Moed Katan 11 Financial Hardship... and Ordinary Hardship

We know that we are permitted to work on the Moed if refraining from work would cause financial hardship.  Today's daf explores what 'financial hardship' means.  It uses a number of situations to explore the fences built around this concept of financial hardship.  Coincidentally, one of those examples is a fence.

Beyond financial hardship, the rabbis are concerned about related issues.  One regards communal service: is a person permitted to work on the Moed if s/he is not working for him/herself but for the community?  Further, if a person must work in order to survive day-to-day, and not to prevent financial hardship, is his or her work permitted?

I admire the rabbis for including this last question.  Certainly the risk of financial hardship is very real.  However, to experience financial hardship one must have some means that can be lost.  For those living in profound poverty, financial hardship does not exist.  It is the hardship of day-to-day life that creates risk.  And thus the rabbis are wise to ensure that people in this situation are cared for in our halacha, as well.

The rabbis wonder about an extremely small home that requires a balcony around the roof: is it permitted to build this balcony on the Moed?  There may be no financial risk at hand, but safety could be an issue.  The rabbis wonder whether such a small home should be defined as a house at all.  They consider the notion of safety and of community involvement.  

In amud (b) the rabbis consider the example of olive pressing.  If a person cannot complete their work before the Festival because their staff do not come to work, or because they are in mourning - both 'reasonable' excuses - can the work be completed on the Moed?  The process of olive oil production is outlined.  We learn that olives are too hard and must be packed together to soften before oil extraction can occur.  If they are left for too long, the harvest would be wasted.  We are advised that is is permitted to 'turn the olives'.  This means that we can do the minimum amount of work required to save the olives and use their oil.  

Learning about the strenuous, pressured and critical steps in food production is one of the surprising pleasures about learning daf yomi.