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Pesachim

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Pesachim
Illustration in the Kaufmann Haggadah.
Tractate of the Talmud
Seder:Moed
Number of Mishnahs:89
Chapters:10
Babylonian Talmud pages:121
Jerusalem Talmud pages:71
← Eruvin
Shekalim →

Pesachim (Template:Lang-he, lit. "Paschal lambs" or "Passovers"), also spelled Pesahim, is the third tractate of Seder Moed ("Order of Festivals") of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. The tractate discusses the topics related to the Jewish holiday of Passover, and the Passover sacrifice, both called "Pesach" in Hebrew. The tractate deals with the laws of matza (unleavened bread) and maror (bitter herbs), the prohibitions against owning or consuming chametz (leaven) on the festival, the details of the Paschal lamb that used to be offered at the Temple in Jerusalem, the order of the feast on the first evening of the holiday known as the Passover seder, and the laws of the supplemental "Second Pesach".[1][2]

Two reasons are given for the name of the tractate Pesachim being in the plural: either because the tractate originally comprised two parts, one dealing with the Passover sacrifice, and the second with the other aspects of the holiday, before they were combined into a single tractate named Pesachim during the Geonic period (by 1040 CE), or, because the tractate deals with the two occasions for offering the Passover sacrifice, namely, the 14th of the month of Nisan on the eve of the holiday, and one month later, the "second Pesach" on the 14th of Iyar for those who were unable to offer the sacrifice on the original date.[2][3]

The basis for the laws included in this tractate are derived from the Torah, largely from the Book of Exodus, in Exodus 12:1–29, Exodus 12:43–49, Exodus 13:3–10 and Exodus 23:15–18,, as well as Leviticus 23:5–8, Numbers 9:2–14 and Numbers 28:16–25, and Deuteronomy 16:1–8.[4]

The tractate consists of ten chapters and has a Gemara – rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah – in both the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud. There is also a Tosefta for this tractate.[3]

Apart from the Passover sacrifice, the Jewish religious laws derived from this tractate regarding Passover have continued to be observed, with minor variations according the interpretations of later halakhic authorities, by traditional Jewish communities since ancient times until the present. The observances include the prohibitions on eating, benefiting from or possessing any leaven, and the sale or search for and removal of leaven from the house before Passover; the practices of the Seder night, including eating matza and bitter herbs, drinking four cups of wine, and reciting the Haggadah recalling the Exodus from Egypt; as well as the observances of the entire holiday, including the eating of matza and the recitation of the Hallel prayer.[5]

Etymology

The name of the tractate Pesachim is the Hebrew plural of the name of the Passover festival Pesach, and there are two explanations given for this:

Firstly, the tractate contains two distinct parts, which were originally separate, until combined into a single tractate during the Geonic period (by 1040 CE). Until then, the tractate was divided into two parts called Pesaḥ Rishon ("First Passover" or "Passover I") and Pesaḥ Sheni ("Second Passover" or "Passover II"). After the two parts were combined, the tractate was called Pesachim, in the plural.[3]

One part, now comprising chapters one to four and chapter ten, addresses the laws of Passover that apply always and everywhere, such as the removal of chametz from the home, the eating of matzah, and the Seder on Passover night. The second part, now chapters five to nine, concern the laws of how the Passover sacrifice was offered and eaten at the Temple in Jerusalem while it existed. This part is more relevant thematically to Seder Kodashim, the order of the Mishna concerned mainly with the sacrificial offerings in the Temple.[6]

In the only surviving manuscript that contains the complete text of the Babylonian Talmud, known as the Munich Codex, the current tenth chapter appears as the fourth, so that the chapters concerning the practical observances of the festival follow one another consecutively.[3][7]

The early medieval Jewish commentators, known as the Rishonim, also refer to the first part of the tractate as "Pesach Rishon", and the second part about the sacrifices as "Pesach Sheni". The Meiri (1249–1315) states clearly in his introduction to the tractate that during the immediately preceding Geonic period, Pesachim was divided into two tractates. This distinction is also marked explicitly in the Vilna edition in the Hadran at the end of the fourth chapter (Talmud, b. Pesachim 57b) and ninth chapter (Talmud, b. Pesachim 99a) of the tractate.[6]

