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Moed Katan 22b

מועד קטן כ״ב ע״ב

Learn Moed Katan 22b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Moed Katan 22b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

How mourning for a parent is stricter than for other relatives, especially in קריעה, and how the community mourns a חכם, an אב בית דין and a נשיא.

Overview

This amud continues a ברייתא that compares mourning for most relatives with mourning for a father or mother. Again and again, something that is optional for other relatives is required for a parent, or a parent's version is stricter. Examples are cutting back on business, baring a shoulder, haircuts, going to happy events, and many details of קריעה (tearing the garment). A story about two גדולי הדור leads to a קשיא about which sage was the mourner. רבה בר בר חנה explains what kind of happy event the thirty-day rule covers, and in אמימר's version the גמרא settles a clash by telling apart hosting first from hosting friends back. רבי אבהו brings פסוקים for the size of the tear and for רבי יהודה's view that a tear must cut through the garment's edge. רבי יוחנן and רב חסדא add that for a parent, and also for a נשיא, one tears by hand and on the outer garment. The amud ends with how the community mourns a חכם, an אב בית דין and a נשיא, and that teaching continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מְמַעֵט,

[if he wishes,] he reduces [it];

עַל אָבִיו וְעַל אִמּוֹ — מְמַעֵט.

for his father or his mother, he reduces.

עַל כׇּל הַמֵּתִים כּוּלָּן,

For all the other dead,

רָצָה — חוֹלֵץ, רָצָה — אֵינוֹ חוֹלֵץ.

if he wants, he bares [his shoulder]; if he wants, he does not bare it.

The steps (30)

  1. StatementFor a father or mother, the mourner must cut back
  2. StatementBaring the shoulder: optional for most, required for parents
  3. StatementThe story of two great leaders and the bared shoulder
  4. Statementאביי names the two leaders
  5. StatementA second version swaps the two leaders
  6. ChallengeThe first version fits the story well
  7. ChallengeWhy would רבי hold back if his father was the נשיא?
  8. StatementWhen a mourner may cut his hair and go to happy events
  9. Statementרבה בר בר חנה: the thirty days is for friendly get-togethers
  10. ChallengeA ברייתא lists celebrations and get-togethers separately
  11. StatementA second version: a mourner may join a friendly get-together right away
  12. ChallengeA ברייתא requires thirty days even for a get-together
  13. ResolutionHosting first versus paying friends back
  14. StatementHow big the tear is: a טפח, or until the heart shows
  15. ProofThe source for a טפח: דוד grabbed his clothes
  16. StatementTearing only the top garment or all of them
  17. StatementMen and women both tear
  18. StatementHow a woman tears modestly
  19. StatementTearing through the edge of the garment
  20. Statementרבי יהודה: a tear without cutting the edge hardly counts
  21. ProofThe פסוק behind רבי יהודה
  22. StatementWhen the tear may be stitched up
  23. StatementTearing by hand or with a tool
  24. StatementInner garment or outer garment
  25. StatementA נשיא is treated like a parent
  26. ChallengeA ברייתא seems to limit the comparison to sewing only
  27. ResolutionThe ברייתא does not include the נשיא
  28. StatementWhen the נשיא died, רב חסדא had the tear shown to everyone
  29. StatementWhich shoulder is uncovered for a חכם, an אב בית דין, and the נשיא
  30. StatementHow study halls and the synagogue change when each leader dies