Only 9 days left TB Moed Katan 24

 TB Moed Katan 24 explains how Sukkot impacted my mourning for my father z”l. “Rabbi Yitzḥak Nappaḥa taught in the pavilion [kila] of the Exilarch: If one’s relative died shortly before the festival of Shavuot, his one day of mourning before Shavuot and Shavuot itself count as fourteen days. Rav Sheshet heard and became angry. He said: Is that to say that it is his own opinion? It is the opinion that Rabbi Elazar said that Rabbi Oshaya said.

‘In both of these cases, a Sage presented an opinion as their own, without attributing it to the original Sage who stated it, for Rabbi Elazar said that Rabbi Oshaya said: From where is it derived that the Shavuot offerings have redress all seven subsequent days? That is to say, if someone failed to bring the Festival offering on the Festival itself, he has six more days to bring it. As it is stated: “Three times a year shall all your males appear before the Lord your God in the place that He shall choose; on the festival of Passover, and on the festival of Shavuot, and on the festival of Sukkot” (Deuteronomy 16:16). Just as the offerings of the festival of Passover have redress all seven days, as Passover is seven days long, so too the offerings of the festival of Shavuot have redress all seven days, during the week following Shavuot. From this we learn that Shavuot is treated like a seven-day Festival for all halakhic purposes.

“Rav Pappa granted permission to Rav Avya the Elder to speak and he taught the following in public: If one’s relative died shortly before Rosh HaShana, his one day of mourning before Rosh HaShana and Rosh HaShana itself together count as fourteen days, because Rosh HaShana is treated like a seven-day Festival. Ravina said: Therefore, if one’s relative died shortly before Sukkot, his one day of mourning before the Festival of Sukkot, and the Festival of Sukkot itself, which is seven days, and its Eighth day of Assembly, which is considered to be a separate Festival, count as twenty-one days, and he must observe only nine more days of mourning to complete the thirty-day period of mourning.”

My father died two days before Yom Kippur and was buried today after Yom Kippur,  11Tishre. The pilgrimage holiday of Sukkot began on the 15th of Tishre. I sat shiv'ah for four days. Sukkot ended the rest of shiv'ah giving me credit for a total of seven days. Shemini Atzeret which immediately follows the seventh day of Sukkot is considered a holiday unto itself. I got credit for another seven days because of the same reason Shavuot counts for seven days towards sheloshim, the first 30 days. Just as the Gemara says I only had nine more days until I finished sheloshim.

Study this daf to learn more practical mourning halakhot on the Shabbat of shiv’ah.