Pesachim 83: Korban Pesach and Gid HaNashe

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It is a mitzvah to burn any meat that passed its deadline and became nosar. The official time for this burning is only on the morning in which it became nosar. It cannot be burned at night. However, since this burning does not override the laws of Shabbos and Yom Tov, any leftover meat of the korban Pesach along with its sinews and bones are burned in the courtyards of Yerushalayim on Nissan 16, the first day of Chol Hamoed in Eretz Yisrael.

Even though Rav says that sinews are not considered meat, Rebbi Yochanan argues with Rav and says that they are considered meat. Rebbi Yochanan apparently maintains that although they are hard, since they can be softened through boiling they are considered meat, like the ligaments mentioned in the Mishnah.

Why do Rav and Reish Lakish rule that the sinews of the neck are not considered meat, even though they can be softened through boiling? Apparently, Rav and Reish Lakish maintain that cooking the sinews of the neck does not soften them sufficiently, and thus they are not comparable to the Gidin mentioned in the Beraisa which become completely softened through cooking.

What are giddin? Are the sinews of the neck different, we discuss the talmudic account of bones, sinews and tendons, which leads bas to the work of Asaph Harofeh the Person Jewish Physician who cites Hippocrates.

Pesachim 82: Darash

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If the sacrificial meat of the Korban Pesach is taken out of its permissible area, from where do we derive that it must be burned?

From Lev 10:18, “Behold, its blood was not brought into the Sanctuary within; you should have eaten it in the Sanctuary, as I commanded”

Fro Moshe Rabbeinu’s admonition of Aron

Leading us to the Chatas Aron could not bring because of his animus and the wonderful insights about Moshe’s anxiety? Frustration? Fear ?

The Gemara (Zevachim 101a) praises the fact that Moshe Rabbeinu did not lie and claim he did not hear the halachah that, due to Aharon’s mourning, the korban could not be eaten. Rather, he unabashedly told the truth and admitted that he heard the halachah from Hashem but had subsequently forgotten it.

Pesachim 81: וְשׂוֹרְפוֹ לפְִניֵ הבִַּירָה

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What is the reason that the Paschal lamb must be burned before the Temple and that those who prefer to burn it elsewhere are not permitted to do so? Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina said: In order to embarrass them.

Presumably, the reason that most of the offering became impure is because the owners were not sufficiently careful with it. Therefore, the Sages decreed that it be burned in a public place.

This "public place" is the Bira the location of which remains uncertain and subject to to controversy between Reb Yochanan and Resh Lakish.

Pesachim 80: The Dialectic of Impurity

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The Mishnah states that the Tzitz is not Meratzeh for Tum'as ha'Guf (Tum'ah of the person who offers the Korban, in contrast to Tum'ah of the animal or its blood, or Tum'ah of the utensils used for offering the Korban).

thus if one became ritually impure through impurity of the deep, the frontplate (tzitz) appeases God (ritzui).

this leads us to consider the tuma'ah of the Tehom (deep) and the anthropology of purity laws cross culturally and the work of Mary Douglas.

Pesachim 79: Women and the Passover Sacrifice

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What level of obligation do women have regarding the korban Pesah?

Although the main discussion of this question takes place in the next chapter of Massekhet Pesahim, as we will see, the point is raised here in the context of bringing the Pesah sacrifice when the community is tameh, or ritually defiled.

Our daf discusses when half the tzibbur is pure and half impure and the difference (in women) between Pesach rishon and sheen.

Which leads us to examine women’s participation in the seder itself, in reclining, and even the halacha of saying korbonos which are a substitute for the sacrificial service.

Pesachim 78: Korban Pesach Today(?)

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The Mishnah teaches that the Korban Pesach may be offered only if its meat may be eaten. If the meat became Tamei, then the Korban may not be offered, because the purpose of offering the Korban Pesach is to eat it.

When any other type of Korban becomes Tamei, the Korban may be offered as long as even one k'Zayis of meat or fat is still Tahor.

Furthermore in a situation where the majority of the public is ritually impure, in which case everyone agrees that they perform the ritual of the Paschal lamb even in a state of impurity.

These unique halachot regarding impurity lead us to understanding when and why the seder continued without the Korban Pesach after the Hurban

And why there a those in the 19th century who felt we could begin again bringing this unique Korban.

Pesachim 77: What Makes Rosh Chodesh a Woman's Holiday?

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It could enter your mind to say that since the term appointed time is not written with regard to them, these offerings do not override Shabbat or ritual impurity as do other communal offerings during their appointed times. Therefore, it teaches us that even the New Moon is called an appointed time. Rosh Chodesh is considered a Moed....

The obvious problem with Abaye’s explanation that Rosh Chodesh is also called mo’ed is that we don’t treat it as a festival in other respects.

