Times have changed so has the halakha TB Beitza 6

Today’s daf TB Beitza 6 could not be more relevant because it discusses an aspect of Rosh Hashanah and Rosh Hashanah begins tonight! A real halakhic question arises when there are two competing Jewish values. How do you decide which value takes precedence. Our daf discusses what should happen if a person, God forbid, needs to be buried on Rosh Hashanah. On the one hand we have the holiday with all of its restrictions. On the other hand we have to take care of deceased. A person does not lose his “Image of God- צלם א-להים” when he dies. We must maintain the dignity due him by burying him as soon as possible so he won’t decompose and give off an odious smell. We also have to take into account the anguish felt by the mourners seeing their loved one unattended. You can probably guess the direction of discussion based on these two competing values.

“Rava said: If one died on the first day of a Festival, gentiles should attend to his burial. If he died on the second day of a Festival, Jews should attend to his burial. And even with regard to the two Festival days of Rosh HaShana, the halakha is that the legal status of the two days is like that of the two days of the Festivals...

“Mar Zutra said: We said that Jews should attend to the dead on the second day of Rosh HaShana only when the burial of the corpse has already been delayed and for some reason the burial was not on the day that he died. In that case, the body might begin to decay, and the dignity of the dead is at stake. However, if the burial has not been delayed, and there is no concern for the dignity of the corpse, its burial may not be attended to on the Festival; rather, we delay it until the Festival has ended.

“Rav Ashi said: Even though the burial was not delayed, but it is the day that he died, we still do not delay the burial. What is the reason for this? With regard to the dead, the Sages equated the legal status of the second Festival day with that of a weekday. This is true to such an extent that on a Festival it is permitted even to cut material to fashion a cloak for the deceased. And similarly, it is permitted to cut myrtles for the deceased, to be placed on the bier in their honor.” (Sefaria.org translation) We do whatever is necessary and appropriate to bury our deceased on the second day Rosh Hashanah and festivals.

You might think that the halakha is clearly decided and we do whatever is necessary to bury the dead on Rosh Hashanah, but when times change, the rabbis are not afraid to change the halakha to meet the new circumstances.

“Ravina said: And nowadays, when there are ḥabarei, this practice must be adjusted. The ḥabarei were Persian priests who made false accusations against Jews in Babylonia. They cited the fact that Jews were burying their dead on the second Festival day as proof that the day was not holy, and they forced them to work on that day. Since we are concerned about this possibility, we do not bury the dead on the second day” (Sefaria.org translation)

Times have changed again. Thank God, we live in the United States of America where we enjoy total religious freedom and don’t have to worry about what other people may say. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, one of the greatest 20^th century deciders of Jewish law, ruled that we do not bury the dead on the second day Rosh Hashanah or on the both days of the festival in contradiction to Rava, Mar Zutra, and Rav Ashi. Nevertheless, he provides two different reasons why we are forbidden to bury the dead on those holidays based on our modern circumstances. In this era of total freedom, Jews may begin to treat the other aspects of the holidays lightly if they ignore the holiday to bury the dead. Secondly, we do not have to worry about major decomposition of the body as they did before because we can slow down the process thanks to refrigeration. The deceased’s dignity can remain intact a bit longer; consequently, we don’t have to desecrate the holiday. There’s no reason now why we can’t wait until the day after the festival to bury our dead.

I pray that nobody should enter Rosh Hashanah or our festivals with the beloved deceased waiting to be buried.

 I wish you a very happy, healthy, and meaningful New Year, 5782.