Moed Katan 16 Admonition, Pressure, Excommunication - And Of Course, More Ostracism

Yesterday we began to learn about ostracism.  Today the rabbis elaborate about ostracism as a tool for societal maintenance.  They wish to ensure that ostracism is used appropriately.  Thus we learn that one can be ostracized for disrespectful behaviour or for refusing to pay money owed.  In the first case, a person must serve their full time - thirty days.  In the second case, a person might be able to end their ostracism early.  For this to occur, the person who has been ostracized must have made amends.  All three (if there are three) people who have ostracized that person must agree to release him/her of this burden.  A shofar, sounded at the start of the ostracism and at the end of thirty days, can be sounded early.  

We learn that the rabbis are careful not to tarnish reputations without cause.  They consider cases where a person is ostracized and dies within those thirty days.  They wonder about whether ostracism follows a person from one city to another - considering whether they are travelling to or from their own city.  The rabbis look to sources to explain why we ostracize.  They look at how we ostracize: first with warnings at court on Monday, Thursday and the following Monday.  Then with hardafa, which is defined as 'pressure', which could mean anything from solitary confinement to actual ostracism.  Then with ostracism for thirty days - and another thirty days, if required.  Finally, an unrepentant person is consequenced with excommunication.  This process is not the same as nezifah, admonishment, which requires a person to behave as though s/he feels ashamed - the public treats him/her no differently when s/he is admonished.

The rabbis share stories that elucidate the practical applications of these halachot.  One of the stories notes that a woman is admonished for failing to pull her leg in to ease the path of a Torah scholar.  Admonishment seems to be the consequence for rudeness rather than for blatant defiance.

One of the rabbis' stories focuses on the Song of Songs, "Your rounded thighs are like jewels..." (7:2).  This verse is used to prove that the Torah should be kept hidden and not studied in the marketplace.  It is alternatively used to prove that charitable acts should be kept hidden.  How amazing to see the varied, justifiable ways that our tradition has been interpreted and taken root.

Digressing because of this verse, our daf ends with a lengthy review of King David's words and actions.