Pesachim 96 - The very first Seder

The very first Seder happened in Egypt on the eve of the Exodus. How was it different from the Seder that occurred every subsequent year?

First, one had to designate the sheep to be eaten at the Seder early, three days in advance. There was a special procedure of sprinkling its blood on the lintel and the two doorposts using a hyssop bundle. In Egypt, this was to distinguish between the Jewish homes and the Egyptian homes, which would not apply to subsequent years.

The first Seder was conducted in haste, dressed and ready to go. Anybody who has been at the Seder nowadays knows that "whoever prolongs it is praiseworthy."

Art: Sheep and chickens in a barn  Eugene Verboeckhoven

Pesachim 95 - Compare first and second Passover

The second Passover is one's second chance. It happens a month after the Passover, and its laws are somewhat relaxed. On the first Passover, he cannot eat chametz, cannot own it, and cannot benefit from it. On the second one, one can happily own both chametz and matzah at the same time.

There is also a difference in prayer: the first Passover celebrates the miracle, and one recites the Hallel as giving thanks. But on the second one, it is a chance to make it up, not a celebration of what happened earlier. Surely, they say the Hallel while bringing the sacrifice on both occasions.

The cooking instructions on the second Passover are the same: the meat is roasted and is eaten with matzah and better herbs. Here too, the sacrifice is brought even on Shabbat.

Art: The Basket of Bread by Salvador Dali

Pesachim 94 - Distances

Earlier, we said that being far from the Temple means being at the distance of Modiin, five mil,  or 10,000 amah (steps). A person walks forty mil a day. From here, we can calculate many other distances.

For example, Egypt is four hundred parsah by four hundred parsah (where parsah is eight thousand square amah), Kush is sixty times larger, the world is sixty times larger than Kush, and Eden is sixty times larger than the world.

What do all these numbers mean, and why do they matter? They are hints to spiritual journeys. For example, when earlier we learned about a one who was impure on the first Pesach, it is a hint that he made his soul impure on his first reincarnation. Now he needs to come back again (this is his second Pesach). For a righteous person, mistakes in learning are considered intentional errors. However, he is free from punishment if he fails to bring his Passover offering. The more one learns the more one understands these hints.

Art: A Scholar in His Study by Salomon Koninck

Pesachim 93 - How far is far?

We learned that if one happens to be far away from the Temple on Passover and cannot bring and eat a Passover offering, he can do it thirty days later, on Pesach Sheni. We also said that "too far" is the distance one can travel on foot on Passover's eve, starting out in the morning and arriving at the Temple in the afternoon.

In practical terms, this is the distance from Modiin to the Temple. Then you draw a circle with the Temple Mount as a center and with this radius. In real life, one would have to consider different opinions of understanding this rule, not just measure. 

Rabbi Eliezer disagrees: as long as one is outside the Temple Courtyard, that is already too far, and one is exempt from punishment for not bringing a Passover offering. Rabbi Yosi offers support for it: in the Torah scroll, there are dots above the word "distant." Such dots usually indicate a doubt. In this case, he is just somewhat distant from the Temple, that is, outside the Courtyard.

Art: Couple on a Walk by Gustave Caillebotte

Pesachim 92 - Pesach Sheni

If someone was prevented from participating in the Passover celebration and could not bring and eat the sacrifice - he gets a second chance thirty days later. This second chance is called Pesach Sheni, or Second Passover. What could be the circumstances?

"If someone contracted corpse impurity or he was far away from the Temple" are the two reasons given by the Torah. While corpse impurity is well-defined: one touches a corpse or happens to be under the same roof with a corpse, other impurity types lead to discussions; for example, we discussed one who will become pure by the Seder time. But what does it mean to be far away? The simple understanding is that it is the distance one can travel on foot on Passover's eve, starting out in the morning and arriving at the Temple in the afternoon. 

But what if he has a fast horse or a car? Rabbi Nachman says that if he asked someone to bring a sacrifice for him, it is definitely valid. Not only that, he deserves a special blessing for his desire to do a mitzvah. Rav Sheshet, however, says that being too far away is similar to being ritually impure: both are barred from the Passover sacrifice this time, and both will have to make up for it thirty days later.

