An einem Ort, an dem es Brauch war, bis Mittag am Vorabend von Pesach zu arbeiten, dürfen sie arbeiten. An einem Ort, an dem es Brauch war, nicht zu arbeiten [damit sie nicht mit der Arbeit beschäftigt sind und vergessen, das Chametz zu verbrennen, das Pesach-Opfer zu schlachten und die Matzah der Mizwa vorzubereiten], arbeiten sie nicht. Wenn man von einem Ort, an dem sie arbeiten, zu einem Ort geht, an dem sie nicht arbeiten, oder von einem Ort, an dem sie nicht arbeiten, zu einem Ort, an dem sie arbeiten, werden ihm die Stringenzen des Ortes auferlegt, von dem er gekommen ist, und des Ortes, an den sie kommen was er ging. Und man sollte nicht wegen Streitigkeiten abweichen. [Dies ist gemeint: Wenn man von einem Ort, an dem sie nicht arbeiten, zu einem Ort geht, an dem sie arbeiten, werden ihm die Stringenzen des Ortes auferlegt, von dem er gekommen ist, und er sollte nicht arbeiten. Denn wir regieren "Lass uns nicht vom Brauch der Stadt abweichen" nur wegen Streitigkeiten. Aber hier gibt es keinen Streit! Denn was werden diejenigen sagen, die ihn nicht arbeiten sehen? "Er ist der Meinung, dass Arbeit verboten ist und nicht mit uns allen übereinstimmt"? Sie werden das nicht sagen, sondern: "Er ist arbeitslos." Denn "es gibt jeden Tag im Jahr viele Faulenzer auf dem Markt". Und "es werden die Stringenzen des Ortes auferlegt, von dem er gekommen ist" gilt nur, wenn er beabsichtigt, dorthin zurückzukehren; aber wenn nicht, deportiert er sich als das Volk des Ortes, an den er gegangen ist, sei es aus Nachsicht oder aus Gründen der Strenge.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Pesachim
מקום שנהגו עד חצות – until half the day.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Pesachim
Introduction
Through the middle of mishnah five this chapter deals with customs which differ from place to place. The basic attitude of the Mishnah is that local customs are acceptable, so long as they are not opposed to halakhah. However, complications will arise when people from a place with one custom come to a place with a different custom. This is the specific problem with which our mishnah deals.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Pesachim
שלא לעשות – in order that he not be busily engaged by his work and he would forget the [obligation of] ridding of the leavened products and the sacrifice of the Passover offering and the preparation of the Matzah for the Mitzvah [of the Seder].
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English Explanation of Mishnah Pesachim
In a place where it is the custom to do work on the eve of Pesah until midday one may do work; where it is the custom not to do work, one may not do work. Of all the different customs which the first five mishnayot of our chapter will discuss, this is the only one that is connected to Pesah. It is because this collection begins with a custom related to Pesah that the mishnah is found here in Pesahim. In some places it was customary not to work on the morning before Pesah. This was to make sure that people didn’t forget to burn their chametz on time. People who live in a place with such a custom should not work at all on this day. However, people who live in a place where the custom is to do work on the morning before Pesah may indeed work. In any case, even in a place where they are accustomed to work on the eve of Pesah, they only work until midday. Since the Pesah sacrifice could be offered any time after midday, the sages treated this part of the day as if it were a holiday unto itself and they forbade a person to work. Even after the Pesah sacrifice could no longer be offered this prohibition remained in its place. We should note that on the eve of Shabbat and other holidays the sages ruled that it was forbidden to do work from minchah time (the late afternoon) and onward. On Pesah they were stricter and forbade work from midday.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Pesachim
אל שינה אדם – this is how it should be understood: A person who walks from a place where they don’t do [work] to a place where the do [work], they should place upon him the stringencies of the place where he left from there and not do it (i.e., work), and that is what we hold: A person should not vary from the local custom of the city, it is not because of disputes for here there is no dispute. For what that you said: A person sees him idle would say that this one who is idle is because work is forbidden and that he disputes against all of us; he did not say this, but rather he said: he has no work for how many idle individuals are there in the marketplace all the days of the year. And that which we teach [in this Mishnah] that we lay upon him the strict rules followed in the place from which he has gone forth, is not [in effect] other than when it at the time when it is his intention to return to his place; but if he does not have the intention to return to his place, he practices according to the custom of the people of the place where he went to , whether for leniencies or for stringencies.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Pesachim
He who goes from a place where they work to a place where they do not work, or from a place where they do not work to a place where they do work, they place upon him the restrictions of the place from where he departed and the restrictions of the place to where he has gone. As is clear when you read this section carefully, whether he comes from a place that doesn’t do work or goes to a place that doesn’t do work, he won’t be allowed to do work on the eve of Pesah. No matter where he is or where he is from, he is always subject to the stricter rule.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Pesachim
And a man must not act differently [from local custom] on account of the quarrels [which would ensue]. If by not observing the local custom he will cause quarrels then he should not act differently. The simplest meaning of this line is that even if he is going from a place that does not do work to a place that does do work, he should do work if by refraining from work he would cause people to quarrel. In other words, the mishnah wants to make sure that when a person is visiting another place, his customs don’t make other people feel that he is trying to act “holier than thou”. If this will give that impression, then he should observe the local custom.
