What is the context of this text?
Who and what are being described in these verses?
What is the overriding concern of this text?
How is and isn't it applicable to us now?
Does anything - either said or left unsaid - surprise you about these Biblical verses?
(א) כי אם לשארו. אין שארו אלא אשתו:
(The expression) "kin," refers only to his wife.
What is Rashi adding in his comment here?
Is it the plain meaning of the text?
Why does he feel the need to express himself in this way?
Our Rabbis taught: Formerly, they were wont to serve drinks in a house of mourning, the rich in white glass vessels and the poor in coloured glass, and the poor felt shamed: they instituted therefore that all should serve drinks in coloured glass, out of deference to the poor. Formerly they were wont to uncover the face of the rich and cover the face of the poor, because their faces turned livid in years of drought and the poor felt shamed; they therefore instituted that everybody's face should be covered, out of deference for the poor. Formerly. they were wont to bring out the rich [for burial] on a dargesh and the poor
on a plain bier, and the poor felt shamed: they instituted therefore that all should be brought out on a plain bier, out of deference for the poor.
What changes in Jewish mourning practices are reflected in this Baraita?
What caused the change in custom?