Which leads us to review as to What makes Rosh Chodesh a woman's holiday?

Pesachim 76: The Aroma of Treif

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Levi said: That aroma does not cause meat to be forbidden. Even lean kosher meat that one roasted with fatty non-kosher meat is permitted. What is the reason for this halakha? Although the non-kosher meat emits an aroma that is absorbed into the kosher meat, it is merely an aroma, and an aroma is nothing significant.

This Halacha leads us to examine aromas and why the smell of treif might be forbidden, and what is the physiology of olfaction.

Pesachim 75: Ἄλκιμος

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A macabre comparison is made in our Daf between the mitzvah of roasting the Korban Pesach on a grill and the capital punishment of burning: . Being that the Torah twice said the words “tzli aish,” the emphasis implies that the fire must be present and directly roasting the korban, as opposed to a fire that was put out and the heat remains (or a metal bar that was heated by fire).

Rebbi ruled in a Baraisa that if one slices the Korban Pesach and places it over coals it is considered fire-roasted and is acceptable. R’ Achdavoi bar Ami asks R’ Chisda whether Rebbi actually subscribes to this position, when it seems that a special drasha is needed to equate coals with fire, and this drasha is only found in the case of אש מכות. R’ Chisda explains Rebbi’s rationale, and a discussion ensues regarding the correct method of execution by burning. This applies exclusively to a Bas Cohen.

The Torah teaches that a Bas Kohen who was betrothed and sinned with another man is punished with Sereifah: The RASHASH however points us to Gen Rabba where the story of Yakum Ish Tsroros AKA Alcimus (according to Josephus) committed suicide using all four methods of capital punishment sequentially.

This leads us to a review the last years of the Seleucid rule of Jerusalem under Bacchides who installed Alcimus as High Priest and military leader 162-159 BCE.

Pesachim 74: Eat Your Heart Out

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The seventh perek of Massekhet Pesahim deals with how the korban Pesah is eaten. Perhaps the most basic rule about the preparation of the sacrifice is that the animal must be roasted whole. One of the concerns raised in the Gemara is the issue of removing the blood from the meat before it is eaten.

The heart contains congealed blood which is unable to be removed through the salting process. This blood is considered blood that contains the life of the animal and hence carries the penalty of Kareis if consumed .

It is customary to cut the foreskin of the heart and to cut the sinews inside of it. The Shach cites Recanati that this is " to remove the impurity from the heart”

This leads us to examine the status of the heart in the kashering process and the intriguing case of

The Heartless Chicken

Pesachim 73: "Mekalkel be-Chabura"

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One who causes a wound on Shabbat that has no constructive effect but rather is purely destructive in nature has not performed a prohibited labor and is therefore exempt from bringing a sin-offering, how are we to understand the mishna’s ruling that one who slaughtered the Paschal lamb for those who cannot eat it is liable?

What positive outcome did the person who mistakenly slaughters the korban Pesah on Shabbat accomplish? This should be a case of mekalkel – a destructive act – and he should not be obligated to bring the sin-offering!

This leads us to examine the concept of “Mekalkel be-Chabura”

Pesachim 72: אוכלוסא דאינשי Multitudes

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Our Daf relates that Rav Yitzhak bar Yosef once found Rabbi Abbahu standing among a multitude [okhlosa] of people, and he said to him: What is the meaning of our mishna?

Jastrow has many meanings of okhlosa which leads us to the Tosefta: One who sees multitudes of Israel recites:

"Blessed…Who knows all secrets.” And Ullah’s remark: We hold there is no multitude in Babylonia.

Implying there is no reshus harabim in Bavel. We look at the travels of Ullah…

Pesachim 71: The Core of Joy

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One of our daf’s concerns revolves around the question of how we can joyously celebrate the first night of the holidays, when any korban that had been brought prior to the Yom Tov cannot be considered part of the joy of that holiday, yet there has not yet been an opportunity to sacrifice the korban hagiga for the holiday!

After examining the halachic ramifications of joy on Yom Tov (first and subsequent days) as well as Shabbes and Yom Tov, and

thinking about how halacha can possibly legislate simchah or joy..... leads us to the chassidic dimension and revolution with joy at its core.

It is as if the correction Chassidus brought to yidishkeit was an inner need to release joy beyond its Halachic constraints.

Pesachim 70: Going South

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In an attempt to clarify when and how the Paschal lamb will be sacrificed - particularly when the 14 or 15 of Nissan fall on Shabbat - the rabbis compare and contrast this offering to that of the Festival peace-offering. The rabbis disagree about many factors: which should be sacrificed first how they should be sacrificed (roasted, etc.) where they can be slaughtered etc. etc. Steinsaltz explains that one rabbi Yehuda ben Dortai moves with his son far from the Temple to physically distance himself from the rabbinical rulings about the Festival peace-offering on Shabbat - a ruling with which he vehemently disagrees.

