Alle sind in re'iah (dh in der Mizwa von (5. Mose 16, 16)) verpflichtet: "Dreimal im Jahr werden alle Ihre Männer erscheinen (yeraeh)", alle müssen in der Azara (dem Tempelhof) erscheinen das Fest. "Alle", um jemanden einzuschließen, der halb Bondman-halb frei ist. Aber das ist nicht die Halacha. Denn ein solcher ist wegen des "Bondsman" -Elements in ihm von re'iah befreit.] (Alle sind verpflichtet), außer einem, der taub ist [selbst wenn er spricht und selbst wenn er nur auf einem Ohr taub ist geschrieben (ebd. 31:11): "Wenn ganz Israel vor dem Herrn erscheint", gefolgt von (12): "damit sie hören"—jemanden auszuschließen, der kein gesundes Gehör hat. Und wer hört, aber nicht spricht, wird ausgeschlossen durch (ebd.): "Ulema'an yilmedu" (auch als "ulema'an yelamdu" zu verstehen - "damit sie lehren")], ein Idiot und ein Minderjähriger, [Kein Mizwot bindet sie. Und wenn ein Kind die Hand seines Vaters festhalten und von Jerusalem zum Tempelberg gebracht werden kann, ist sein Vater verpflichtet, ihn, wie Beth Hillel weiter unten in unserer Mischna sagt, und einen Tumtum (einer, dessen Geschlecht zweifelhaft ist) mitzunehmen ) und ein Zwitter und Frauen und unbefreite Knechte [Alle diese werden von "Ihren Männern" ausgeschlossen.—Tumtum, Hermaphrodit und Frauen auszuschließen. Und Schuldner sind in keiner Mizwa, von der Frauen befreit sind, verpflichtet. Außerdem steht geschrieben: "Wenn ganz Israel erscheint usw.", und Knechte sind nicht in "Israel" enthalten.]] Einer, der lahm ist, einer, der blind ist, einer, der krank ist, einer, der ist alt und einer, dessen Beine ihn nicht tragen [von Jerusalem zur Azara, wie wenn er sehr zart ist. Alle diese (mit Ausnahme eines Blinden) leiten sich ab von: "Dreimal (regalim)"—diejenigen auszuschließen, die nicht mit den Füßen aufsteigen können (ragleihem). Und ein Blinder ist ausgeschlossen von: "Wenn ganz Israel erscheint (leraoth)." So wie sie erscheinen, so kommen sie, um seinen heiligen Berg und das Haus seiner Schechina zu sehen—jemanden auszuschließen, der blind ist, auch wenn er auf einem Auge blind ist und dessen Vision nicht vollständig ist.] Was ist minderjährig? Einer, der nicht auf den Schultern seines Vaters reiten und von Jerusalem zum Tempelberg hinaufsteigen kann. Dies sind die Worte von Beth Shammai. Beth Hillel sagt: Einer, der die Hand seines Vaters nicht festhalten und von Jerusalem zum Tempelberg hinaufsteigen kann. Es steht geschrieben: "Drei Königliche" (siehe oben) [einer, der in der Lage ist, mit den Füßen hinaufzugehen. Und da ein Erwachsener (der dies nicht kann) von der Schrift ausgenommen ist, unterliegt auch ein Kind (in diesem Zustand) in dieser Hinsicht keinem Chinuch (Mizwa-Training).]
Bartenura on Mishnah Chagigah
הכל חייבין בראיה – In the commandment (Deuteronomy 16:16): “[Three times a year – on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, on the Feast of Weeks, and on the Feast of Booths – ] all your males shall appear [before the LORD your God in the place that He will choose….],” and one must show one’s self in the Temple courtyard on the Festival, and [the word] הכל/”Everyone” includes someone who is a half-slave and half-a free person, but the Halakha is not like this, since whomever is a half-slave and half-a free person is exempt from appearance in the Temple because of the side of servitude within him. (One could potentially argue that another possibility for a Biblical proof-text could be Exodus 23:17: “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Sovereign, the LORD, though it lacks the reference to Jerusalem).
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English Explanation of Mishnah Chagigah
Introduction
Our mishnah delineates who is obligated to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem on the three festivals. Exodus 23:17 says, “Three times a year all your male shall appear before the Sovereign, the Lord.” Our mishnah elaborates on this verse.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Chagigah
חוץ מחרש – and even though he can speak, and even one who is deaf in one ear is exempt, as it is written (Deuteronomy 31:11): “When all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God [in the place that He will choose…],” and it written after this (verse 12): “[Gather the people….]-that they may hear….,” excluding one who lacks complete hearing. And the person who hears but cannot speak is also exempt as it is written (verse 12): “...[that they may hear] and learn [to revere the LORD your God and to observe faithfully every word of this Teaching].” (NOTE: Rabbinic tradition, as found in the Mishnah of Tractate Terumot, Chapter 1, Mishnah 2, teaches that the deaf-mute individual, of whom the Sages generally spoke in all places, both cannot hear and cannot speak, and the Bartenura commentary on this Mishnah. Also see Chapter 12 of the Mishnah Tractate Yevamot, especially Mishnah four.)
