Eulogies are not delivered during Hol Ha’mo’ed. Although funerals are held on Hol Ha’mo’ed, eulogies are forbidden as they are inconsistent with the joyous mood of the festival. The exception to this rule is the passing of a Torah scholar, for whom eulogies may be delivered at the funeral on Hol Ha’mo’ed.
There is a lesser-known Halacha mentioned in the Shulhan Aruch (Orah Haim 547:3) regarding eulogies during the thirty days before a Yom Tob. The Shulhan Aruch writes (listen to audio recording for precise citation) that if somebody passes away more than thirty days before Yom Tob, eulogies may not be delivered within thirty days of the Yom Tob. Thus, for example, if somebody passes away on the 27th Adar, which is within thirty days before Pesah, eulogies may be given at his funeral. However, if somebody passed away on the 13th of Adar, which is more than thirty days before Pesah, and the family wants to hold an Arayat several weeks later, no eulogies may be given at the Arayat. Since the deceased passed away more than thirty days before Pesah, eulogies may not be delivered within thirty days of Pesah.
The reason for this Halacha, as the Mishna Berura (Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin, 1839-1933) explains, is that after thirty days pass, bereaved family members begin to find some comfort, but their anguish will resurface upon hearing eulogies about their loved one. And thus, if a festival falls more than thirty days after someone’s passing, the family members will be able to properly experience the joy of Yom Tob – unless their anguish resurfaces as a result of a eulogy. By delivering a eulogy in such a case, one causes the family members distress which will remain through Yom Tob, and this is thus forbidden. But if the death took place within thirty days of Yom Tob, then in any event the anguish will remain on Yom Tob, and thus eulogies are allowed.
The Be’ur Halacha (essays by the author of the Mishna Berura) clarifies that eulogies are forbidden within thirty days of Yom Tob even if fewer than thirty days have passed since the person’s death. As long as the death took place more than thirty days before Yom Tob, eulogies are forbidden within thirty days of Yom Tob.
There is a debate among the Halachic authorities as to whether this applies to eulogies of Torah scholars. The Mishna Berura maintains that even in the case of the death of a Torah scholar, eulogies are forbidden within thirty days of Yom Tob if he passed away more than thirty days before Yom Tob. Hacham Ovadia Yosef, however, in Hazon Ovadia – Abelut (vol. 1, p. 293), disagrees, and rules that just as eulogies for a Torah scholar may be delivered on Hol Ha’mo’ed, they are also permitted within thirty days of Yom Tob, even if the scholar passed away more than thirty days before Yom Tob.
Summary: Eulogies are forbidden during Hol Ha’mo’ed, except at the funeral of a Torah scholar. Eulogies may not be delivered within thirty days before Yom Tob for somebody who passed away more than thirty days before Yom Tob (such as at an Arayat), except if the deceased is a Torah scholar.
