“Prepare shrouds for yourself": Community Responsibility for a Corpse, and the Deadly Consequences of Excessive Mourning (Moed Katan 27b)
The passage
Community Responsibility and Excommunication
Rav Hamnuna visits a town called Daru Mata1 and hears a shofar signaling a death in the community.
Upon observing some people continuing their work, he initially excommunicates them2 for seemingly disrespecting the deceased by not pausing their activities.
However, upon learning that the townspeople are organized into separate groups (חבורתא), each responsible for its own members, and that the deceased did not belong to the group of the working individuals, he understands their actions and revokes the excommunication.
רב המנונא איקלע לדרו מתא,
שמע קול שיפורא דשכבא.
חזא הנך אינשי דקא עבדי עבידתא,
אמר להו: ליהוו הנך אינשי בשמתא.
לא שכבא איכא במתא?!
אמרו ליה: חבורתא איכא במתא.
אמר להו: אי הכי, שריא לכו.
The Gemara relates that when Rav Hamnuna once happened to come to a place called Darumata
he heard the sound of a shofar announcing that a person had died in the town.
When he saw some people doing work
he said to them: Let these people be under an excommunication.
Is there not a dead person in town?!
They said to him: There are separate groups in the town, each one responsible for its own dead. Knowing that the deceased was not from our group, we continued our work.
He said to them: If so, it is permitted to you, and he revoked his excommunication.
Consequences of Excessive Mourning
Rav Yehuda, citing Rav, warns against excessive mourning, suggesting that it can lead to further tragedy.
The passage describes the consequences of excessive mourning as illustrated by the story of an unnamed woman (ההיא איתתא) in Rav Huna's neighborhood. She had seven sons, and when one of them died, she grieved excessively despite Rav Huna's warnings.
Ignoring his advice to moderate her grief, she was told by Rav Huna to prepare for more deaths (“prepare shrouds“) if she did not stop. Her continued mourning led to the deaths of all her sons.
Rav Huna ultimately told her to prepare for her own death due to her unrelenting grief. Soon after, she passed away.
ואמר רב יהודה אמר רב: כל המתקשה על מתו יותר מדאי, על מת אחר הוא בוכה.
ההיא איתתא דהות בשיבבותיה דרב הונא,
הוו לה שבעה בני,
מית חד מינייהו,
הוות קא בכיא ביתירתא עליה.
שלח לה רב הונא: לא תעבדי הכי!
לא אשגחה ביה.
שלח לה: אי צייתת — מוטב, ואי לא — צבית זוודתא לאידך מית,
ומיתו כולהו.
לסוף, אמר לה: תימוש זוודתא לנפשיך,
ומיתא.
And Rav Yehuda said further in the name of Rav: Anyone who grieves excessively over his dead and does not allow himself to be consoled will in the end weep for another person.
The Gemara relates that a certain woman who lived in the neighborhood of Rav Huna
had seven sons.
One of them died
and she wept for him excessively.
Rav Huna sent a message to her: Do not do this.
But she took no heed of him.
He then sent another message to her: If you listen to me, it is well, but if not, prepare shrouds for another death.
But she would not listen and they all died.
In the end, when she continued with her excessive mourning, he said to her: Since you are acting in this way, prepare shrouds for yourself,
and soon thereafter she died.
דרו מתא - literally: “Daru City”. An otherwise-unknown place.
שמתא - on Talmudic excommunication, see my previous series.