A second reason given for the plural name of the tractate is that there are, in fact, two Passovers: the "second Pesach" on the 14th of Iyar was instituted a month after Passover for those who were unable to offer the Passover sacrifice on the eve of the holiday on 14th of the month of Nisan, in accordance with Leviticus 9:6–12. Accordingly, the title of the tractate in the plural recognizes this, although the Mishnah almost entirely concerns the first or "Great" Passover.[3][2][8]

Subject matter

The subject matter of this tractate covers the various laws of all the aspects of the Passover holiday. The Mishna follows a mostly sequential order, beginning with the search for chametz (leaven) on the evening of the thirteenth of Nisan, the day before Passover, and the prohibition of leaven in all its aspects; the details of the Passover sacrifice on the eve of the holiday; and the laws of matzah and bitter herbs with which the sacrifice was to be eaten, during the ritual meal on Passover night, known as the Seder, with which the tractate concludes.[1][9]

The topics discussed in this tractate are derived from the Torah in the Book of Exodus, Exodus 12:1–29, Exodus 12:43–49, Exodus 13:3–10 and Exodus 23:15–18,, as well as Leviticus 23:5–8, Numbers 9:2–14 and Numbers 28:16–25, and Deuteronomy 16:1–8.[4][8]

Other Biblical references to the subject matter are found in Joshua 5:10–11, 2 Kings 23:21–23, Ezekiel 45:21–24, Ezra 6:19–22, 2 Chronicles 30:1–5, and 2 Chronicles 35:1–19.[8]

Structure and content

In all the editions of the Mishnah, Pesachim is the third tractate of the order Mo'ed. The tractate comprises ten chapters and 89 paragraphs (mishnayot). It has a Gemara – rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah, of 121 folio (double-sided) pages in the Babylonian Talmud and 71 folio pages in the Jerusalem Talmud. There is a Tosefta of ten chapters on this tractate.[1][3][4]

Tractate Pesahim can be divided into three sections: The first four chapters dealing primarily with laws concerning the removal of leaven (chametz); the next five chapters dealing with the Passover sacrifice and the tenth and final chapter describing the procedure for the Seder, the meal on the first night of the Passover festival.[10]

An overview of the topics of the chapters is as follows:

