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The Mishnah

פסחים ט׳Pesachim 9

Perek 9 of 10 in Pesachim — 11 mishnayot

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Mishnah 1א׳

מִי שֶׁהָיָה טָמֵא אוֹ בְדֶרֶךְ רְחוֹקָה וְלֹא עָשָׂה אֶת הָרִאשׁוֹן, יַעֲשֶׂה אֶת הַשֵּׁנִי. שָׁגַג אוֹ נֶאֱנַס וְלֹא עָשָׂה אֶת הָרִאשׁוֹן, יַעֲשֶׂה אֶת הַשֵּׁנִי. אִם כֵּן, לָמָּה נֶאֱמַר טָמֵא אוֹ שֶׁהָיָה בְדֶרֶךְ רְחוֹקָה, שֶׁאֵלּוּ פְּטוּרִין מֵהִכָּרֵת, וְאֵלּוּ חַיָּבִין בְּהִכָּרֵת:

If one were unclean or on a distant way, and he did not offer the first Pesach, he offers the second. If unwittingly or under constraint he did not offer the first Pesach, he offers the second. If so, why is it written (Numbers 9:10): "…if he were unclean or on a distant way"? For these are exempt from kareth and the others are liable for kareth. [Scripture exempts one who was unclean or on a distant way from offering the first Pesach, and kareth, essentially, is for the first Pesach. Therefore, if they did not offer the second Pesach, they are exempt from kareth. But if one were unwitting or under constraint, he was (in principle) obligated to offer the first Pesach; it is just that his particular condition prevented him from doing so. So that if he wittingly does not offer the second Pesach, he is liable for kareth, viz. (Ibid. 13): "And the man who is clean and was not on the way and who failed to offer the Pesach, that soul shall be cut off," the implication being that for all other varieties of unwittingness or constraint which may have obtained vis-à-vis the first Pesach, aside from uncleanliness and being on a distant way, there is kareth liability for failure to offer the second Pesach.]

Mishnah 2ב׳

אֵיזוֹ הִיא דֶרֶךְ רְחוֹקָה, מִן הַמּוֹדִיעִים וְלַחוּץ, וּכְמִדָּתָהּ לְכָל רוּחַ, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, מֵאַסְקֻפַּת הָעֲזָרָה וְלַחוּץ. אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹסֵי, לְפִיכָךְ נָקוּד עַל ה', לוֹמַר, לֹא מִפְּנֵי שֶׁרְחוֹקָה וַדַּאי, אֶלָּא מֵאִסְקֻפַּת הָעֲזָרָה וְלַחוּץ:

Which is a "distant way"? From Modi'im and beyond. [Modi'im was fifteen mils from Jerusalem, the distance an average man can walk in the days of Nissan and the days of Tishrei, when the days and nights are equal, from sunrise until ben ha'arbayim (towards evening), which is the time for the offering of the sacrifice.] R. Eliezer says: From the threshold of the azarah (the Temple court) and beyond. [Even if he were close to Jerusalem and took ill and was delayed and did not arrive at the threshold of the azarah until the end of the time for the offering of the Pesach, he comes under the law of a "distant way." And R. Akiva holds that he comes under the law of one who was constrained, but not under the law of a "distant way."] R. Yossi said: That is why there is a point above the heh [in "rechokah" ("distant")], to connote not "distant," literally, but from the threshold of the azarah and beyond. [I have heard it expounded thus: "five ('heh' = five) cubits from the threshold of the azarah," i.e., even if he were only five cubits distant at the end of the time of the Pesach offering, he comes under a "distant way."]

…and 7 more mishnayot in this perek.

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Mishnah, Torat Emet 357 edition, via Sefaria — public domain

English: The Mishna with Obadiah Bartenura, tr. Rabbi Shraga Silverstein, via Sefaria — CC BY