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English Explanation of Mishnah Chagigah
All are obligated to appear [at the Temple], except a deaf person, an imbecile and a minor, a person of unknown sex [tumtum], a hermaphrodite, women, unfreed slaves, a lame person, a blind person, a sick person, an aged person, and one who is unable to go up on foot. I will explain each category of persons exempted from making the pilgrimage one at a time. A deaf person, an imbecile and a minor: These three people are usually lumped together because they are not considered to have “awareness/intelligence” (daat). They are exempt from all commandments, this one included. A person of unknown sex [tumtum], a hermaphrodite, women: Exodus 23:17 says that only males are obligated. The mishnah therefore exempts anyone whose sex as a male is not certain. A tumtum is a person with neither male nor female genitalia. A hermaphrodite has both. Since neither is a certain male, neither is obligated. Unfreed slaves: Slaves are not obligated for any mitzvah from which a woman is exempt. A lame person, a blind person, a sick person, an aged person, and one who is unable to go up on foot: Except for the blind person, the other people in this list will have great difficulty in walking up to the Temple Mount. Since the word for festival is “regel” which also means “leg,” these people are exempt. The blind person is exempt because the Torah says that the mitzvah is “to be seen” there. Since the blind person cannot see, he does not have to be seen.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Chagigah
שוטה וקטן – they are not considered having ritual obligations, for they are exempt from all of the commandments. But a minor who can hold his father’s hand and go up from Jerusalem to the Temple Mount, his father is obligated to bring him up in order that he may educate him in the commandments, as the School of Hillel states further on in our Mishnah.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Chagigah
Who is a minor? Whoever is unable to ride on his father’s shoulders and go up from Jerusalem to the Temple Mount, the words of Bet Shammai. But Bet Hillel say: whoever is unable to hold his father’s hand and go up from Jerusalem to the Temple Mount, as it is said: “Three regalim” (Exodus 23:14). Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai debate the age at which a minor is obligated to make the pilgrimage. According to Bet Shammai, as long as the child can ride on his father’s shoulders he must go to the Temple. Shammai (and his eponymous house) is generally strict when it comes to the observance of commandments by children. For instance, Shammai made a sukkah for his infant son, and he wanted the same son to fast on Yom Kippur. For Shammai, as long as the child can physically perform the commandment, he must do so. Bet Hillel holds that the child must be able to walk on his own. This is derived from the fact that the Torah uses the word “regel” which also means leg. The Torah’s choice of this word, as opposed to “Three pa’amim” (three times) implies that the child must be able to walk on his own. On a perhaps deeper level, Bet Hillel holds that the mitzvah is for the person to go there on his own, through the power of his own body. Having someone else carry one there is simply not a fulfillment of the mitzvah.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Chagigah
וטומטום ואנדרוגינוס, נשים ועבדים שאינן משוחררין – all of these are excluded from [the word] זכורך/”your males,” (Deuteronomy 16:16) except for one whose sex is unknown, a hermaphrodite and a woman who are not included within [the term] זכורך/”your males.” For any commandment for which women are not obligated [to perform], slaves are also not obligated [to perform]. And further, when it [the Torah] states (Deuteronomy 31:11): “When all Israel comes to appear [before the LORD your God]...” and slaves are not considered part of the Jewish people. (See also Mishnah Bikkurim, Chapter 1, Mishnah 5, regarding the one whose sex is unknown and the hermaphrodite in regard to their exemption from the bringing of First Fruits to the Temple.)
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Bartenura on Mishnah Chagigah
החיגר והחולה ושאינו יכול לעלות ברגליו – from Jerusalem to the Temple courtyard, such as the case when he is celebrating to the extreme. All of these we derive them, following from the fact that it is written (Exodus 23:14): “Three times a year [you shall hold a festival for Me],” they excluded those who are not able to go up to Jerusalem.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Chagigah
והסומא – as it is written (Deuteronomy 31:11): “When all Israel comes to appear…” Just as they come to be seen, so they come to see the Holy Mountain and the House of God’s Divine Presence, which excludes someone who is blind, even in his one eye, for his sight is not complete.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Chagigah
שלש רגלים – who is fit to go up with his feet, the Biblical verse obligates, and since an adult [who cannot go up to Jerusalem due to physical constraints] is exempt from the Torah, the minor is also not one who can be educated.
