Pesachim 95: Second Passover
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In several places in parashat Bo, the Torah teaches us the laws of the korban Pesach. Some of these laws pertain to the korban which is brought and eaten every year on the fourteenth of Nissan known as Pesach dorot. Yet, much of what is mentioned in parashat Bo pertains to the first korban Pesach which was sacrificed in Egypt on the eve of the Jewish exodus from Egypt. This first korban Pesach is called Pesach Mitzrayim.
The Mishnah discusses the differences between Pesach Mitzrayim (the Pesach which the Jews celebrated when they left Egypt) and Pesach Doros (the festival of Pesach celebrated by all subsequent generations). The Mishnah says that one difference is that Pesach Mitzrayim was observed for one night, while Pesach Doros is celebrated for seven days and nights.
We compare and contrast the two…
In Memoriam of Harav Emanuel Gettinger OBM
Pesachim 94: Bein Hashmashos
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A large part of this daf is devoted to discussions between the Sages about time and distance, and their relationship with the length of day and night.
According to the description in the Gemara, the way the sun appears crossing the sky during the day is due to a physical pathway that exists across the sky. The Ge’onim further note, that since Jewish scholars have embraced the positions of the scientific world with regard to these types of questions, the discussion and descriptions that appear in our Gemara are not
to be understood as literal truth.
I cite my father in law's novel approach to reading talmud and the cosmology of the day to explain sunset.(His Yahrzeit is shushan purim next shabbes)
Pesachim 93: Modi’in, דרך רחוקה
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There is a dispute about how far away one must be in order to be exempt from bringing the Korban Pesach.
In our Mishnah, Rabbi Akiva interprets “a long distance” to be 15 mil away from the Beis HaMikdash. Rashi explains that this person finds himself at a distance which precludes his ability to arrive at the Beis HaMikdash during the hour when the Shechitah should be done, which is from midday until sundown.
Ulla said: The distance from the city of Modi’in to Jerusalem is fifteen mil.
This leads us into a discussion as to the claim by the Tiferes Yisroel that in our times where we have the means and ways of travelling in a much quicker fashion, when the time comes and we will be zocheh to bring the Korban Pesach, we will not be exempt even though we may be far way.
The town of Modi’in is used as an example of the distance from the Temple which leads us to examine its illustrious history.
Pesachim 92: Pesach Sheni
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Someone who did not bring the first Pesach due to an accident or oversight, if he then did not bring the second Pesach due to negligence, is liable for kareis. This level of liability for not offering Pesach Sheni as prescribed follows the opinion of Rebbe (93a).
This is also the ruling of Rambam (below) in Hilchos Korban Pesach (5:2). Nevertheless, Ra’avad asks why there should be a distinction between different reasons why the first Pesach was not brought. Why is kareis only applied for nonparticipation in the second Pesach when the first was not done due to אונס, but not when it was not done due to impurity or due to one’s being far away?
Animal bones found in a dump dating to the end of the second Temple period suggest that animal sacrifice powered Jerusalem's economy
Pesachim 91: Horned Altar
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The Torah (Deut 16:5-6) teaches that one cannot bring the korban Pesah “in any one of your gates” – that is to say, in one of the communities outside of the Temple; rather it must be sacrificed in the place chosen by God. This passage is understood by the Sages to teach a number of halakhot connected with the sacrifice.
On its simplest level, that pasuk teaches that the korban Pesah must be brought in the Temple. Rabbi Shimon understands this to mean that someone who brings the sacrifice on a bamat yahid – a private altar – will be held liable for transgressing a negative commandment. This only holds true, however, when private altars are forbidden, when the Jews all “enter through the same gate,” i.e. when the Temple is standing. During a time when private altars are permitted, the korban Pesah can be brought as a private sacrifice.
This leads us into a historical review of BAMOT and an intriguing feminist reading of the Tosefta regarding women’s participation in the chaburah for the Korban Pesach.
Erotic scene found in Pompeii. Lupanar.
Pesachim 90: מְמנַּהֶ זוֹנהָ
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Our Daf quotes the Mishnah in Temurah that says that the prohibition of an Esnan of a Zonah takes effect on any object of Hekdesh that is given to the Zonah as her wage.
Tis leads us go an review of the ambivalent attitude towards prostitution in Talmud/antiquity down to modern times.
Pesachim 89: Gluttony/Surfeit
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A dilemma was raised before the Sages: If there is among the members of a group one of them who has fine hands, a euphemism for one who always hastens to take a large quantity of food, what is the halakha concerning whether they can say to him: Take your allotted portion to eat and leave; and don’t take any more from the other’s members portions?
In our case, having “fine hands” means that he has the ability and reputation of taking more than his share.
This leads us to a review of gluttony and surfeit in antiquity down to modern neurobiology of food addiction.
Pesachim 88: Go and Slaughter
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In our daaf there was an incident involving the king, queen, and Rabban Gamliel. It happened that a dead lizard was found in the kitchen of the royal house. Since a lizard is one of the creeping animals whose carcasses impart ritual impurity upon contact, they wanted to pronounce the entire meal ritually impure.
What is this species of lizard and how is this hapax translated by Rashi and Chizkuni?
Is chameleon a possibility and if so what are the mythic and literary qualities of this subspecies of Iguania.
Pesachim 87: Dual Loyalties
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Our new Perek begins with pesukim from the book of Hosea, which leads to a discussion about the place of the Jewish people in the Diaspora.
One of the comments is made by Rabbi Oshaya, who teaches that God was being generous with the Jewish people when he dispersed them among the nations of the world, since their distribution around the world guarantees that they cannot all be threatened together.
Rabbi Elazar said: The Holy One, Blessed be He, exiled Israel among the nations only so that converts would join them.
This leads us to a meditation on the meaning of exile and the notion of dual loyalties as recently as statements made by the former president about Jewish democrats.
Food House of Julia in Pompeii
Pesachim 86: Table Manners
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Our Daf tells a story about Rav Huna the son of Rav Natan who visited Rav Nachman bar Yitzhak and behaved in what appeared to be an uncouth manner –
He agreed to sit immediately without first offering a polite refusal
He accepted a cup of wine, again without an initial polite refusal
He drank it in just two sips.
He looked directly at his hosts without diverting his gaze.
When asked how he could behave so poorly, and still call himself a Rabbi, he explained each of his actions based on a statement from the Talmud including the maxim:
You should do whatever the host tells you to do, unless he commands you tzei (leave).
This leads us in an exploration of table manners in the talmud (halacha) and antiquity
Pesachim 85: Nikanor’s Gate
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For what reason were the insides of the gates of Jerusalem not sanctified? Because lepers protect themselves by sitting under them; in the sun they protect themselves from the sun and in the rain, they sit in the gateway to protect themselves from the rain. Lepers are not permitted to enter Jerusalem. In order to allow them to use the gates of the city as shelter from the elements, the gateways were not sanctified.
A contradiction in the Mishnah regarding the status of the doorjamb is noted. The contradiction is resolved by distinguishing between the gates of Yerushalayim and the gates of the Azarah.
The gate of Yerushalayim is considered outside Yerushalayim, while the gates of the Beis Hamikdash are considered inside the Beis Hamikdash, besides for the gate of Nikanor. The Gemora says that the gates of Yerushalayim were not made holy, because there were lepers and others who used to go under the gateway for shelter.
Who was Nikanor, where did he come from? And what did he contribute to the Temple?
A 15th-century depiction of shechita and bedikah.
Pesachim 84: Giddin
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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 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?