("Minor Festival"). Eleventh tractate of Order Mo'Ed in the Mishnah. It comprises three chapters dealing mainly with the types of work permitted or forbidden on the intermediate days (ḥol Ha-Mo'Ed) of Passover and Sukkot (cf. Lev. 23:37). Also discussed are the rules of Mourning on Sabbaths and festivals. This tractate, like the Mishnaic Order of which it forms part, was originally called Mo'ed; to avoid confusion, scholars also called it Mashkin ("one may irrigate") after the opening word. The subject matter is amplified in both Talmuds and in the Tosefta.
The New Encyclopedia of Judaism. Copyright © 1989, 2002 by G.G. The Jerusalem Publishing House, Ltd. All rights reserved.
