Commentary for Berakhot 12:16
אמר רב ששת אגרא דהספדא דלויי
Rab Sheshet said : The merit of listening to a funeral oration lies in raising [the voice in lamentation].
Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
M. : Ashe.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
The funeral oration was an address in honour of the deceased, and the heirs could be compelled to defray the cost of hiring an orator for the purpose. Loud wailing was also a feature of funerals in the Orient. See J. E. v. p. 529, Lane, Chap. XXVIII, T. A. II. pp. 68ff.
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