¿Cómo se separa jalá de tuma en un festival? [es decir, si la masa se ha vuelto impura, de modo que la jalá que se le ha quitado no es apta para el consumo de un Cohein, ¿cómo se puede separar en el festival de Pesaj? No se puede hornear en Pesaj, ya que no es apto para el consumo. No puede dejarse quemar por la noche, ya que podría convertirse en jametz. No está permitido alimentarlo con perros, ya que está prohibido destruir la comida consagrada en un festival.] R. Eliezer dice: que no lo llame por su nombre ("jalá") hasta que esté horneado, [para que cada uno ( pan) es adecuado para él, porque de cada pan se separa un poco. Y después de hornearlo, si lo desea, puede separar la jalá completa para todos. Porque R. Eliezer sostiene que si uno toma (panes) del horno y los coloca en una canasta, todos se combinan para (propósitos de) jalá.] R. Yehudah dice: Deje que (la masa separada) se coloque en agua fría. (para que no se convierta en jametz.)] R. Yehoshua dijo: Este no es el jametz contra el que se nos exhorta en bal yeraeh y bal yimatzeh. [Porque no es suyo después de que lo llama por su nombre, y está escrito (Éxodo 13: 7): "... no se te verá"—Lo que es suyo, puede que no lo vea, pero puede ver el de los demás y el de los Exaltados. Y esto no es tuyo ni de tu vecino, aún no haber llegado a la mano del Cohein. Y R. Eliezer sostiene que, si lo desea, puede pedir (absolución por su dedicación), es dedicación por error, por lo tanto, no dedicación, y por lo tanto, apto para que coma y (considerado como) el jametz de un Israelita. Y R. Yehoshua sostiene que no decimos: "Ya que si lo desea, etc." La halajá está de acuerdo con R. Eliezer.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Pesachim
חלה בטומטה – the starter-dough that became impure and furthermore, Hallah that is appropriate for the Kohen to eat is not taken from it, how then would we separate it (i.e., the Hallah) on the holiday of Passover? WE are not able to bake it on Passover after it is not worthy of being eaten, and to keep it around and then burn it in the evening is impossible, lest it ferment. And to feed it to dogs is impossible for we do not get rid of holy things on Holy Days.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Pesachim
Introduction
This mishnah discusses a halakhic quandary. In order to understand it we need to first mention some background halakhot.
1) When one prepares dough there is a mitzvah to separate some dough. This separated dough is called hallah (Numbers 15:20). If the dough is ritually clean it is given to a Kohen; if it is ritually unclean it cannot be eaten and must be burned.
2) On Pesah all dough needs to be baked immediately lest it become chametz.
3) On festivals one is allowed to cook food, but one is not allowed to cook food which cannot be eaten.
4) One is not allowed to burn sacred things in order to remove them on a festival. This includes challah, which is considered sacred.
The problem then is what to do with baking unclean hallah on one of the festival days of Pesah. If she bakes it then she may be transgressing the laws of the festival which allows one to cook only food which can be eaten. The unclean hallah cannot be eaten so it can’t be baked. She can’t burn it either. If she just leaves it, it will ferment and become chametz.
In our mishnah the rabbis debate what to do with this dough.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Pesachim
רבי אליעזר אומר לא יקרא לה שם חלה עד שתאפה – and still each and every is appropriate [for separating out Hallah] and from each and every one we separate a small amount, and after baking it, if he wanted, he can separate a complete Hallah on the entire thing. For Rabbi Eliezer holds that he who detaches bread from where it sticks to the oven and puts it in a basket, the basket combines [the pieces] for Hallah.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Pesachim
How do they separate hallah on the festival [from dough which is] in [a state of] uncleanness? Rabbi Eliezer says: she should not call it [hallah] until it is baked. Rabbi Eliezer tries to find a means to avoid the problem. Usually, one separates and designates dough as hallah while it is still dough, before it is baked. In this case, to avoid the problem, what the woman baking the dough should do is not designate which piece will be hallah until after it has been baked. In this way, while the loaves are being baked, we could point to each loaf and say, “this one will not be hallah.” After it has already been cooked we need not be concerned about it becoming chametz. In the evening, she may burn the unclean hallah.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Pesachim
לא זהו חמץ שמוזהרים עליו – for it is not his after he has designated it (literally ‘called it by name’) and it is written in Scripture (Exodus 13:7): “no leaven shall be found [in your territory].” Yours you cannot see but you can see that of others and of “On High” (i.e., God). And this is not yours nor of your friends, for yet it has not reached the hand of the Kohen. But Rabbi Eliezer holds that since if he desires, he may bring up a case for decision [from a Sage] that is dedicated [to the Temple] in error and that is not something dedicated and it is appropriate for eating. It is found that it is his and it is the leaven of an Israelite. But Rabbi Yehoshua holds that we don’t say, ‘Since.” But the Halakha is according to Rabbi Eliezer.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Pesachim
Rabbi Judah ben Batera says: she should put [the dough] into cold water. Rabbi Judah ben Batera comes up with a different solution. Separate the hallah when it is still dough, but instead of baking it put it in cold water. The cold water will arrest the fermentation process.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Pesachim
Rabbi Joshua said: this is not the chametz concerning which we are warned with, “It shall not be seen”, and “It shall not be found”. Rather she separates it and leaves it until the evening, and if it ferments it ferments. Rabbi Joshua rejects both of the previous solutions and rather says that she should separate the dough and if it becomes chametz then it becomes chametz. There is no need to be concerned that this is a transgression. The Torah’s prohibitions “It (chametz) shall not be seen” (Exodus 13:7) and “It shall not be found” (Exodus 12:19) do not apply to this chametz because it doesn’t belong to its owners anymore. From the minute she separates it to make it challah it already belongs to the kohen.
