Year one may even build a wall in his usual manner, as this is not considered an agricultural labor. Consequently, despite the fact that this benefits the garden by offering it protection, it is not prohibited during the Sabbatical Year.
1:5	When symptoms of leprosy appear, they must be examined by a priest, who determines whether or not the symptoms qualify as leprosy. Rabbi Meir says: A priest may initially examine an individual showing symptoms of leprosy on the intermediate days of a Festival in order to be lenient, i.e., he may pronounce the individual to be free of leprosy, but not in order to be stringent; he may not pronounce the individual to be impure. The individual does not become ritually impure until the priest pronounces him to have leprosy, and therefore the priest may remain silent and thereby prevent causing the afflicted individual distress during the Festival. And the Rabbis say: The priest may not examine the symptoms in order to be lenient or in order to be stringent. 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. Rabbi Yosei says: One does not gather these bones on the intermediate days of a Festival, because it is a source of mourning for him. Even though he is happy to be able to bury his parents’ bones in their ancestral graves, he is still pained by the memory of their death. And all agree that a person may not arouse [ye’orer]lamentation for his deceased relative, and he may not eulogize him during the thirty days before a pilgrimage Festival.
1:6	One may not dig crypts or graves on the intermediate days of a Festival in preparation for those who are still alive, but one may adjust previously dug crypts on the intermediate days of a Festival in order to receive a particular corpse. And one may also construct a laundry pond on the intermediate days of a Festival as it does not involve excessive effort. And one may also prepare a coffin if he is together with the corpse in the same courtyard, as in that case everyone knows that he is preparing the coffin for the deceased. Rabbi Yehuda prohibits making the coffin unless one has wooden boards with him that had already been cut before the Festival and that need only to be attached.
1:7	One may not marry a woman on the intermediate days of a Festival, not virgins and not widows, and one may not perform levirate marriage with his sister-in-law, if his brother died childless, because it is a joyous occasion for him. However, one may remarry his divorced wife on the intermediate days of a Festival, as this is not as great a joy for him. And a woman may engage in all her usual cosmetic treatments to enhance her physical appearance on the intermediate days of a Festival. Rabbi Yehuda says: She may not apply lime to her skin because it is temporarily a disgrace to her, as she is unattractive before the lime is peeled off and will therefore be distressed during the Festival.
1:8	The mishna continues: A layman, who is not a skilled tailor, may sew in his usual manner if necessary for the Festival, whereas a craftsman may form only temporary stitches. And one may interweave the cords attached to the frames of beds upon which a mattress is placed. Rabbi Yosei says: One may only tighten the cords but not interweave them.
1:9	One may set up an oven, a stove, and a mill on the intermediate days of a Festival. Rabbi Yehuda says: One may not chisel millstones for the first time on the intermediate days of a Festival.
1:10	One may construct a railing for a roof or a balcony if it is done in a nonprofessional manner, as the work of a layman, but not if it is done skillfully, as the work of a craftsman. One may plaster the cracks in an oven and roll over them with a roller, a wooden tool used to smooth out clay, with a hand or a foot, but not with a presser, a tool that is specially designed for this task. With regard to the hinge of a door, and the cylinder of the hinge, and the cross beam that holds the door, and a lock and a key that broke, one may fix them on the intermediate days of a Festival as these items are essential for the Festival and their repair cannot be delayed. This is permitted, provided that he does not intend ahead of time to do his labor on the Festival and delay it until that time. And with regard to all preserved food from which one can eat on the Festival, since they become ready to be eaten in a short amount of time, he may preserve them on the intermediate days of a Festival.
2:1	The mishna discusses one who had already turned over his olives as part of the process of preparing them for pressing, and mourning for a close relative befell him and as a result he was prohibited from engaging in work, or some other unavoidable accident occurred, or his workers misled him, promising to come but failing to do so, so that he could not press his olives before the Festival. Under these circumstances, during the intermediate days of the Festival, he may place the olives in the press and load the beam with weights for the initial pressing of the olives and leave it this way until after the Festival; this is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda. Rabbi Yosei says: He may press the olives and complete the process and then plug each barrel of oil in its usual manner. Since delay can entail financial loss, the Sages did not require him to alter the normal process of extracting the oil.
