Resources for Moed Katan 27

1.     The גמרא says that אבילות begins משיסתם הגולל. There is a מחלוקת ראשונים throughout ש"ס as to what the גולל is. רש"י says here that it is the cover of the ארון. See תוספות in כתובות דף ד: ד"ה עד who quotes the ר"ת who disagrees and says that the גולל is a מצבה. Our גמרא seems like a proof to ר"ת since it says that when רבן גמליאל (who had just been נפטר) was taken out of the house, ר"א said they should start אבילות, but later when they were סותם הגולל, then ר' יהושע that they should start אבילות but they said they already started אבילות when they left the house like ר"א. The question is that according to רש"י, didn’t they take the מת out of the house in an ארון (which was presumably closed)? If so, then everyone would have agreed they should have started אבילות when they left the house?! See the חידושי הר"ן who explains that we must say according to רש"י that רבן גמליאל was taken out in a bed and not an ארון. However, see the ש"ך in סימן שע"ג ס"ק י"א who says that even according to רש"י, if one covers the coffin outside the grave it isn’t called סתימת הגולל.

2.     The גמרא says that if an אבל isn’t כופה מטתו then even if he sleeps on the ground he isn’t יוצא the חיוב of כפית המטה. See the רמב"ם in הלכות אבל פּרק ה הל’ י"ח who understood the גמרא to be saying that even if one was כופה all of the beds but slept himself on the floor, he is not יוצא the mitzvah of כפיית המטה until he actively sleeps on a מטה כפויה. However, he is clear that the obligation to sleep on a מטה כפויה is only on the first day, whereas the obligation to keep the beds כפוי is all seven days. Where did the רמב"ם learn this from? See the חידושי מרן ר'"ז הלוי in הלכות אבל פּרק ד הל' ט who explains that there is an איסור and מצוה here-the מצוה קיומית to sleep on a מטה כפויה and the איסור of זקיפת המטה. It is פּשוט that one does not need to sleep on a מטה כפויה all day long, so the מצוה must be once in the seven days.  Therefore, it must be done on the first day since it is a דין דאורייתא and only the first day is דאורייתא. However, זקיפת המטה is an איסור, and that should apply at all times during שבעה.

3.     The גמרא says that on the first day of אבילות an אבל is not allowed to eat his own food. There is a מחלוקת ראשונים as to what the reason for this is. See the בית יוסף in יו"ד סימן שע"ח at the end who brings the רבינו ירוחם who says that the reason an אבל must eat other people’s food is because we are afraid that the אבל won’t be in the mood of eating and will end up getting weak from not eating. Therefore there is a איסור for him to eat his own food and a מצוה of סעודת הבראה for others so that people make sure he is eating and take care of. However, see the רע"ב in פּרק ג' משנה ז as well as the טור in that סימן who sound like there is an איסור for an אבל to eat his own food in order to show אבילות, and consequently other people have a mitzvah to bring him food so he will have something to eat. See the אגרות משה in יו"ד ב סימן קס"ח who brings the above מחלוקת and says that assuming there is no איסור לאכול משלו on חול המועד (since there are no דיני אבילות), then the חיוב הבראה should be a נפקא מינה between these two opinions. According to רבינו ירוחם there should still be a חיוב הבראה since the אבל still needs נחמה and for people to make sure he is eating. However, according to the other ראשונים there shouldn’t be any חיוב for a סעודת הבראה since there is no איסור to eat his own food. There is a fascinating משך חכמה in פּרשת ויחי in ד"ה אוי נא לה that gives a third reason for the סעודת הבראה. He says that the reason we come to this world is so we can earn our reward and not get שכר in עוה"ב for free. When someone dies, their relative may become angry and upset. So we have a סעודת הבראה to remind the person what it feels like to get food as a handout so they remember why people come into the world and why not to be so sad when they leave to their reward.