Art: Galloping Horse by Edvard Munch

Pesachim 91 - Integrity

Earlier, we saw cases where people were not ritually pure in the afternoon when the Passover sacrifice was brought but would become pure at night when its meat was eaten at the Seder. So it was allowed to bring a sacrifice on their behalf.

Now, we will see cases where the people may become impure by nighttime. The priests will still slaughter the lamb for them anyway. But, since there was a chance of them becoming impure, they would need to be combined with others who were definitely pure - or else the meat might have no eaters at all.

For example, take the case of a rescue worker who is clearing a house's debris where someone may have been trapped. He may find and save a person or find a corpse, touch it, and become impure. Or it could be someone who was promised a release from prison - because the jailers may change their minds.

In the last case, Rabbi Yochanan commented that if it is a Jewish prison, he can rely on their promise because the Jewish courts have integrity: "The remainder of Israel will not perform iniquity and will not speak lies."

Art: The Prisoner by Vladimir Makovsky

Pesachim 90 - Just-in-time purity

The time to bring the Passover sacrifice is the afternoon just before the Holiday of Passover. If one is ritually impure in the afternoon but will be pure the next day, that is, when evening comes and the Holiday of Passover begins, they can slaughter a sacrifice for him. Even though he is not pure now, he will be pure when he sits down to eat it at the Seder.

What could be an example of this? A zav (a special kind of male impurity) who experienced two discharges must count seven days without discharges and immerse himself in a flowing spring. After that, he is pure once the night begins. So, that is exactly the case we are talking about if today he counted his seventh day. Even if this zav had three discharges, which obligates him in an additional offering - they can still slaughter the Passover lamb for him. He will be pure at night, and he will bring the additional offering later on, but he can come to the Seder and eat.

Art: Waterfall in Telemark by August Cappelen

Pesachim 89 - A guest who ate too much

If one invites his friends to the Seder and registers them to eat of the Passover sacrifice - all without consulting the other members of the group - they can tell him, "Take your portion and eat it together with your friends." That is because they invited him originally to make sure that all meat is properly eaten - but not to bring other personalities into the picture, even if they give him his due portion. 

Now a question: if one of the guests just eats too much and too fast, can the guests at the Seder tell him, "Take your due portion and leave?" Can they find the precedent in the earlier case of one inviting more guests, or can he argue back and say, "You accepted me!" The Talmud goes through a few possible precedents until it finds convincing proof that the glutton can be asked to leave.

A similar story happened to Rav Pappa and Rav Huna, who sat together (not on Passover) to eat bread. While Rav Huna ate one piece, Rav Pappa ate four. So Rav Huna wanted to separate, but Rav Pappa argued that "You accepted me!" They went through all the precedents mentioned above until Rav Huna quoted a decisive one and separated from Rav Pappa. He then joined with Ravina, but Ravina ate two times faster than even Rav Pappa. So Ran Huna exclaimed, "Give me a hundred Pappas and not one Ravina!"

Art: Peasants' Dinner by Diego Velazquez

Pesachim 88 - Half-slave

A slave of two masters is a common theme in the Talmud. On Passover, if both owners registered him to eat of their sacrifice, he cannot eat of either. Similarly, a half-slave cannot eat the sacrifice because it is assumed that the master only wanted to register his part of the slave, not the free part. (A half-slave is a hint to a person who is governed both by his good inclination and his even inclination.) If so, why did we learn in another source that the slave can eat the sacrifice? - That is talking about the case when the slave's two owners are at peace with each other.

If one sent his slave to slaughter a sacrifice for him but did not tell which we wanted, a young goat or a lamb, he can eat whichever animal the slave chose. We can presume that he relies on the choice of his slave.

If the slave slaughtered both a young goat and a lamb, the master eats what was slaughtered first. However, this rule is only for a king and queen who absolutely do not care what to eat because they have everything. Other people do have at least some preference, and since we cannot ascertain what it is, we cannot allow them to eat of any.

Art: Carcass of Beef by Chaim Soutine

Pesachim 87 - A woman in her husband's house

Everyone who participates in a Seder should be registered for the Passover sacrifice beforehand. Sometimes, one may even be registered for two lambs. How?

Consider a woman who has recently married and lives with her husband in his house. She did not say whose sacrifice she wanted to eat, but we can assume she will eat her husband's lamb. So, if her father also slaughtered a sacrifice for her, she would eat her husband's one. However, if she goes back home for the first Seder (as was often the custom) and her husband and father slaughter a lamb, she eats whichever she chooses. 