2:2	And similarly, with regard to one whose wine was already in the collection pit beside the wine press and needed to be removed lest it sour, and mourning for some close relative or some other unavoidable accident befell him, or his workers misled him, promising to come but failing to do so, during the intermediate days of the Festival he may draw off the wine and complete the process, and then plug each barrel of wine in its usual manner; this is the statement of Rabbi Yosei. Rabbi Yehuda says: He should construct a wooden panel to cover the collection pit so that the wine will not sour.
2:3	A person may bring his fruit in from the field on the intermediate days of the Festival because he is concerned about thieves, and he may draw his flax out of the soaking pool so that it is not ruined from soaking too long in the water, provided that he does not plan from the outset to perform his work on the intermediate days of the Festival. And with regard to all of these cases, if one planned from the outset to perform his labor on the intermediate days of the Festival, the fruit of that labor must be lost and no benefit may be derived from it.
2:4	One may not purchase houses, slaves, and cattle on the intermediate days of a Festival unless it is for the sake of the Festival, or to provide for the needs of the seller who does not have anything to eat. One may not move his possessions from house to house during the intermediate days of a Festival, but he may move them to his courtyard if that is necessary. One may not bring home utensils from the house of a craftsman after he has completed his work, but if one is concerned about them that if he leaves them in the craftsman’s house they are likely to be stolen, he may move them to another courtyard.
2:5	On the intermediate days of a Festival, figs that were spread out to dry may be covered with straw to protect them from rain and dew. Rabbi Yehuda says: One may even condense the figs. Those who sell produce, clothing, and utensils may sell them in private, for the sake of the Festival. Fishermen, and groats makers [dashoshot], and bean pounders, who pulverize the beans, may ply their trades in private for the sake of the Festival. Rabbi Yosei says: They were stringent with themselves to refrain from this work even with respect to what was needed for the Festival.
3:1	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; and one who had been ostracized and therefore prohibited from cutting his hair, and the Sages released him from his decree of ostracism on the intermediate days of the Festival; and similarly, one who had vowed not to cut his hair and then requested of a Sage to dissolve his vow and was released from it on the intermediate days of the Festival; and the nazirite whose term of naziriteship ended on the intermediate days of a Festival; and the leper who needs to purify himself on the intermediate days and must shave his entire body in order to leave his state of ritual impurity and regain his ritual purity. Since these people were not able to cut their hair on the eve of the Festival, they are permitted to do so on the intermediate days of the Festival.
3:2	And these may launder their clothes 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; and one who had been ostracized and the Sages released him from his decree of ostracism; and similarly, one who had vowed not to launder his clothes and he requested from a Sage to dissolve his vow and was released from it on the intermediate days of a Festival. Hand towels; and barbers’ towels, which are used to cover a person having a haircut; and body-drying towels, all of which get quickly soiled, may be laundered on the intermediate days of a Festival. Zavim, men suffering from an impure venereal emission; zavot, women who experience a flow of menstrual-type blood on three consecutive days during a time of the month when they do not expect to experience menstrual bleeding; menstruating women; women who have just given birth; and all others who leave a state of ritual impurity for a state of ritual purity on the intermediate days of the Festival, these people are all permitted to launder their clothes in order to purify themselves. But all other people are prohibited from laundering during the intermediate days of the Festival.
3:3	And these are the documents that may be written on the intermediate days of a Festival: Documents of betrothal of wives, through which bridegrooms betroth their brides; bills of divorce; receipts for the repayment of debts; wills [deyateiki]; deeds of gift; perozbolin, documents through which lenders authorize the courts to collect their loans on their behalf, thereby preventing the Sabbatical year from canceling their debts; letters of valuation, which were drawn up by the court when they valuated property and transferred it to the lender; and letters of sustenance, which were drawn up when one accepted upon himself to maintain another, e.g., his step-daughter. The list continues: Documents of the ritual through which the brother-in-law frees the yevama of her levirate bonds [ḥalitza], thereby freeing her from the obligation to marry one of her deceased husband’s brothers; documents in which the court records the refusal of a girl upon reaching majority to remain married to the man to whom her mother or brothers married her as a minor after the death of her father; documents of arbitration, in which the court summarizes a conflict that had been resolved through arbitration; court rulings; and the official correspondence of the ruling authorities.
3:4	One may not write bills of debt on the intermediate days of a Festival. But if the lender does not trust the borrower, and he is concerned that the borrower will later deny the loan, or if the scribe has nothing to eat, then he may write a bill of debt during the Festival week. One may not write Torah scrolls, phylacteries, or mezuzot on the intermediate days of a Festival, nor may one correct a single letter, even in the Torah scroll of Ezra, which was kept in the Temple and upon which all the Jewish communities relied. Rabbi Yehuda says: One may write phylacteries and mezuzot for himself on the intermediate days of a Festival if he needs them. And one may spin sky-blue wool for his ritual fringes on his thigh, but not in the ordinary manner with a spindle, as this procedure must be performed in an altered manner on the intermediate days of a Festival.
