Are we able to benefit in any way from accessories, like a shroud, related to a dead person? The rabbis consider a number of items including cloth, a monument, something hewed, a pouch, and a craftsman. When are times forbidden by designation, and when by action? For example, a cloth that was laid down upon by a person who is ritually impure - if that scant is designated as a Torah cover, is it affected by this new status simply by designation or by the action of wrapping the Torah? All of this is discussed in the context of who might be buried in which places - further or closer from righteous people, mausoleums, etc.
There is a great deal of honour attached to one's burial place. The rabbis note that a son can never be buried in a grave that was half-dug and then not used to bury his father. Even a non-viable infant was not meant to be deriving benefit from that grave; however, the rabbis did decide that a non-viable newborn could be buried there.
The rabbis discuss money that has been collected for the community's dead in contrast to that collected for on dead person. These collections are to be kept separately, with any excess in the former to be given back into the pot and any excess in the latter to go to the heirs of the deceased.
In an attempt to understand the distinctions between that which is designated that than which is not, the rabbis tell the story of parents who bring closing to throw onto the grave of their descaled son. Should the clothes be saved after they have touched the bier? If an item is insignificant and has not be designated for holy use, can its use be changed at a later date?
Our daf ends with two stories, one about King Ahab and Navot; the other is about King Solomon, King David and curses. Ultimately we learn what the rabbis are emphasizing - eventually, those of us who curse will be cursed with something very similar to how what we have cursed.
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