Siman 401

The sages taught in the Mishnah (Moed Katan 27a): One does not place the bier in the street on Chol HaMoed, so as not to facilitate a funeral oration. And on Chol HaMoed it is forbidden to facilitate a funeral oration except in honor of a Torah scholar (Nimukei Yosef). Therefore, one does not bring the deceased to the cemetery until the entire grave is prepared and ready, so as not to facilitate a funeral oration (ibid.).

And so, one does not perform keriah on Chol HaMoed except for the relatives of the deceased who are fit to mourn for him. That is to say: to exclude one who wishes to perform keriah for a deceased person because of his wisdom and fear of Heaven, or because he is a virtuous man, or his teacher, or if he is present at the time of the departure of the soul – for these, one does not perform keriah on Chol HaMoed. And it has already been explained above in siman 340 that our custom is not to perform keriah for any deceased persons, except for one's father and mother. And see there that in a place where there is no custom – one should perform keriah for all of them. For such is the essential law, that for the seven relatives for whom one is commanded to mourn, it is permitted and necessary to perform keriah on Chol HaMoed.

And similarly, the baring of the shoulder that was practiced in their days—it is not practiced during chol ha-moed. And similarly regarding the seudat havra'ah—one does not provide the meal of consolation during chol ha-moed except for the relatives and not the distant ones, and the same law applies to Chanukah, Purim, and Rosh Chodesh. And there is one who holds that there is no havra'ah at all during chol ha-moed (Beit Yosef in the name of the Semag and Semak). The Rosh rejected this, and our teacher, the Beit Yosef, ruled accordingly in section 4 (Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 401:4). However, now it seems to me that we do not practice havra'ah during chol ha-moed. And that which was explained in siman 378, that after the festival one provides the meal on the day that mourning is practiced—this is a different havra'ah aside from chol ha-moed. But our teacher, the Rema, wrote there that we do not practice the havra'ah that follows the festival, see there. And there is also a change regarding the havra'ah of chol ha-moed, for on a weekday one provides the meal on overturned beds as I wrote there, but during chol ha-moed one provides the meal on upright beds. And that which only the relatives provide the meal during chol ha-moed—this is for ordinary people. But for a sage who died—everyone provides the meal for him in the street in the manner that one provides for relatives, for everyone is like his relatives, and there is no festival in the presence of a talmid chacham. But on the Yom Tov itself when they bury the deceased, even on the second day of Yom Tov, one does not perform keriah, nor does one bare the shoulder, nor does one provide the meal of consolation.

Women on Chol HaMoed wail, which is that they all respond as one and not that one speaks and they all respond, according to the custom that existed in their days where women would lament over a deceased person with order and regulation. But they do not clap, which is to strike palm against palm. And on Rosh Chodesh, Chanukah, and Purim – they wail and clap, but they do not lament, which is that one speaks and they all respond after her. And when the deceased is buried, they do not wail and do not clap. And these words apply to an ordinary person, but for a talmid chakham, whether on Chol HaMoed or on Rosh Chodesh, Chanukah, and Purim – they wail and lament according to their way on a weekday. And these words apply in his presence, but not in his presence – no. And the day of hearing a report, even a distant one, is considered like in his presence. And now we do not have all these things. However, we have learned from this that on Chol HaMoed and Rosh Chodesh, Chanukah, and Purim – it is good to diminish weeping and eulogies, except for a talmid chakham in his presence.

Our teacher, the Beit Yosef, wrote in section 6 (Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 401:6) that on Chol HaMoed one recites Tzidduk HaDin and Kaddish over the deceased as on a weekday, and likewise on the second day of Yom Tov. But on the first day of Yom Tov, since one does not attend to the deceased—one does not recite it. Thus far his words. Our teacher, the Rema, wrote that there are those who disagree, [ruling] not to recite Tzidduk HaDin on Chol HaMoed, and such is the simple custom in all these provinces, not to recite Tzidduk HaDin on any days upon which Tachanun is not recited. Therefore, one also does not recite it when burying after midday on Erev Shabbat. And there are those who say that if one buries the deceased at night, one does not recite Kaddish or Tzidduk HaDin. Thus far his words. And likewise on Erev Yom Tov. But on Erev Rosh Chodesh and Erev Chanukah—even after midday one recites it, for they are not like Erev Shabbat (Levush and Shach). And likewise on Ta'anit Esther after midday, and Erev Lag BaOmer after midday, one recites it. And on the fourteenth of Iyar, in places where they do not recite [Tachanun] because of Pesach Sheni—one does not recite it.

He further wrote in section 7: If one's relative died before Purim, and Purim occurred during the mourning—it does not interrupt the mourning. Nevertheless, mourning is not practiced on either the fourteenth or the fifteenth, except for matters of privacy, which are practiced. And he is obligated to send manot. And even though he does not mourn on them—they count toward the tally of the seven days like Shabbat. Thus far his words. And in Orach Chaim siman 696 he did not write so, and there it has been explained.