Study Moed Katan folio 8B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
לפי שאין המת משתכח מן הלב שלשים יום. מאי בינייהו? איכא בינייהו דקעביד בחנם.
It is because the dead is not forgotten from the heart and put out of mind for 30 days, and therefore, when one laments the loss of a deceased relative within 30 days before a Festival, the pain is still remembered on the Festival. The Talmud asks: What is the practical difference between the two reasons? The practical difference between them is in a case where the eulogizer performs the eulogy free of charge. In that case there is no worry that money that had been set aside for the Festival will be spent, but there is still room for concern about the lingering pain that will be felt on the Festival.
מתני׳ אין חופרין כוכין וקברות במועד, אבל מחנכין את הכוכין במועד. ועושין נברכת במועד, וארון עם המת בחצר. רבי יהודה אוסר אלא אם כן יש עמו נסרים.
Mishnah: 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. R' 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.
גמ׳ מאי כוכין ומאי קברות? אמר רב יהודה: כוכין בחפירה, וקברות בבנין. תניא נמי הכי: אלו הן כוכין ואלו הן קברות, כוכין בחפירה, וקברות בבנין.
Talmud: The Talmud asks: What are crypts and what are graves, and what is the difference between them? Rav Yehuda said: Crypts are constructed by digging and graves are constructed by building. The Talmud adds: That is also taught in the following baraita: These are crypts and these are graves: Crypts are constructed by digging and graves are constructed by building.