Moed Katan 13a

מועד קטן י״ג ע״א

Learn Moed Katan 13a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Penalties that pass to heirs, and permitted work, buying and moving on חול המועד

Overview

The amud opens by asking whether a man who planned his work for חול המועד and then died passes his penalty on to his son. רבי זירא proves from a משנה about a field improved during שביעית that such a penalty is on the person, not the money, so the son is not penalized. אביי adds a similar tradition about someone who made another person's טהרות impure. Next comes a משנה limiting purchases on חול המועד, with an exception for a seller who has nothing to eat. רבא and רב נחמן discuss whether a hungry worker may also be hired for wages, and אביי proves from the משנה about loan documents that he may. רב ששת challenges this from the crafts allowed on ערב פסח. רב פפא and רבינא push back on his reasoning, and רב אשי explains that חול המועד and ערב פסח limit work for different reasons. A final משנה deals with moving belongings and bringing utensils from a craftsman. The גמרא resolves a contradiction about the utensils in two different ways.

Opening lines

The steps (23)

1. QuestionThe firstborn case may not be a fair comparison
2. QuestionThe slave-sold-to-a-non-Jew case may not be a fair comparison either
3. QuestionThe real question: was the person penalized, or the money?
4. ResponseProof from a field improved during שביעית
5. ConclusionSo the son is not penalized for חול המועד work
6. StatementMaking someone's pure food impure: the son is not penalized
7. StatementNew משנה: buying houses, slaves and animals on חול המועד
8. Questionרבא asks: may a hungry person work for wages?
9. Proofרב נחמן tries to prove it from the extra words in the משנה
10. Rejectionרבא: the words only explain, they do not add
11. Challengeאביי brings a משנה about writing loan documents
12. ConclusionConclusion: a poor person may work for wages
13. Challengeרב ששת quotes the three crafts allowed on ערב פסח
14. ChallengeIf wage work were allowed, all work would be allowed on ערב פסח
15. Rejectionרב פפא: then building would be allowed too
16. Rejectionרבינא: then a scribe would be allowed too
17. Resolutionרב אשי: the two days limit work for different reasons
18. StatementNew משנה: moving belongings and bringing utensils from a craftsman
19. ChallengeDidn't the first clause forbid moving altogether?
20. Resolutionאביי: the later clause speaks of a house inside the courtyard
21. Challengeרבא's test: another משנה allows bringing utensils from a craftsman
22. ResolutionTwo different days: the fourteenth of ניסן versus חול המועד
23. ResolutionSame day, different situation: trusting the craftsman or not