The last rule sounds strange. It tells us that the wife's later decision affects the earlier sacrifice. This is called retroactive designation, and it is usually not allowed. It's like saying that this is what she wanted all along - even if she did not know it. So the Talmud changes the circumstances and says, "You know when she chose it? - Before the slaughter!"

By association, the Talmud talks about God's love for the Israeli nation as for a beloved.

Art: A young married couple by Jacob Jordaens

Pesachim 86 - Two groups of people, two Seders

To eat a Passover lamb, people had to register for it first. Once they are registered and the time to eat it comes, they cannot change their minds. They must eat it in the house where they started and cannot change this either. However, before starting the Seder, if they decide to separate into two groups, they are perfectly allowed to do so.

There was a custom to dilute the intense wine served at the table with hot water. The water would come from a kettle, and the kettle could be positioned between the groups - again, this separation created no problem. However, the waiter who would be pouring this water had to be careful to eat with only one group. When he is serving the other group members, he keeps his mouth shut until he returns to his own group. A bride who is at the Seder with her new family for the first time can turn the face away, not observing the rules of the waiter.

Rav Huna once came to a new place. His actions seemed unusual to the people there, and they questioned him about every one of them. For example, he said that his name was Rav Huna. That seemed presumptuous - just give you name, no "Rav!" - He said, I was called Rav Huna since childhood. When he drank, he did not turn his face away. That looked immodest to them. He said: "We learned - only a bride needs to turn her face away!"

Art: Young Man Drinking a Glass of Wine by Jan van Bijlert

Pesachim 85 - The doors and the windows of Jerusalem

The Passover sacrifice has to remain within the walls of Jerusalem (Old City). If it is taken out, it becomes disqualified, cannot be eaten, and has to be burned.

What happens if a part of the sacrifice protrudes outside this boundary? His problem is that he cannot chop the protruding portion off because he cannot break the sacrifice bones. Therefore, he cuts into the flesh until he reaches the bone, then peels the flesh away until he gets to the join, and now he can cut off the entire bone. He does not have to take such precautions for other sacrifices but just chops it with a cleaver.

What about the doors (which, in an ancient city, could have significant depth)? The doorway, which is also called "doorjamb," is considered as outside of Jerusalem. By contrast, the windows are considered inside. Why such a difference? They should all be considered as inside Jerusalem. However, when the city was originally consecrated, the gateways were not included on purpose. A metzorah (ritual leper) could take refuge there, in the summer - from the sun, and in the winter - from the rain.

Art:  Blue Door by Andrew Wyeth

Pesachim 84 - Take the meat but leave the bones

At the Seder, there should be enough meat of the Passover sacrifice for everybody. "Enough" means the volume of an average olive. But what is considered "meat?" - Any part that will be tender enough to eat in a grown-up animal is considered "meat." But any part that will harden in a grown-up ox is not considered meat towards the olive volume.

We already mentioned that one is not supposed to break the bones of a Passover sacrifice. One can even be punished for doing so (of course, the usual rules of giving him a warning not to do it, within a few seconds before the act, apply). However, one is not punished for another prohibited action - leaving the meat over till morning. Why not? Some say - because you cannot punish for not doing. Others - that anytime something is prohibited but a correction is suggested - here, by burning it, you can't punish for it.

Art: Butcher's shop by Annibale Carracci

Pesachim 83 - The leftovers from the Seder

The leftover parts of the sacrificial meat that was served at the Seder also require special care. Take, for example, the bones. "Do not break any of its bones," said the Torah. Therefore, the marrow inside the bones cannot be removed." But any edible part of a sacrifice becomes notar, or leftover, on the next day and has to be burned. So leftover bones must be burned.

The same is true for the sinews and leftover meat of the sacrifice. They all must be burned on the next day after the Seder. If that day fell out on Shabbat, they wait till yet the next day. Although it is a mitzvah, the burning of the leftover does not override either Shabbat or the Holiday.

Art: Still Life with a Goat Head  Jusepe de Ribera

Pesachim 82 - Took the Passover meat out of Jerusalem!

