Chagigah 9 - What is right and what is wrong

Jews traveled to Jerusalem three times a year, visited the Temple, and offered a sacrifice there. This sacrifice was called "Chagigah" or Celebration. Ideally, one should bring this sacrifice on the first day of the Festival. However, if he missed doing it on the first day, he can still complete the celebration by offering (and then eating) it on any of the remaining days of the Festival.

What happens if he went to Jerusalem, visited the Temple, but did not bring a Chagigah sacrifice, and the Festival is now ended? He missed his chance, and nothing can be done now. The following statement by King Solomon applies to him, "A crooked thing cannot be straightened, and a lack cannot be counted."

What are the other examples of irreparable losses? One misses the time to say the prayer of "Shema, Israel!" in the morning or evening. One who has relations with a woman who is forbidden to him (like a sister or another man's wife) and she gives birth to an illegitimate child (mamzer.) But some people do not agree that this phrase refers to these cases. They say to become crooked, one must start out straight. Who is this? - This is a Sage who went to the bad side.

Art: Motherly love by Albert Neuhuys

Kabbalah of Chagigah 3

Chagigah 3 mentions two mute brothers. They wanted to learn Torah and attended the teacher's lessons. In the end, the teacher saw their desire and prayed for them, and they started talking. 

These two brothers were the reincarnation of Eldad and Medad. Eldad and Medad are among the seventy-two sages who prophesied in the camp. They were also brothers, sons of Yocheved whom she bore while being divorced from Amram.

There were two reasons why they were born mute in this reincarnation. Amram did not give Yocheved a Get with a whole heart. The second was that their prophecy was about Moses' death and thus inappropriate without permission. Thus, in the new incarnations, they were born mute, and they first suffered and then corrected this defect through Torah study. This, then, was their Tikkun (correction.)

Art: Two Brothers by Maurice Leloir

Moed Katan 22 - The stages of mourning

If one's close relative dies, one enters the period of mourning. The day of the death is the hardest. He does not wear tefillin and does not say the regular blessings spoken throughout the day. This bereavement lasts until the burial - which ideally should be on the day of death.

With the closing of the casket begins the "shivah," which lasts for seven days. When the body is buried without a coffin, shiva starts with the closing of the grave. If the body is taken to a different city, those mourners who do not accompany the body begin shivah as soon as they take leave of the body.

Burying and mourning for one's parents are different from the other close relatives. For all other relatives, the sooner he buries them - the better. For his father and mother, one who eulogizes them is praiseworthy. In the former times, the pallbearers would stop many times on the way, and at each stop, some additional eulogizing and mourning would take place.

Art: Mourning by Jules Charles Boquet

Moed Katan 21 - For whom to mourn

A priest (Kohen) must not go to the cemetery. He must also avoid contact with the dead bodies or being under the same roof. Even today, when people cannot observe the purification with the ashes of a red heifer, the priests still must follow these laws.

However, when his close relatives die, the priest must, on the contrary, become impure and take part in the funeral. Who are these close relatives? - His mother and father, his son and his daughter, his brother, his unmarried sister, and his wife.

The same list of seven close relations applies to ordinary people who mourn a relative. How does one express his mourning? He makes ritual clothes rending, does not work, does not bathe, does not engage in marital relations, does not wear shoes, does not wear tefillin, and does not study Torah. 

Art: Artist`s Parents, by David Wilkie

Moed Katan 20 - Not to be the bearer of bad news

When Rav came to Israel from Babylonia, he visited Rabbi Chiya, his relative. Rabbi Chiya asked Rav, "Is your father alive?" Rav answered, "You should better ask about my mother." Rabbi Chiya then asked, "Is your mother alive?" To that, Rav answered, "Is my father alive? - I have not answered you that."

Rav did not want to report bad news. At that point, Rabbi Chiya understood that both Rav's parents had passed away. Both Rav's parents were relatives of Rabbi Chiya from his parents' previous marriages. Now, Rabbi Chiya had to observe the laws of mourning (shivah) for both of them. Rabbi Chiya said to his attendant, "Help me take off my shoes and carry my clothing after me to the bathhouse."

From the words of Rabbi Chiya, we learned three laws. First, a mourner is prohibited from wearing shoes. In the case of Rabbi Chiya, it was "delayed news," so he only had to take his shoes off for a short time. Second, in the case of delayed news, a mourner observes the shivah only for a day and not seven days. Therefore, even though usually a mourner is prohibited from bathing, Rabbi Chiya was allowed to bathe after a day. And third, part of the day is counted as a full day, and Rabbi Chiya already demonstrated his mourning by taking off the shoes.

Peasant Burial by Erik Werenskiold