  • Chapter 1 deals with the search for leaven (bedikat chametz) and its removal, when and where it is necessary, and how and when chametz is to be destroyed, and the time limit for eating leavened food on the day before Passover; it describes the signal on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to notify the people when they were required to destroy their chametz; and concludes with regulations about burning unclean sacred food.[4][3][9]
  • Chapter 2 continues the subject of chametz, such as the time from which any benefit from leavened food other than eating it is forbidden, the status of leaven which was kept until after Passover, including the status of leaven pawned or as pledges for monetary loans to non-Jews; it then discusses the making of the matzah, plants that that can be used as maror and the circumstances under which they may be eaten, and means to prevent substances becoming leaven during the festival.[4][3][9]
  • Chapter 3 lists various foods regarded as cḥametẓ, and which are not chametz themselves but contain leaven and for which a person failing to destroy them is guilty of transgressing the Biblical prohibitions, the search for leaven and its removal when the eve of Passover occurs on a Sabbath, cases in which travelers, who have set out on a journey and remember that they had not destroyed leavened food at home must return to do so; and by association, cases in which a pilgrims returning home from Jerusalem, discovers that they are carrying sacrificial meat, must go back to burn it at the Temple in Jerusalem.[4][3][9]
  • Chapter 4 begins with the statement that refraining from work on the eve of Passover depends on local custom (minhag) and discusses the strength of local customs in making and determining law; it then digresses to discuss various laws which depend on local customs and the binding force of customs in several different matters, and references practices of which the Rabbis did not approve and the extent to which they were able to stop them.[4][3][9]
  • Chapter 5 begins the discussion of the Passover sacrifice and other aspects of the sacrificial service at the Temple in Jerusalem, including the timing of the daily sacrifice (tamid) on the eve of Passover, and time for the sacrifice of the Passover sacrifice and circumstances which disqualify a lamb for use as the Passover sacrifice; it continues to describe the ceremonies in the Temple accompanying the slaughtering of the Passover sacrifice, the rows of priests, the accompanying music, and the three groups of the people who are required to recite the "Hallel" and finally, the manner of slaughtering the sacrifice when the eve o Passover falls on a Sabbath, and further preparation of the paschal lamb. [4][3]
  • Chapter 6 continues to discuss the sacrificial arrangement when Passover falls on a Sabbath, and with related issues such as when another animal must be sacrificed together with the paschal lamb, animals used for this sacrifice, and cases in which slaughtering the Passover sacrifice on the Sabbath is forbidden.[4][3]
  • Chapter 7 begins with the methods for roasting the Passover sacrifice, and examines problems regarding ritual impurity (tumah) affecting a person participating in the sacrifices, including those sacrifices which a person who is in a state of tumah may offer but not eat; the position when either the community or the sacrifice or parts of it become ritually impure; the time when the inedible parts of the offering such as the bones, and other remnants of the sacrifice must be burned, what part of the animal can be eaten, and the regulations about separate groups eating their sacrificial meat together in the same location.[4][3][9]
  • Chapter 8 considers the questions of who may offer the Passover sacrifice on behalf of another, the position of women, slaves, mourners, and the ritually impure in respect of the Passover offering, and the requirement of registering for a particular sacrifice and being permitted to eat only of that sacrificial animal’s meat, and by association with this, other laws of registration are also discussed.[4][3][9]
  • Chapter 9 begins with the regulations for those who are ritually impure or on a distant journey and unable to observe the Passover sacrifice at the proper time and are required to observe the Second Passover a month later, the difference between the first and the second Passover and the difference between the Passover which was celebrated in Egypt during the Exodus and all subsequent Passovers; the chapter transitions to discuss a variety of other problems, such as the exchange ("temurah") of a Passover sacrifice, offering of a female animal, mixing of the Passover sacrifice with other sacrifices, and cases in which the animal designated as a Passover sacrifice has been lost or exchanged.[4][3][9]
  • Chapter 10 reviews the arrangements and regulations for the Passover night meal, the Seder, in detail, including the four cups of wine, and the blessings recited over them, the questions asked and the narrative response to them (from which the Haggadah is compiled), as well as additional blessings and the recitation of the "Hallel" thanksgiving praise.[4][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c Steinsaltz, Adin (2013). "Tractates of the Mishna and the Talmud". Reference Guide to the Talmud. Koren. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-59264-312-7.
  2. ^ a b c Kornfeld, Mordecai. "Introduction and Bibliography for Pesachim". dafyomi.co.il. Kollel Iyun Hadaf of Yerushalayim. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Ehrman, Arnost Zvi (1978). "Pesahim". Encyclopedia Judaica. Vol. 13 (1st ed.). Jerusalem, Israel: Keter Publishing House Ltd. pp. 327–328.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Pesaḥim". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
  5. ^ Steinsaltz, Adin (2013). "Halakhic Concepts and Terms: Moed". Reference Guide to the Talmud. Koren. pp. 276–277. ISBN 978-1-59264-312-7.
  6. ^ a b "Introductions to Tractates - Pesachim". Dafyomi Advancement Forum. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
  7. ^ "Manuscripts". Collections: Hebrew and Yiddish. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek [Bavarian State Library]. Retrieved 2020-04-14. Munich Codex Hebraicus 95, France, 1342: "the world's only remaining almost entirely preserved manuscript of the Babylonian Talmud.
  8. ^ a b c Lipman, Eugene J., ed. (1970). "Pesahim—Passover". The Mishnah: Oral Teachings of Judaism (1st ed.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 95–96. OCLC 1043172244.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Epstein, Isidore, ed. (1938). "Pesachim: Translated into English with Notes, Glossary and Indices". The Babylonian Talmud. Vol. Moed. Freedman, H. (translator). London: The Soncino Press. pp. xi–xiii.
  10. ^ Kulp, Joshua (2014-05-02). "Introduction to Pesahim". Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. Retrieved 2020-04-06.


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