Funeral gathering
Hello Rabbi. My neighbor passed away and my brother asked me if there were any guidelines regarding gatherings at funerals. Now I don't know the guidelines and I have no interest in checking. I don't usually go to funerals either.
But I started discussing it with him in the comments and every second I had a problem and an excuse for myself and decided to make it a Talmudic discussion. I am attaching it here. It is written intentionally in language that needs to be understood. I would be happy if the rabbi would tell me whether the move is correct or not. (It doesn't really matter what the Home Front Command's instructions are). If the rabbi sees this as a waste of his time, I apologize. Thank you for the rabbi's extensive activity.
Gemara Tractate Miliah
We read in the Mishnah :
And gatherings are also prohibited…
The Gemara asks :
What kind of funeral would allow for gatherings?
The Gemara answers :
Rava said, "There was a funeral in general, and why did it go out except to teach you that anything that is for a certain period of time is not forbidden."
The Gemara asks :
If so, tell the wedding that it is for a time.
Excuse :
What's the point of a wedding if he has a second wife?
Problem :
There is nothing to mourn for, for his mother has
Excuse :
There is nothing between the mourning of his father and the mourning of his mother except a name alone, as it is said, "Like a man whose mother comforts us."
Problem :
There is nothing between his first wife and his second wife except a name, as Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said: "For everything there is a reward, except for youth, as it is said, 'And a woman of youth, for she is abominable.'"
The Gemara accepts the problem and explains it differently :
But what about the wedding, if he can postpone it?
The Gemara's difficulty :
Who are we talking about? Fearing that we will be preceded by another
The Gemara explains :
No wonder he can marry her in two.
The Gemara's difficulty :
Even at a funeral, a neighbor can be buried in two.
The Gemara explains :
For the honor of the dead
The Gemara asks :
And the honor of the groom is gone.
The Gemara explains :
I am a groom who is at the beginning of his glory, and a bride who is at the end of his glory.
Another excuse :
I am a bridegroom who will sleep for seven days of feasting.
Question about the second excuse:
Tell even the mourners that they will sleep during the seven days of mourning.
Excuse :
No funeral expenses for the bereaved.
Problem :
But say not the wedding feast for the joy of a feast
Excuse :
It is decreed that the dead should be forgetful from the heart, but it is not decreed that the living should be forgetful from the heart. And it is said that Jacob did not weep for Rachel, but only for her time, while he wept for Joseph for twenty-two years.
לגלות עוד מהאתר הרב מיכאל אברהם
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