Friday, February 19, 2021

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


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