Mo'ed Katan or Mo'ed Qatan (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

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

Seder Moed Moed (, "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 Moed consists ...

'' of the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

and the

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

. 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 and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

and

Sukkot Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths, is a Torah-commanded Jewish holiday celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which Israelite ...

(as both of these festivals are a week in length). These days are also known as "

Chol HaMoed ''Chol HaMoed'' (), a Hebrew phrase meaning "mundane of the festival", refers to the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot. As the name implies, these days mix features of ''chol'' (mundane) and ''moed'' (festival). On Passover, ''Chol HaMoe ...

" days. Mo'ed Katan also discusses the laws of

Aveilus Bereavement in Judaism () is a combination of Minhag, Jewish custom ( ''minhag'', modern pl. ''minhagim'') and Mitzvah, commandments ( ''mitzvah'', pl. ''mitzvot'') derived from the Torah and Judaism's classical rabbinic literature. The detail ...

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

Gemara The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemore) is an essential component of the Talmud, comprising a collection of rabbinical analyses and commentaries on the Mishnah and presented in 63 books. The term is derived from the Aram ...

from both

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; ) 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 centerpiece of Jewi ...

and the

Jerusalem Talmud The Jerusalem Talmud (, often for short) or Palestinian Talmud, also known as the Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah. Naming this version of the Talm ...

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'' ( , singular ''Amora'' ; "those who say" or "those who speak over the people", or "spokesmen") refers to Jewish scholars of the period from about 200 to 500 CE, who "said" or "told over" the teachings of the Oral Torah. They were p ...

Permitted Activities on Chol HaMoed

The

Mishnah Berurah The ''Mishnah Berurah'' ( "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 of the ''Shulchan Aru ...

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

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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
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Full Hebrew and English text of the Tosefta for tractate Mo'ed Katan
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{{Judaism-stub Tractates of the Talmud