Moed Katan 8 - January 20, 18 Shvat

Study Guide Moed Katan 8

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Today’s daf is sponsored by Shira Eliaser in honor of Ellen Jaffe Cogan's birthday. “Happy birthday to a lifelong Torah learner, a devoted Jewish woman, and a very special Bubbie. With love from her children and grandchildren too.”

Today’s daf is sponsored by Judy & David Gilberg in loving memory of Judy's sister, Hanna Cohn, Chana Sara Bat Meir Tuvyan v'Eshkah, on her 20th yahrzeit. 

There were two different opinions about which verse teaches us that a person, clothing or house is not leprous until it is pronounced by the kohen to be leprous. Why does each not use the verse that the other brought? How does Rabbi Yehuda derive it from the verse “and on the day…”? Abaye and Rava each understand it differently and this affects whether or not they derive that the kohen must rule on a leprous mark during the day from this verse or from a different verse, which affects the derivations of other details of a leper as well. Can one do likut atzamot (collection of bones for burial after the flesh has disintegrated) on chol hamoed? Is it considered a happy occasion or one that stirs up sad emotions? One cannot bring a eulogizer to encourage others to be sad along with him/her if it is within thirty days of the holiday. What is the reason for this? One cannot dig burial crypts or graves on chol hamoed. But one can dig a water ditch (for what use?) and make a coffin. Do the boards for the coffin need to be ready before the holiday? One cannot get married or perform yibum (levirate marriage), but one can remarry one who he divorced. A woman can put on makeup but Rabbi Yehuda doesn’t think she should put on lime because it will cause her discomfort. The Mishna lists some laws about other types of work that will be dealt with more in-depth in the Gemara. Why can’t one get married on chol hamoed? One answer is that one cannot mix one happiness with another. The second answer is that one will ignore the mitzva to be happy on the holiday as one will be busy being happy with one’s spouse. A third answer is because of the hard work involved in preparing for a wedding. A fourth answer is that one may push off the wedding until the holiday so that one can combine the wedding and holiday feasts and this will cause a delay in fulfilling the mitzva to procreate.