Daf Ditty Pesachim 78: Korban Pesach today (?) Three girls in Israel were detained by the Israeli Police (2018). The girls are activists of the “Return to the Mount” (Chozrim Lahar) movement. Why were they detained? They had posted Arabic signs in the Muslim Quarter calling upon Muslims to leave the Temple Mount area until Friday night, in order to allow Jews to bring the Korban Pesach. This is the fourth time that activists of the movement will come to the Old City on Erev Pesach with goats that they plan to bring as the Korban Pesach. There is also an organization called the Temple Institute that actively is trying to bring back the Korban Pesach. It is, of course, very controversial and the issues lie at the heart of one of the most fascinating halachic debates in the past two centuries. 1 The previous mishnah was concerned with the offering of the paschal lamb when the people who were to slaughter it and/or eat it were in a state of ritual impurity. Our present mishnah is concerned with a paschal lamb which itself becomes ritually impure. Such a lamb may not be eaten. (However, we learned incidentally in our study of 5:3 that the blood that gushed from the lamb's throat at the moment of slaughter was collected in a bowl by an attendant priest and passed down the line so that it could be sprinkled on the altar). Our mishnah states that if the carcass became ritually defiled, even if the internal organs that were to be burned on the altar were intact and usable the animal was an invalid sacrifice, it could not be served at the Seder and the blood should not be sprinkled. If the situation is reversed and it is only the internal organs that had become ritually defiled the meat may be served at the Seder and the animal's blood must be sprinkled on the altar. 2 MISHNA: If the meat of the Paschal lamb became ritually impure, and the fat remains pure and may be burned on the altar, one may not sprinkle the blood. On the other hand, if the fat became impure and the meat remains pure, one may sprinkle the blood because the meat remains fit to be eaten. This is the halakha with regard to a Paschal lamb, whose primary purpose is to be eaten by those who have registered for it. However, with regard to other offerings it is 3 not so. Rather, although the meat has become impure and the fat remains pure, one may sprinkle the blood, because part of the offering still remains valid. GEMARA: Rav Giddel said that Rav said: If one sprinkled the blood despite the fact that the meat was ritually impure, it was nonetheless accepted; one is not obligated to observe the second Pesaḥ. The Gemara asks: Don’t we require that the Paschal lamb be eaten, which could not occur in this case? The Gemara answers: Failure to engage in eating the offering does not preclude it from being accepted. The Gemara asks: Isn’t it written: and if the household be too little for a lamb, then shall he 4 ד ְִואם - ְִמיהוֹת ִַַיהבּת, ְִיַמﬠט ִֶמהשּׂ -- and his neighbor next unto his house take one according to ְו נְֶבאָקּלרוּכהאשׁ וֹה וֵַּ ֹ ח ָלַק - ,וֹת יֵבּ ,וֹת the number of the souls; according to every man's eating ye מפנשׁת: ְְִַָבְֹּסכת כשׁכפאתּל סּוּ ,לוֹ י ְִאיְִָָֹ י ,לוֹ סּוּ כשׁכפאתּל .shall make your count for the lamb ַﬠל - ֶ.ַההשּׂ Ex 12:4 “And if the household be too little for a lamb, then he and his neighbor who is close to his house shall take one according to the number of the souls; according to every man’s eating you shall make your count for the lamb” This indicates that the Torah requires one to eat the Paschal lamb. The Gemara responds: This verse is stated as a mitzva only. It should be fulfilled, but it does not preclude acceptance of the offering. 4 The Gemara asks: And was it not stated to preclude acceptance of the offering if it cannot be eaten? Wasn’t it taught in a baraita: “According to the number of the souls”; this teaches that the Paschal lamb is slaughtered only for those who have registered for it and have thereby included themselves in advance in the number of the souls? I might have thought that if one slaughtered it for those who have not registered for it, he is merely like one who violates a שׁיִא יִפְל ,וֹלְכָא וּסֹּכָתּ :mitzva, but the offering is still valid after the fact. Therefore, the verse states “According to every man’s eating you shall make your count”; the verse repeated that the Paschal lamb is eaten only by those registered in order to underscore that failure to register precludes the offering from being valid. And those who are able to eat the offering, as opposed to the sick or elderly who are unable to eat it, are juxtaposed in the verse to those who registered. Therefore, just as a Paschal lamb is disqualified if it is slaughtered for those who did not register for it, it is disqualified if it cannot be eaten. This poses a difficulty for the opinion of Rav. The Gemara answers: Rather, Rav said his statement in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Natan, who said that failure to engage in eating the Paschal lamb does not preclude one from fulfilling one’s obligation to bring the offering, as the eating is a separate mitzva. Steinzaltz The Gemara records a further discussion: Who is the tanna that taught this Baraita? As the Sages taught: If one slaughtered the Paschal lamb in ritual purity, and after that the owners 5 became ritually impure, the blood should be sprinkled in purity and the meat should not be eaten in impurity. In accordance with whose opinion is this baraita? Rabbi Eliezer said: This halakha is subject to dispute, and it is taught in this baraita in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Natan, who holds that eating is not essential, and not in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis. And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The baraita can be understood even if you say that it is in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis. With what are we dealing here? With a situation in which 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. Summary MISHNAH: The Mishnah differentiates between the Korban Pesach and other korbanos in a case where part of the korban became tamei. Where the meat of the Korban Pesach became tamei R’ Gidal in the name of Rav ruled: If the meat of a korban was tamei and the blood of the offering was thrown on the mizbe’ach the korban is accepted. Rav’s position is challenged and the Gemara explains that Rav, in his ruling, follows the position of R’ Nosson who said that eating the Korban Pesach is not essential. THE MEAT OF A KORBAN PESACH THAT BECAME "TAMEI" 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. 6 How much of the meat of the Korban Pesach must remain Tahor in order to permit the Korban to be offered? RASHI (62a, DH v'Iba'is Eima) says that at least one k'Zayis of meat must remain Tahor in order for the Korban to be offered. Tosefta (Pesachim 6:2) says that enough meat must remain so that there is a k'Zayis for each participant in the Korban. Rashi clearly argues with the opinion of the Tosefta. What is the basis for his argument? Perhaps the opinions of Rashi and the Tosefta depend upon the argument between the Tana'im here. Our Daf suggests that according to Rebbi Nasan, the entire Jewish people may bring one Korban Pesach on behalf of everyone. It is still considered fit to eat, even though each person will receive far less than a k'Zayis of meat. It is considered fit for each person to eat because all of the others potentially could withdraw themselves from the Korban, leaving their portions of the meat to those who remain the owners of the Korban. According to that reasoning, whenever there remains a k'Zayis of Tahor meat of the Korban Pesach, everyone could withdraw except for one person, leaving him the k'Zayis to eat, and thus making the Korban Pesach fit to be eaten. This is the source for Rashi's opinion. The Tosefta does not agree with the Gemara's reasoning that since the others could withdraw it is considered fit to eat now, and therefore it requires that there be an actual k'Zayis for each participant. RAV YECHEZKEL ABRAMSKY zt'l (in CHAZON YECHEZKEL) suggests a remarkable source for the Tosefta from the wording of the Mishnah here. The Mishnah states that if the meat becomes Tamei and the fat (Chelev) does not, the Korban Pesach is Pasul because it cannot be eaten. However, if the fat becomes Tamei and the meat does not, the Korban is not Pasul because it may be eaten.