3:5	One who buries his deceased relative three days before a pilgrimage Festival has the decree of the seven-day period of mourning, i.e., the halakhot and prohibitions associated with that period, nullified for him by the Festival. He is not required to complete this seven-day mourning period after the Festival. If one buries his deceased relative eight days before a pilgrimage Festival, then the decree of thirty days is nullified for him. The restrictions that ordinarily apply during this thirty-day mourning period no longer apply after the Festival. This is because the Sages said a principle with regard to this issue: Shabbat counts as one of the days of mourning, although one may not mourn on it and it does not interrupt the mourning period, which continues after Shabbat. The pilgrimage Festivals, on the other hand, interrupt the mourning period, so that if one began mourning before such a Festival, then the mourning period is canceled by the Festival. They do not, however, count. If one did not begin mourning before the Festival, or if his relative died during the Festival, then he is required to complete his mourning period afterward, as the days of the Festival do not count toward the requisite days of mourning.
3:6	Rabbi Eliezer says: From the time that the Temple was destroyed, Shavuot is like Shabbat, because nowadays the days following Shavuot are not treated like Festival days. When the Temple stood, many of the Festival’s offerings that could not be sacrificed on Shavuot itself would be sacrificed during the six days following the Festival. Nowadays, however, when offerings are no longer sacrificed, Shavuot lasts for only one day in Eretz Yisrael, and therefore it is treated like Shabbat with regard to mourning: It counts as one of the days of mourning, but does not interrupt the period of mourning. Rabban Gamliel says: Even Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur are considered like the pilgrimage Festivals, in that they interrupt the mourning period but are not counted toward the days of mourning. And the Rabbis say: The halakha is neither in accordance with the statement of Rabbi Eliezer nor in accordance with the statement of Rabban Gamliel. Rather, with regard to mourning, Shavuot is treated like the other pilgrimage Festivals, whereas Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur are treated like Shabbat.
3:7	Mourners do not rend their garments during the intermediate days of a Festival and do not remove their garments from their shoulders. And others do not provide them with a meal [mavrin] after the burial, except for close relatives of the deceased. And the consolers provide the first meal after the burial only while the mourner is sitting on an upright bed, and not on one that is overturned. One does not bring the first meal after the burial to the house of mourning on a small tray [tavla], in a bowl [iskutla], or in a narrow-mouthed basket [kanon], but rather in ordinary baskets. And the mourners’ blessing is not recited on the intermediate days of a Festival, but the consolers may stand in a row when the mourners leave the cemetery and console them. And the mourners dismiss the many consolers, by telling them that they may return home after they have fulfilled the mitzva of consoling the mourners.
3:8	The bier of the deceased is not set down in the street during the intermediate days of a Festival so as not to encourage eulogies. On an ordinary weekday, people would gather in the street around the bier to eulogize the deceased, but this should be avoided during the intermediate days of the Festival. And the biers of women are never set down, even if it is not the intermediate days of a Festival, due to their honor. Blood might drip from their bodies, and it would cause them dishonor if their blood stained the street. On the intermediate days of a Festival women may wail in grief over the deceased, but they may not clap [metapeḥot] their hands in mourning. Rabbi Yishmael says: Those who are close to the bier may clap.
3:9	On New Moons, Hanukkah and Purim, which are not Festivals by Torah law, the women may both wail and clap their hands in mourning. On both the intermediate days of a Festival and on New Moons, Hanukkah and Purim they may not lament. After the deceased has been buried they may neither wail nor clap. The mishna explains: What is considered wailing? This is when they all wail together simultaneously. And what is considered a lament? This is when one speaks and they all answer after her with a repeated refrain, as it is stated: “And teach your daughters wailing and everyone her neighbor lamentation” (Jeremiah 9:19). In order to conclude on a positive note, the mishna says: But with regard to the future, the verse states: “He will destroy death forever; and the Lord, God, will wipe away tears from off all faces and the reproach of His people He will take away from off all the earth” (Isaiah 25:8).
-- Mishnah Moed Katan — (Sefaria merged English versions) (Public Domain or CC-BY (per Sefaria source data))