Shulchan Arukh Orach Chayim · Siman 547

Shulchan Arukh Orach Chayim 547 — English translation

Translation: Sefaria Community Translation. Section numbers match the Hebrew text above.

1. 1The Laws of Dealing with Death on Chol Hamoed, 12 Seifim: It is forbidden to eulogize or fast on hol hamoed. Therefore, we do not leave the coffin in the street so that we not cause eulogizing. For the same reason, we do not bring the coffin to the cemetery until the grave is ready.
2. 22. Women may wail, which is crying out together. They may not lament, which is when one speaks and the others cry out in response. they do not clap, which is clapping the hands together. Once the dead is buried, they may not wail.
3. 33. During the thirty days prior to the holiday, It is forbidden to eulogize somebody who died before that thirty day period. This even applies if there is another eulogy that one is giving, i.e. if somebody died within the thirty period, in which case it is permitted to eulogize the dead even on the eve of the holiday. In such a case, it is still forbidden to eulogize alongside that person somebody who died thirty days prior to the holiday.
4. 44. If somebody hears of a death within thirty days of a festival, it seems to me that is permissible to eulogize, even if this report comes from far away.
5. 55. It seems to me that our practice during the rest of the year to eulogize and mention the soul of the dead is not included in this prohibition, it is permitted within the thirty days prior to the holiday.
6. 66. One does not tear for somebody who died on the holiday, except for relatives that one is obligated to mourn for, scholars, upright people, and people who died in one's presence. For relatives that one is obligated to mourn and for scholars, one tears even not in the presence of the dead, even if one heard of the death during the holiday if the death occurred within thirty days. For an upright person, one only tears if one learned of it between the death and the burial. Rem"a: There are those who disagree. The practice among Ashkenazim is to only tear for one's father or mother. For other deaths, one tears after the holiday (Maharil and Terumat Hadeshen chapter 458). In places for which this is not the practice, one should tear for all the aforementioned cases.
7. 77. One does not remove garments from shoulders except for in the case of relatives who one is obligated to mourn for and scholars.
8. 88. We provide meals to the mourners on Chol Hamoed, though only in public, only to the relatives of the dead. We only provide meals to the mourners on upright beds. There is no overturning of beds on the holiday.
9. 99. Everyone eats a mourner's meal in public for a scholar who died, similar to the way in which mourners generally eat the meal, because everybody is mourners for a scholar.
10. 1010. We fulfill all the needs of the dead on Chol Hamoed. We cut his hair, wash his garments, and build a coffin in the yard where the dead is located so that it is clear that it is for the dead. If we do not have boards, we may bring logs and cut them into boards in the privacy of the home. If the dead is famous, we can do this even in the market. We do not cut down trees from the forest to make boards for the coffin. We do not mine stones to build a grave. In a place where few Jews live and everybody knows that there has been a death, all dead are treated as famous.
11. 1111. We do not dig crypts or build graves on Chol Hamoed so that they can be ready for somebody who will die. However, we may adjust one. If it is too long, we shorten it, or lengthen it, or widen it.
12. 1212. One should not uproot grass and dirt on hol hamoed in the cemetery the way we do on non-holiday periods. (The laws of tziduk hadin on moed are covered in Yoreh Deah 401:6.)

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