Moed Katan 1:5
专讘讬 诪讗讬专 讗讜诪专: 专讜讗讬谉 讗转 讛谞讙注讬诐 讘转讞诇讛 诇讛拽诇, 讗讘诇 诇讗 诇讛讞诪讬专. 讜讞讻诪讬诐 讗讜诪专讬诐: 诇讗 诇讛拽诇 讜诇讗 诇讛讞诪讬专. 讜注讜讚 讗诪专 专讘讬 诪讗讬专: 诪诇拽讟 讗讚诐 注爪诪讜转 讗讘讬讜 讜讗诪讜, 诪驻谞讬 砖砖诪讞讛 讛讬讗 诇讜. 专讘讬 讬讜住讬 讗讜诪专: 讗讘诇 讛讬讗 诇讜. 诇讗 讬注讜专专 讗讚诐 注诇 诪转讜 讜诇讗 讬住驻讬讚谞讜 拽讚诐 诇专讙诇 砖诇砖讬诐 讬讜诐.
Rabbi Meir says that [the priests] may diagnose skin ailments [during the festival] if their intention is to be lenient [i.e., to declare the patient to be healed and therefore pure]. The sages say [they may do so] neither to be lenient nor to be strict [i.e., by diagnosing a patient who may need to be declared afflicted, and therefore impure]. And Rabbi Meir further says, a man may gather his father鈥檚 or his mother鈥檚 bones [for second burial during the festival], since it is a joy for him [to see them permanently buried]. Rabbi Yossi says it is a sorrow for him. A man should not lament or eulogize his dead for thirty days before a festival.
Comments
The sages are all interested in maximizing the experience of joy during festivals. Rabbi Meir and the sages disagree about whether a priest may see patients during the festival. Rabbi Meir apparently feels that if the priest notices a skin affliction, he has the option of remaining silent. In this way, the patient would be allowed to continue to enjoy the company of his friends and family during the festival. The sages deny that the priest has this option and therefore rule that he should not see patients during the festival.
In talmudic times, the dead were initially placed in burial caves to decompose. After a year, their relatives would gather the bones for “second burial” in an ossuary. Could this be done during the festival? Rabbi Meir says that it is a relief and joy for the son, but Rabbi Yossi says that it is a sorrow. In both cases, the law does not follow Rabbi Meir.
The final clause of the mishnah reflects another talmudic funeral custom: hiring professional mourners to lament the dead. This was apparently a costly service. The mishnah forbids this practice thirty days prior to the festival, lest a poor family use up its funds on the lamenters and be unable to enjoy the festival. Shmuel says that this policy is because grief over a death is not “forgotten from the heart” for thirty days.
Question
Should religious policy follow the subjective experience of an individual, or should it aim for a standardized prediction of emotions such as joy and sorrow?
