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Week 18 - Friday - 31 March 2000

PESACHIM: CHAPTER 1: MISHNA 1

INTRODUCTION

This Tractate contains three main topics: (1) the laws of hametz and matzah, especially the laws of the prohibition of hametz on Pesah; (2) the laws of the pesach sacrifice [korban pesach]; (3) the law of the Seder night.
The Torah state three prohibitions regarding hametz during Pesach (1) The prohibition of eating, as it is written, "Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread...for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day shall be cut off from Israel" (Ex. 12:15). (2) The prohibition of deriving benefit, as it is written, "no leavened bread shall be eaten [the passive ye'akhel]," implying not only is it forbidden to eat hametz but it may not even be used as a source of benefit that can contribute to the availability of any sort of food (Gemara and Rashi, Pes. 21b). (3) The prohibition to leave over and preserve hametz in one's possession on Pesach, as it is written, "and no unleavened bread shall be seen with you, in all your borders" (Ex. 13:7), and "Seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses" (Ex. 12:9).

We therefore have been comanded to eliminate the hametz before the time its eating it prohibited, as it is written, "but in the first day toy shall eliminate [tishbitu] leaven from your houses" (Ex. 12:!5). According to oral tradition, the "first" day mentioned in this verse is the fourteenth of Nisan, i.e., Pesach eve. Others deduced from this verse, "You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread" (Ex. 34:25), i.e., you shall not slaughter the korban pesach while hametz is still in your possession, and the korban pesach is slaughtered on the day of the fourteenth of Nisan, after noon. What is the "elimination" if hametz mentioned in the Torah? According to one opinion, the main element is mental elimination, i.e., "that a man eliminates the hametz in his mind, and regards it as dust, and thinks to himself that there is no hametz in his possession, and that all the hametz in his possession is as dust, and as something for which he has no use" (Rambam, Hil. Hametz u'Matzah, 2:2). Similarly, the Tarumim (Onkeluos and Yonatan ben Uziel) translate tashbitu as "nulify it." According to another opinion, the main element of "elimination" is the physical destruction of the hametz, and mental nullification is not sufficient. According to this opinion, the statement in the Gemara that mental elimination is effective refers to the act of rendering the hametz ownerless, so as not to transgress the prohibition of it being seen and being found. As it is written, "and no unleavened bread shall be seen with you" - you may not see yours, but you may see that of others, and what you declare ownerless is not ours (Tosafot, Pes. 4:2). i.e., if a person mentally nullifies the hametz, it is as if it is not in his possession, and it follows that he does no transgress the prohibition of it being seen and being found. He does not, however, thereby fullfill the obligation of "tashbitu", which is fulfilled only by the physical elimination of he does not nullify it (Rabbeinu Nissim, Hameiri). According to yet another opinion, even those who hold that mental nullification is effective, it only applies to hametz that he is unaware of. However, regarding hametz whose existence is known to him, the obligation of its "removal" is to fullfilled by its physical destruction (Kesef Mishanh on Rambam, loc. Cit.; Hameiri). There are also other opinion regarding this issue. At any rate, there is a Rabbinical obligation to physically destroy the hametz. As a consequence, the Sages enacted the obligation of "the search for the hametz," in order to physically destroy it (as will be explained in chap 1, below).

The Pesach sacrifice is the chief obligation of the Festival of Pesach. The details are of this are listed in Ex. 12:3-10. The Pesach sacrifice must be either a sheep or a goat: "Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year" (ibid., v.5). The time for slaughtering the sacrifice, by Torah law, is on the fourteenth of Nisanm during the bein ha'arbayim, as it is written, "fourteenth day of this month, bein harbayim, you shall keep it in its appointed season (Num. 9:3), and "the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter it bein ha'arbayim" (Ex. 12:6). The Sages determined that this is after noon, "towards dusk." It follows that after the removal of the hametz (bi'ur hametz), after noon, when the sun begins to decline towards the west, the sanctity of the Festival of Pesach begins, and work is prohibited from this time on.

The fundamental purpose of the korban pesach is to eat it, as it is written, "according to every man's eating you shall make your count for the lamb" (Ex. 12:4). It follows that the laws pertaining to the other sacrifices that are eaten (as will be explained in chap. 7). It also follows that the pesach sacrifice is slaughtered only fo the people "who were subscribed for it," and who are able to eat at least a ka'zayit of it ("its eaters"). The Tractate explains the details of the laws of offering the korban pesach, its roasting, and its eating, as wll as of the korban pesach offered by people who are unclean, and the laws of those who defer it to Pesach Sheni. The first three chapters of the Tractate deal with the details of the prohibition of hametz on Pesach. Chapter 4 deals with the prohibition of work on Pesach eve. Chapters 5-9 teach the laws of the korban pesach. Chapter 10, the last of the Tractate, deals with the laws of the Seder.

Rambam writes that this Tractate was arranged after the Tractates of Shabbat and Eruvin, because it is the second commandment, following that of the Shabbat in the Torah passages regarding holidays, which is the first group of commandments given by Moses. Why is the Tractate called Pesachim, in plurel? According ot one explanation, this refers to Pesach Rishon and Pesach Sheni; indeed, the laws of Pesach Sheni are taught in chapter 9. Hameiri wrote that during the period of the Geonim, the Tractate was divided into two parts: the first part, containing chapters 1-4 and 10, which deals with the laws of hametz and matzah and the Seder night; and the second part, containing chapters 5-9, which deal with the details of the korban pesach. The first section was called Pesach Rishon, the second Pesach Sheni. This apparently, is the source of the name Pesachim for the entire Tractate.

