Siman - Moed Katan Daf 20
- The source for how long aveilus is in the case of a שמועה קרובה and שמועה רחוקה
Rebbe Chiya bar Abba, Rebbe Ami, and Rebbe Yitzchak Nafcha were sitting on the porch of Rebbe Yitzchak ben Elazar, and they asked: מנין לאבילות שבעה – From where do we know that the main aveilus is seven days? For it is written in Amos, "והפכתי חגיכם לאבל" – And I will turn your chagim into mourning. מה חג שבעה אף אבילות שבעה – Just as a chag is seven days, so too mourning is for seven days. When the Gemara asks that perhaps aveilus should be compared to Shavuos, which is only one day, it answers that the comparison to the one day of Shavuos is needed for the derashah of Reish Lakish, who said in the name of Rebbe Yehudah Nesiah: מנין לשמועה רחוקה שאינה נוהגת אלא יום אחד – What is the source that aveilus for one who hears a distant report, which means that he heard of a relative’s death long after it occurred, is only one day? For it is written, "והפכתי חגיכם לאבל" – And I will turn your chagim into mourning, and we find that in the case of Shavuos that one day is called a chag. The Gemara brings a Baraisa that defines a שמועה רחוקה – a distant report, as one that comes after thirty days from the day of death.
- Machlokes whether one does kriah for a שמועה רחוקה
The Gemara asks regarding a שמועה רחוקה – קורע או אינו קורע – Does one rend his clothing or not? Rebbe Mani says he does not do kriah, and Rebbe Chanina says he does do kriah. Rebbe Mani said to Rebbe Chanina “that it is good according to me that one does not do kriah, היינו דלא איכא אבילות שבעה – since there are not seven days of aveilus.” This means that the chiyuv for kriah is only fulfilled when it is linked to the chiyuv of seven days of aveilus. “But according to you, Rebbe Chanina, can there be a chiyuv of kriah if there is no chiyuv of the seven days of aveilus? The Gemara challenges Rebbe Mani by bringing a Baraisa that ruled that if one had clothing that initially he could not do kriah on, such as in the case where his clothing are borrowed, and then he attains a garment after shivah, he does not do kriah, and Rebbe Zeira qualified the case as one mourning for a relative that is not a parent, אבל על אביו ועל אמו קורע והולך – but for a father or a mother, one does do kriah even after the shivah. We see from here that kriah is not dependent on shivah. In defense of Rebbe Mani, the Gemara answers that Rebbe Zeira’s ruling was taught לכבוד אביו ואמו – out of kavod for his father and mother, but not as a true fulfillment of the chiyuv of kriah.
- Whom is one chayav to mourn for?
It was taught in a Baraisa: כל האמור בפרשת כהנים שכהן מיטמא להן אבל מתאבל עליהן – All the relatives which a Kohen may become tamei for, an avel mourns for them. These relatives are his wife, his father, his mother, his paternal brother, his paternal sister who is a besulah, his son and his daughter. The Rabbis added that one also mourns for his maternal brother, his maternal sister who is a besulah, and his married sister, either paternal or maternal. Rebbe Akiva holds that he also mourns על שניים שלהם – their secondary relatives, which are the immediate relatives of his immediate relatives, such as his father’s father. Rebbe Shimon ben Elazar says he only mourns for his son’s son and father’s father. The Chochomim say: כל שמתאבל עליו מתאבל עמו – He mourns together with any relative for whom he would himself mourn. The Gemara clarifies that the difference between Rebbe Akiva and the Chochomim is that according to the Chochomim he is only chayav to mourn for a secondary relative if he is in the presence of the immediate relative.
