Mo'ed Katan or Mo'ed Qatan (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: מועד קטן, lit. "little festival") is the eleventh tractate of ''

Seder Moed Moed ( he, מועד, "Festivals") is the second Order of the Mishnah, the first written recording of the Oral Torah of the Jewish people (also the Tosefta and Talmud). Of the six orders of the Mishna, Moed is the third shortest. The order of M ...

'' of the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...

and the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

. It is concerned with the laws of the days between the first and last days of

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew calendar, He ...

and

Sukkot or ("Booths, Tabernacles") , observedby = Jews, Samaritans, a few Protestant denominations, Messianic Jews, Semitic Neopagans , type = Jewish, Samaritan , begins = 15th day of Tishrei , ends = 21st day of Tishre ...

(as both of these festivals are a week in length). These days are also known as " Chol HaMoed" days. Mo'ed Katan also discusses the laws of

Aveilus Bereavement in Judaism () is a combination of '' minhag'' and '' mitzvah'' derived from the Torah and Judaism's classical rabbinic texts. The details of observance and practice vary according to each Jewish community. Mourners In Judaism, the ...

(Bereavement). Consisting of only three chapters, it has a

Gemara The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemo(r)re; from Aramaic , from the Semitic root ג-מ-ר ''gamar'', to finish or complete) is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah w ...

from both

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

and the

Jerusalem Talmud The Jerusalem Talmud ( he, תַּלְמוּד יְרוּשַׁלְמִי, translit=Talmud Yerushalmi, often for short), also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century ...

Summary

In the Babylonian Talmud: *The first 2 chapters deal with Chol HaMoed *The 3rd chapter deals primarily with the laws of mourning, as well as the laws of excommunication, and various accounts of the deaths of

Amoraim ''Amoraim'' (Aramaic language, Aramaic: plural or , singular ''Amora'' or ''Amoray''; "those who say" or "those who speak over the people", or "spokesmen") refers to Jewish scholars of the period from about 200 to 500 Common Era, CE, who "sai ...

Permitted Activities on Chol HaMoed

The

Mishnah Berurah The ''Mishnah Berurah'' ( he, משנה ברורה "Clear Teaching") is a work of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (Poland, 1838–1933, also known as ''Chofetz Chaim''). It is a commentary on ''Orach Chayim'', the first section ...

sums up the important principles that come out of Mo'ed Katan. In Mishnah Berurah 530:1 it lists the activities permitted on Chol HaMoed: * ''Davar Ha'Aved''- One may do work in order to avoid a loss (i.e. if the work is left to be done after Chol HaMoed, a loss will result) * ''Tzarchei Moed''- Even work which requires skill may be done if it is necessary for the purpose of eating on the Moed. For other activities, only work which does not require skill may done if it is necessary for Chol HaMoed. * ''Bishvil Poel She'Ayn Lo Ma Yochal''- If a person cannot afford to eat, it is permitted for them to work. * ''Tzarchei Rabbim''- Activities done for the benefit of the public may be done on Chol HaMoed * ''Ma'aseh Hedyot''- Unskilled work

External links

Mishnah Mo'ed Katan text in Hebrew Full Hebrew and English text of the Mishnah for tractate Mo'ed Katan
on

Sefaria Sefaria is an online open source, free content, digital library of Jewish texts. It was founded in 2011 by former Google project manager Brett Lockspeiser and journalist-author Joshua Foer. Calling itself "a living library of Jewish texts", Sefar ...

Full Hebrew and English text of the Talmud Bavli for tractate Mo'ed Katan
on

Full Hebrew text of the Talmud Yerushalmi for tractate Mo'ed Katan
on

Full Hebrew and English text of the Tosefta for tractate Mo'ed Katan
on

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