Study Moed Katan folio 20A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
שכבר נתעסקו בו ברגל. כללו של דבר: כל שהוא משום אבל — רגל מפסיקו. וכל שהוא משום עסקי רבים — אין רגל מפסיקו.
for they already occupied themselves with him when they came to console him during the Festival. The general principle with regard to the matter is as follows: Any activity that is prohibited to the mourner because it is an expression of mourning is interrupted by the Festival and remains prohibited afterward. And anything that involves the public’s occupation with the mourner, e.g., coming to the mourner to offer him comfort and condolence, is not interrupted by the Festival, for people console the mourner during the Festival as well.
קברו שלשה ימים בסוף הרגל — מונה שבעה אחר הרגל, ארבעה ימים הראשונים — רבים מתעסקין בו, שלשה ימים האחרונים — אין רבים מתעסקין בו, שכבר נתעסקו [בו] ברגל, ורגל עולה לו.
If he buries his relative 3 days before the end of the Festival, the mourner must count 7 days of mourning after the Festival because his mourning never began. On the first 4 days of his mourning, the public must occupy themselves with him and come to console him. On the 3 last days, however, the public need not occupy themselves with him, as they already occupied themselves with him during the Festival. That is to say, they certainly came to console him during the Festival, although the period of mourning did not actually begin until afterward. And the Festival counts for him toward the 30-day mourning period.
מאי לאו — אסיפא! לא, ארישא.
With regard to the statement of the baraita that the Festival counts toward the 30-day period of mourning: What, is it not referring to the latter clause of that baraita, which speaks about a case where the burial was performed during the Festival itself? If this is the case, then a refutation of Rava’s opinion is stated explicitly, that the Festival counts toward the 30-day mourning period, even if the deceased was buried on the Festival itself. Rava rejects this argument: No, it is referring to the first clause, which discusses a case where the burial was performed before the Festival, and since rites of mourning were observed already before the Festival, the Festival is counted toward the 30-day period of mourning. Therefore, it is not a refutation of Rava’s halakha.