The meat of the Passover lamb must stay within the walls of Jerusalem (the Old City). If one takes it out, it is disqualified. If this happens before the Passover Holiday itself, one must burn the disqualified meat right away. He cannot eat it, and any mitzvah should be done immediately - in this case, it is the mitzvah of burning disqualified offerings.

By contrast, if the owners of the sacrifice became ritually impure or died, we know that nobody will be able to eat the meat, but we cannot burn it. So, the meat is left overnight, and then it becomes the leftover sacrifice, and it can and must be burned. One cannot burn on on the first day of Passover because it is a Holiday, so he burns it on the following day.

Rabbi Yochanan ben Berokah compares the last case with the death of the sons of Aharon, where the sacrifice was burned immediately, and says that we should do the same.

Art: The Dying Man by Isidoro Grunhut

Pesachim 81 - What happens to the ritually impure meat?

There was a place on the Temple Mount specifically designated for burning invalid offering. So, if a Passover offering became ritually impure, the whole thing or the majority of its meat - it was burnt in this place. When burning the offering, one was allowed to use the Temple wood. Even though he was using Temple property for his purposes, this was allowed - to prevent people from eating disqualified meat when they faced the expense of buying the wood to burn it.

If only a small portion of the sacrificial meat became impure, one would take it home and burn it there, in the courtyard or on the roof, and use his own wood. That would have to happen within the City of Jerusalem, called today, "The Old City." Cheapskates would burn even small amounts of impure meat next to the Temple - to take advantage of the Temple wood.

Art: Dutch farmworker gathering wood by Hans Heysen

Pesachim 80 - The forgiving power of the tzitz

Tzitz is the golden head plate worn by the High Priest. It fixed the defects of sacrifices, but not all the defects. Thus, if someone brought his Passover offering and even threw its blood on the Altar, but then they discovered that the meat or the blood became ritually impure, it is the tzitz that effects the acceptance. What is the use of acceptance if the meat cannot eaten? At least, he has fulfilled his obligation and won't have to bring another sacrifice. He will eat matzah and other things at the Seder.

What if they discovered that he himself was ritually impure? Here the tzitz does not help, and he will have to bring the Passover offering a month later, on Pesach Sheni. However, here is a special exception. If he was impure due to the "impurity of the depth," his Passover offering is valid, and he will not have to bring another one - all due to the tzitz. What is this special "impurity of the depth?" - This is something that absolutely nobody knew about, such as a corpse under the house, unknown to anybody, that was discovered later.

Art: Study of the Head of a Corpse by Charles Emile Champmartin

Pesachim 79 - How many pure and how many not pure?

We often mentioned a situation where the community is not pure and is therefore allowed to bring the Passover sacrifice even in ritual impurity. But what do we mean by "community?" The whole world, Israel, Jerusalem? For this purpose, we only count those who have assembled for Passover to bring the offerings. Even here, we only need the majority. So, if more than half of those assembled to bring the offering are not ritually pure, everyone now brings it in impurity.

Also, if the Kohanim priests were impure, even though the community is pure, they all join and celebrate in impurity.

However, if only a minority of the community are impure, then the majority still celebrates, but the remaining minority gets a second chance thirty days later, on the so-called "Second Passover" or Pesach Sheni. 

Art: Jerusalem seen from Mount Josaphat by Auguste de Forbin

Pesachim 78 - The parts that go on the Altar

When the Passover offering is brought, certain parts of the animal (some fats, kidney, diaphragm, and liver) go on the Altar and are burnt there. However, if the meat becomes ritually impure, there is no point in further service, putting the fats on the Altar or throwing the blood. The only purpose of the Passover sacrifice is to eat the meat, and since the impure meat cannot be eaten, we stop there.

However, if something happened to the fats that go on the Altar, but the meat is still OK - we continue, throw the blood, and eat the meat. Incidentally, in our discussion, we have returned to the normal case of the community being pure. Had the community been impure, we would eat the meat even if it was impure and ask no questions about the remaining parts' purity.

Art: A Young Lady at Breakfast by Gabriël Metsu

Pesachim 77 - Can we completely dispense with ritual impurity?

In the preceding pages, we have discussed that the Passover offering is brought even when the community is ritually impure. How does this work? Do we say that the impurity is just pushed off, but we should try to observe its laws whenever we can? Or do we say that the impurity is to be completely ignored?

