(Permission is granted to print and redistribute this material
as long as this header and the footer at the end are included.)


REVIEW QUESTIONS ON GEMARA AND RASHI

prepared by Rabbi Eliezer Chrysler
Kollel Iyun Hadaf, Jerusalem

Previous daf

Moed Katan 27

MOED KATAN 26 & 27 - dedicated by Mr. Avi Berger of Queens, N.Y. in memory of his parents, Pinchas ben Reb Avraham Yitzchak, and Leah bas Michal Mordechai.

1)

(a) According to Rebbi Eliezer, the beds of the Aveilim should be overturned the moment the Meis leaves the house on the way to be buried.
What does Rebbi Yehoshua say?

(b) What did the Aveilim remark, when, immediately after the burial of Raban Gamliel ha'Zakein, Rebbi Yehoshua instructed the Aveilim (his wife and her family) to overturn their beds?

(c) When ...

  1. ... does one turn back the beds (and couches) on Erev Shabbos?
  2. ... are the Aveilim permitted to sit on them?
(d) What happens with those beds on Motza'ei Shabbos, if there is only one day of Aveilus left?
2)
(a) Does the Din of Kefi'as ha'Mitah incorporate beds and couches that are designated for ...
  1. ... the Aveil's wife and children to sit on?
  2. ... beds and couches that are used to hold vessels and not for sitting on?
(b) According to the Tana of the Beraisa, a Dargesh does not need to be overturned, only up-ended (because its surface will get dirty and spoiled). What does Raban Shimon ben Gamliel say?

(c) Rabah rejects Ula's initial interpretation of a Dargesh (a couch that is meant for good Mazel - but not to sit on) from a Mishnah in Sanhedrin, which states that a King sits Shiv'ah on a Dargesh.
How does this ostensibly disprove the initial interpretation?

(d) Rav Ashi counters Rabah's Kashya from the Din of feeding an Aveil.
How does that refute Rabah's Kashya?

3)
(a) We then try to refute Ula's contention from the Beraisa's exemption of a Dargesh from Kefi'as ha'Mitah: 'If a Dargesh is a couch that is meant for good Mazel, asks the Gemara, then why should it be exempt'?
On what grounds do we reject this?

(b) We finally refute Ula's interpretation of a Dargesh from Raban Shimon ben Gamliel, who says that one simply unties the straps, allowing it to collapse by itself.
How does that prove Ula wrong?

(c) So what *is* a Dargesh?

(d) How does Rebbi Yirmiyah define the (technical) difference between a Dargesh and a Mitah?

4)
(a) Rav Acha bar Ya'akov rules like Raban Shimon ben Gamliel with regard to the above Machlokes concerning a Dargesh in the house of an Aveil.
What does he say with regard to a two-poster bed in the house of an Aveil? What is the purpose of a two-poster bed?

(b) An Aveil who slept on a chair, the raised cover of a pit or even on the floor has not fulfilled his obligation.
Why not?

(c) It is permitted to sweep, settle the dust and wash the dishes in the house of an Aveil. One may not however, bring incense (that was customarily brought in after the meal).
How do we reconcile this with the Beraisa which permits it?

(d) Does one recite a Berachah over the latter?

5)
(a) According to the Mishnah, one does not bring food to the house of an Aveil on a board, a dish or a sorting-dish made of woven palm-branches.
In what then, does one bring it? What is the reason for this?

(b) On Chol-ha'Moed, does one ...

  1. ... say Birchas Aveilim?
  2. ... make a Shurah and comfort the mourner?
(c) What does one do immediately after that?

(d) Why does one not ...

  1. ... put the bed down on the street (on the way to the burial - on Chol ha'Mo'ed)?
  2. ... put the bed on which a woman is being buried down in the street (at any time, even if it is not Chol ha'Mo'ed)?
6)
(a) They used to serve wealthy Aveilim drinks, in vessels made of white glass (crystal) and poor ones in vessels of colored glass.
Why did they change this custom?

(b) For the same reason, they instituted that ...

1. ... the faces of all dead bodies should be covered. Whose faces had they tended to cover before that? Why was that?
2. ... all dead bodies should be carried out on a stretcher (in Eretz Yisrael). On what did they previously carry out the dead bodies of the rich?
3. ... incense should be placed underneath *all* dead bodies. What had been the previous custom?
(c) In similar vein, what do the clothes of women who died Nidos and men who died Zavin have in common?

(d) What used to happen until Raban Gamliel set a precedent with regard to the shrouds of a dead person? What precedent did he set?

Answers to questions

27b---------------------------------------27b

7)

(a) What did Rav Papa mean when he said 'Ein Mo'ed bi'Fnei Talmid-Chacham? How about Chanukah and Purim?

(b) Rav Papa's principle only applies to a Chacham in his presence.
How did Rav Papi reconcile this with the fact that Rav Kahana eulogized Rav Z'vid from Pum Nahara on Chol ha'Mo'ed (even though it was not in his presence)?

(c) 'Hesped' entails banging one's heart. What is ...

  1. ... Tipu'ach?
  2. ... Kilus?
(d) Why should someone who performs Kilus wear shoes and not 'sandals'?
8)
(a) Rebbi Yochanan issued three rulings with regard to the conduct of an Aveil.
What does it signify when the Aveil nods his head?

(b) Who, besides an Aveil, is exempt from rising when the Nasi enters the room?

(c) In which other Halachah do we make a distinction between an Aveil and a sick person in the presence of the Nasi on the one hand, and other people on the other?

9)
(a) Rav Yehudah Amar Rav too, issued three rulings in connection with an Aveil.
What does he learn from the Pasuk in Yechezkel "ve'Lechem Anashim Lo Sochal"? What did Rabah and Rav Yosef do when they were Aveilim?

(b) What does Rav Yehudah Amar Rav say about working in a town where there is a Meis?

(c) Rav Hamnuna issued a Niduy on the people of Darumta who were working in spite of the fact that the Shofar had announced that someone had died.
On what grounds did he rescind the Niduy?

10)
(a) The third ruling of Rav Yehudah Amar Rav concerned crying too much for one's deceased relative.
What did he say in this regard?

(b) What happened to that woman with seven children who cried excessively for one of them that died?

(c) What is the period for ...

  1. ... crying?
  2. ... eulogizing (mourning)?
  3. ... ironing and not cutting one's hair?
(d) Why is it not correct to extend the mourning period beyond the prescribed time?
11)
(a) The Pasuk says in Yirmiyah "Bechu Bacho la'Holech Ki Lo Yashuv Od ...". What is the meaning of "la'Holech"?

(b) What was the Minhag of Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi in this regard?

(c) Rav Huna interpreted the above Pasuk in connection with someone who performs the same sin twice.
What statement did he make in that regard?

12) How serious should an Aveil see his situation, according to Rebbi Levi, during ...
  1. ... the first three days?
  2. ... between then and the end of the Shiv'ah?
  3. ... between after the Shiv'ah and the end of the first year (Tosfos; see also Agados Maharsha)?
Answers to questions

Next daf

Index


For further information on
subscriptions, archives and sponsorships,
contact Kollel Iyun Hadaf,
daf@shemayisrael.co.il