MISHNAH 1

The evening of the fourteen they search for the hametz by the light of a candle. Any place in which hametz is not brought does not require a search. And why did they say the two rows in a cellar? A place to which they bring hametz. Bet Shammai says, Two rows over the entire cellar; and Bet Hillel say, The two outer rows, that are the uppermost.

Kahati

As has already been mentioned in the Introduction to the Tractate, the Sages obliged searching for hametz before Pesach, that means to search in every place where it can be found, in order to remove it. This mishnah deals with this obligation of "searching for the hametz." The commentators disagree regarding the reason for the research for the search. According to Rashi, it is lest people transgress the transgress the prohibition of "seeing and finding." That means even though he had mentally annulled the hametz, and by the Torah law, nullification is sufficient, nevertheless, he is obliged to search for it in order to remove it because the nullification is dependant upon the person's thought, that he will nullify it whole-heartedly and completely remove it fromhis mind. Since people differ in their attitudes, the Sages feared a person would not wholeheartedly sincere, and as a result, he would transgress the prohibition of "seeing and finding" (Rabbeinu Nissim, following the opinion of Rashi). Bartenura writes that we fear a person will find an appetizing roll, and he will reconsider his annulment and consider eating it, and thereby transgress the prohibition of "seeing and finding." The Tosafists, however, question Rashi's explanation, for it has been stated in the Gemara: "one who searches must annul," and, by Torah law, nullification is sufficient - if so, then why did the Sages require the search at all? As a result, one reason appears to them to be that they fear one would find hametz during Pesach and would come to eat it. They were stricter regarding hametz then with other prohibitions because one is accustomed to eating it the entire year; or since the Torah was stringent regarding hametz, instituting the prohibition of "seeing and finding", therefore the Sages were stringent, and instituted that one is obliged to search for the hametz and to remove it, even if he has already nullfied it, lest he come to eat it.

The evening of the fourteen - the night before the day of the fourteen of Nisan, they search for the hametz - in all the places that it can found, in order to remove it, for the reasons cited above (in the Introduction to the mishnah), by the light of a candle - because the light of a candle is good for searching. Even though the hametz may be kept until noon of the fourteenth of Nisan, nonetheless, the Sages decreed that the search for the hametz be conducted the previous night, because people are in their homes at night (Gemara). Another reason is because the search must be conducted by candle light, and the light of candle is better for the searching at night than during the day. In any event, if a person did not search at night and he searched on the morning of the fourteen of Nisan, he must also search by candle light.
Any place in which hametz is not brought - during the entire year, does not require a search - for a person is olbiged to search only in the places into which people are accustomed to bring hametz at times.

And why did they - the Sages - say the two rows - of wine-casks which are arranged - in the cellar? - require a search (this is an early mishnah which is explained in the current mishnah), since hametz is not brought into the cellar? The stated this only regarding - A place - a cellar, to which they bring hametz - e.g., a wine cellar from which wine is brought to the table and at times one gets up from his meal holding a piece of bread in his hand, and enters the cellar to take wine, and forgets the bread into the cellar. How do they search the two rows in the cellar?
Bet Shammai says, Two rows over the entire cellar - the casks in the winecellar are arranged in rows, one over the other, with casks one ontop of the other up to the ceiling. The Amoraim disagree regarding the interpretation of Bet Shammai's statement, "Two rows over the entire cellar." Some say, one searches the first layer of casks facing, and closest to, the entrance, from the floor to the ceiling, and the layer behind it; these are called the "two rows over the entire - width and height of the - cellar." According to another opinion, he does not search (vertical) row inside, but rather the upper (horizontal) layer meaning the "two rows" are the vertical layer at the entrance to the cellar, and the uppermost horizontal layer, which form an inversted L.
Bet Hillel says, The two outer rows, that are the uppermost - it is not necessary to search the two rows, running the width of the ecllar. There is disagreement in the Gemara regarding the opinion of Bet Hillel, as well. According to one opinion, these are the top row and the row immediately under it, both of them facing the entrance. According to another opinion, theses are the upper row and the row immediately behind it, that is, the first two rows that face the ceiling.

Various interpretations have been given for the Hebrew term "or (light) of the fourteenth." According to the Rambam, the Tanna calls the night "light" in the same euphemistic way that a blind person is called sagi nehor, "much light", in order to begin the Tractate with a positive wording. RazahRabbeinu Nissim add that thiis is because of the verse, "The opening of your words shall illuminate" (Ps. 119:130). Tifferet Yisrael writes that this is because the obligation of searching for hametz is at the beginning of the evening, when there is still some light, or that the intent is from the time of zet ha-kokhavim (full night).

PESACHIM: CHAPTER 1: MISHNA 2

They need not fear that a mole dragged from the house to house and from place to place, for if so from courtyard to courtyard and from town to town - there is no end to the matter.

Kahati

They need not fear - while searching for hametz - that a mole dragged - hametz, from the house - which had not been searched, to a house - that had been searched, and from place to place - e.g., from a corner that had not yet been searched to one that had been searched. Rambam interprets this to mean, they need not fear a mole dragged hametz from a house into which hametz was brought to a house into which hametz was not brought (Hil. Hametz U-Matzah 2:7,see the commentaries on Rambam, loc. Cit.), for if - we were to fear this, we would have also have to fear a amole dragged - from a courtyard - that had not yet been searched - to a courtyard - that had already been searched because not everybody searches at the same time, and simimlarly, we would have to fear a mole dragged it - from town to town, and - there is no end to the matter.

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