The Talmud indicates that Shemaiah and Avtalion were not merely (Pharisaic) leaders but also heads of the Sanhedrin. In our daf a Baraitha relates that Judah ben Dortai said if Elijah were to come and reproach Israel because they did not sacrifice the Hagigah (a private sacrifice) on Sabbath, the answer would be that Shemaiah and Avtalion, great sages and great interpreters (or: preachers) did not tell Israel that the Hagigah took precedence over the Sabbath.

Why did Judah ben Dortai and his son settle in the South? Did he join the Qum-ran sect located there? Does the fact that his wife obviously did not accompany him have any significance? The sources indicate no answer to these questions.

Pesachim 69: Truth and its Consequences

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R’Akiva and R’Eliezer vigorously dispute the conditions under which slaughter is permissible on the Sabbath, At one point R’Eliezer lashes out: “Akiva! You have answered me irreverently in a matter of slaughter– through slaughter shall be his death!”

R’Akiva explains that his answer had been an attempt to remind R’Eliezer that he himself had taught Akiva the law Eliezer was now apparently refuting. “He held that it was not proper for him to openly correct his teacher.”

The gemara continues, seeking to understand why R’Eliezer holds that sprinkling the Pesach offering on Shabbes is a problem. Rav Yehudah rules in favor of R’Akiva. In the argument R Eliezer curses R Akiva "“Akiva! You have answered me irreverently in a matter involving slaughter, through slaughter shall be your death” leading us to examine truth and its consequences in Talmud.

Pesachim 68: חציו לה' וחציו לכם Ἀπόδοτε οὖν τὰ Καίσαρος Καίσαρι καὶ τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῷ Θεῷ

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According to Rabbi Eliezer, a person must decide whether he wants to devote yom tov to his personal pleasures like eating and drinking or to God by spending the day learning Torah. Rabbi Yehoshua understands that a person is to divide his holiday in half – part for his own physical pleasure and part devoted to spiritual matters. Chatzi Lashem and Chatzi lachem. This reminds us of the NT quote "render unto Caesar..."

Pesachim 67: Har HaBayit

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The Gemara discusses three level of tuma– of ritual defilement:

• Tumat met – someone whose ritual defilement stems from contact with a dead body

• Tumat zav – someone suffering from a venereal disease.

• Tumat tzora’at – someone who is a metzora (commonly translated as leprosy).

This sugya leads us to discuss the fact that many religious Jews do not visit Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount) today. This is because we are all presumed to be in a state of tumat met (ritual impurity due to “contact” with the dead), and a tamei met is prohibited from ascending Har HaBayit.

Pesachim 66: בני בתירא and Hillel

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Our daf cites a baraita that tells how B'nei Beteira had forgotten the rule that the Pesah sacrifice is brought even on Shabbat.

The B'nei Beteira appear to have been the ancestors of a well-known rabbinic family, including, for example, the sage Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira, who lived several generations after the destruction of the Temple. It appears that this family held a position of national religious and spiritual authority, even though they did not have an official position as did the family of the Nasi. We find that they are consulted on matters of national importance not only during Hillel’s time, but after the destruction of the Temple during Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Zakkai’s time, as well. The dramatic appointment of Hillel and the relationship between arrogance and dementia.

Pesachim 65: אוי לו מי שבניו נקבות

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Sometimes we we will encounter material that may feel foreign or even, at times, repugnant. (We will of course face this challenge again when we get to entire tractates that deal with laws of Temple service and sacrificial worship.) How can we respond to this challenge? In a number of ways: We can view these pages as material that we have to get through as part of the Daf Yomi cycle.

It may seem boring or irrelevant, but in the spirit of Nike, we’ll “Just Do It.” As part of our Mesorah.

A second approach would be to adopt an anthropological curiosity, approaching the text with the intention of learning about the theology or culture of Temple worship.

Or, third, we can embrace the task of finding meaning, despite the difficult or uninspiring nature of the subject matter. Ultimately, we may come to find meaning in the content itself, or we may derive meaning from the fact and process of our study.

Yet we must never lose our moral compass or critical tools.

So when on this Daf we are told :

: אוֹי לוֹ מִי שֶׁבָּנָיו נְקֵבוֹת

leads us to examineHassidic Women and then

Gender Identity in Halakhic Discourse, and The Effect of Traditional Masculinity on Gender Equality

Pesachim 64: Hallel

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It is unclear what Hallel was being recited during the korban Pesach. Some say that it is what we call Hallel – the Hallel ha-Mitzri, which focuses on the exodus from Egypt (Ps113-118). Others say that Hallel ha-Gadol (Ps 136) was also included. Either way we examine the history of Hallel then and during the Shoah and COVID.