Commentary for Pesachim 8:1

האשה תאכל משל בעלה – all the time that she did not explain that her mind/intentions are with her father, for generally her intention is to be counted with her husband.

Introduction It would have been customary for the head of a household to slaughter a pesah on behalf of the members of his household, on the assumption that they would eat it. Our mishnah deals with certain persons about whom it is unclear to which household they belong. The problem will arise if two households slaughter a pesah on behalf of one person from which one can they eat?

רגל הראשון – that was after her marriage, for it is the manner of married women to go to the house of their fathers.

A wife, when she is in her husband’s home, and her husband slaughtered on her behalf and her father slaughtered on her behalf, she must eat of her husband's. A wife who is spending pesah in her husband’s home is assumed to be part of her husband’s household. Therefore, if both her husband and her father slaughtered a pesah on her behalf, she must eat of her husband’s.

תאכל במקום שהיא רוצה – and such is the case where she is not pursued until now to go regularly to the house of her father. Therefore, it is doubtful to us which is preferable to her.

If she went to spend the first festival in her father's home, and her father slaughtered on her behalf and her husband slaughtered on her behalf, she may eat wherever she pleases. If she went to spend the festival in her father’s house, and again both her father and husband slaughtered a pesah on her behalf, she may eat from whichever she chooses. Since she was with her father she may even eat of his. Nevertheless, since she is already married she may alternatively eat of her husband’s pesah. Of course, she cannot eat of both.

אפטרופין – an orphan that had two guardians/administrators and he assigned this one for his Passover offering and that one for his Passover offering.

An orphan on whose behalf his guardians slaughtered may eat wherever he pleases. If an orphan has two or more guardians, each of whom slaughtered a pesah on his behalf, he may eat from whichever he pleases. He does not belong exclusively to any one of them.

לא יאכל משל שניהם – neither from the Passover offering of this one, nor from the Passover offering of that one. For who gave permission to divide the one to be appointed with this one and he has no remedy other that if the both of them wanted to be appointed with the one.

A slave of two partners may not eat of either. A master cannot slaughter a pesah for his slave if that slave is partially owned by another master. The only way to arrange this situation is for the two slave owners to jointly make one pesah.

לא יאכל משל רבו – but he eats from his own [only] and since it is the law that they force the master and he writes a bill of manumission for him, even though he has is not yet freed, he is like a free person. Therefore, he eats of his own.

He who is half slave and half free may not eat of his master's. A half-slave, one who was owned jointly and then freed by one of the partners but not the other may not eat of his master’s pesah. The assumption is that when the master slaughtered the pesah, he did not do so on behalf of his slave whom he owned only partially. The master would have assumed that the slave would make his own pesah. Therefore, this is what the half-slave must do.