Simcha Through Torah

MISHNA: One whose deceased relative is laid out unburied before him is exempt from the recitation of Shema, from the Amida prayer, and from the mitzva to don phylacteries, as well as all positive mitzvot mentioned in the Torah, until the deceased has been buried.

He whose dead lies before him eats his meal in another room; if he has no other room, he makes a partition and takes his meal. If he has not the wherewithall to make a partition, he turns away his face and takes his meal. Under no circumstances, however, is he to recline while eating. He eats no meat, drinks no wine, nor does he recite the blessing (over bread), nor does he invite others to join him in saying grace; he is exempt from saying Shema, from saying the Amidah, from putting on the phylacteries, and from performing any religious duties prescribed in the law. On Sabbath, however, he reclines (while eating), eats meat and drinks wine, recites the blessing (over bread), invites others to join him in saying grace. While others may recite the blessing for hum and invite him to join them in saying grace, and he bound to perform all the religious duties commanded in the law, with the exception of marital intercourse. After burial he may eat meat and drink wine to help moisten the food in his bowels but not to the point of intoxication.

(1) A bereavement occurs for him (i.e., one of the seven relatives) is required to be in mourning for him, before the burial, one must eat in another house. If he does not have another house, he eats in his friend’s home. If there is no friend’s house, make a partition and eat; and even if the partition is a double sheet, as long as it’s secured so that it doesn’t blow in thethis pers wind. And if he doesn’t have something to make a partition, he should turn his face and eat. And whatever he does, he does. And if he is in another city, he does not need to recline and eat; do not eat meat and do not drink wine, and do not say the motzi blessing nor the birkat hamazon, and do not bless him and do not invite him, even if the food is with others who do bless, do not invite others with an “amen. It is permitted of all the stated mitzvot in the Torah, even if you do not need to engage in the needs of the dead, such as that he will have others that engage for him. And some say that even if the person in mourning wants to do the mitzvot anyway, it is forbidden from him. And on Shabbat and Yom Tov, eat meat and drink wine, if you want to (our teacher Yonah). And if one blesses, he is obligated for all of the mitzvot except for intercourse which is forbidden from him. Isserlis: You can go to synagogue on Shabbat, and even on other days, there is no prohibition against it, only that it is prohibited to pray. If he needs to spend the night, in order to engage in the means of the dead, aninut is incumbent upon him from the time he begins to go in order to pass the dark time. If he wants to bury the deceased on Yom Tov, by means of Gentiles (i.e., because we can’t), it is forbidden through that time. And all the more so on the second day of Yom Tov that he can bury the person himself, but the rules of aninut will be incumbent upon him. Some say that this category applies to a student and his rabbi.

Similarly, “So I commended mirth,” that is the joy of a mitzva. “And of mirth: What does it accomplish?” that is joy that is not the joy of a mitzva. The praise of joy mentioned here is to teach you that the Divine Presence rests upon an individual neither from an atmosphere of sadness, nor from an atmosphere of laziness, nor from an atmosphere of laughter, nor from an atmosphere of frivolity, nor from an atmosphere of idle conversation, nor from an atmosphere of idle chatter, but rather from an atmosphere imbued with joy of a mitzva. As it was stated with regard to Elisha that after he became angry at the king of Israel, his prophetic spirit left him until he requested: “But now bring me a minstrel; and it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him” (II Kings 3:15).

(25) Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. (26) When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he wrenched Jacob’s hip at its socket, so that the socket of his hip was strained as he wrestled with him. (27) Then he said, “Let me go, for dawn is breaking.” But he answered, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” (28) Said the other, “What is your name?” He replied, “Jacob.” (29) Said he, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with beings divine and human, and have prevailed.” (30) Jacob asked, “Pray tell me your name.” But he said, “You must not ask my name!” And he took leave of him there. (31) So Jacob named the place Peniel, meaning, “I have seen a divine being face to face, yet my life has been preserved.”

§ Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: Greater is a transgression committed for its own sake, i.e., for the sake of Heaven, than a mitzva performed not for its own sake. The Gemara questions this comparison: But didn’t Rav Yehuda say that Rav said: A person should always occupy himself with Torah and mitzvot even not for their own sake, as it is through acts performed not for their own sake that good deeds for their own sake come about? How, then, can any transgression be considered greater than a mitzva not for the sake of Heaven?

(7) All of man’s earning is for the sake of his mouth, yet his gullet is not sated.

There is a difference between serving Hashem and serving man, someone who serves man is not happy in his work because he is not sure if he will get rewarded for it. And even if he does get rewarded it is not during the work, rather after it and because of this while he works he will be sad, until he reaches the actual point of his work. Service of God is not like that, the reward and the purpose are in the work itself.

Someone who comes before man to ask for something on his behalf comes in tears and he only shouts in jubilation upon exits, if his request has been fulfilled. It is not so when we come before Hashem

Because we are confident that he will fulfill our request