Tractate Moed Katan centers around two polar-opposite topics: Chol Hamoed, days of moderated celebration, and aveilut, days of mourning. One we associate with trips to the zoo, the other with the shiva house. Their juxtaposition seems almost offensive. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin shows that the two are more closely related than we may think. He argues that both represent in-between stages—between yomim tovim and between periods of loss. Moed Katan is about “how to live a life that is in between, in flux, and sandwiched between conflicting identities.”
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