Class 16: Obligation for Separation

[Marsha1]

I found the discussion of the different opinions regarding an onen's obligation for Havdalah and a child's obligation for mourning very interesting and a bit complicated. The position of the Rush is that if you were not obligated at the time of the trigger for the mitzvah, then you never become obligated; an onen and katan are equal in this regard.  This contrasts with that of the Maharal of Rittenberg, which focuses on the difference between an onen and a katan, an onen being someone who is obligated but not able to fulfill the obligation versus a katan who is not yet obligated at all; this means that an onen must fulfill his obligation during the 3-day chiyuv of Havdalah as soon as he is no longer an onen because he is still obligated in it and now has no obstacle to fulfilling it.  This is different than a katan who never was obligated and therefore, even as a gadol, has no obligation to fulfill a chiyuv that would have been triggered when he was a katan and not yet obligated in any mitzvot.  If I understood correctly, we take the latter view.

This was somewhat difficult to fully understand at first, but once I did, it seemed to make a lot of sense.  Hope I got it right!!