The question is more general: can the community, being impure with corpse impurity, bring communal sacrifices? This depends on the power of the tzitz, a golden plate worn by the High Priest. Since the High Priest wears the tzitz, the sacrifices are valid - this is Rabbi Yehudah's opinion. Rabbi Shimon disagrees: even if the High Priest does not wear the tzitz, it still creates acceptance.

Now Rabbi Shimon proves his point: on Yom Kippur, the High Priest changed into all-white garments and takes off the golden tzitz - and nevertheless, the offerings are accepted! Rabbi Yehudah answers: forget about Yom Kippur! The impurity is anyway ignored when all are impure. We see that Rabbi Yehudah thinks that impurity is completely ignored, and Rabbi Shimon - that it is just pushed off.

Art: The Dead Man by Edouard Manet

Pesachim 76 - Passover lamb must be eaten

We saw earlier that if the community of those who came to Jerusalem celebrate Passover is ritually impure, they can all offer the sacrifice nevertheless. The instruction to bring it in its appointed time includes even the time when the community is impure. Since the whole purpose of bringing the offering is to eat it, the appointed time applies to eating as well.

This is not always the case. There are five cases when the offering is brought but not eaten - when the community is impure. These other offerings may be flour or animal meat, and they would have to be burned. 

Art: Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives by Frederic Edwin Church

Pesachim 75 - Instructions on cooking and eating the Passover lamb

Since the Passover offering must be "roasted over fire," one must be careful when cooking. If they notice that the meat has touched the earthenware part of the oven while cooking, they need to scrape this part off. In this place, it was roasted due to the oven wall's heat, not open fire.

If some gravy dripped onto the earthenware and then splatted back onto the meat, they should remove the meat in that place, to the depth of one finger - again, since in that place, it was boiled. 

After cooking, they can smear the dry meat with liquids. If they smeared it with oil, and that oil was "terumah" (the special gift that is given to the Kohanim priest that only they are allowed to eat) - here is what they do. If the people at the Seder are all Kohanim, they can eat the meat. But if some are regular Jews, they need to clean it. If the meat in this place was raw and did not absorb the oil, they simply rinse it. However, if it was fried and absorbent, they will need to remove the meat in that place, to the depth of one finger.

Art: Still Life with Earthenware by Vincent van Gogh

Pesachim 74 - How does one prepare the Passover lamb?

The slaughtered lamb must be roasted on a spit. Here is the Torah's recipe: "Do not eat it raw or cooked in water, but only roasted over fire, including its head, its legs, and its internal organs." Now the details.

They would bring a spit of pomegranate wood and push it into the animal's mouth until the spit passes through the anus. They would then put its legs and entrails inside it to fulfill "including its legs" instruction - that is what Rabbi Yosi says. But Rabbi Akiba counters that the legs are as if cooking inside the body. Rather, the legs and the entrails should hang outside the carcass to roast directly on the fire.

Now questions. Why not use a metal spit? - Because it has to be roasted "over fire" and not over the hot spit warmed by the fire. Why pomegranate wood? - Because pomegranate is smooth and does not secrete any liquids, which would make it like roasting. How was the lamb's form called, with the legs and the entrails above its head? - the "helmeted kid" because it was in the manner of a warrior.

Art: Shepherdess with her flock grazing  by Cornelis Van Leemputten

Pesachim 73 - A destroyer on Shabbat

If people cannot eat the Passover offering's meat, and one slaughters the sheep for them, his act makes the sacrifice invalid. We had this rule earlier. If he, moreover, does this on Shabbat, he is liable for a sin-offering. However, what did he do? There is a view that one who acts destructively on Shabbat does not violate Shabbat. Only constructive acts count. If so, why is he bringing a sin-offering?

Rav Huna bar Chinana asked his son to ask Rav Zerika this question when he sees him. The answer was: here is what he accomplished, true, the sacrifice is invalid, but at least, if they mistakenly put its parts on the Altar,  the parts can stay there.

The next question: if he slaughtered a sin-offering on Shabbat, outside the Temple, and as an idolatrous offering, he did many wrong things. But why is it counted in particular as a Shabbat violation? What positive effect did he accomplish? - At least, those who will be eating it are not eating a piece cut from a live animal - which is prohibited alike for Jews and non-Jews.

Art: Shabbat by Mark Chagall