Tous sont obligés de re'iah [c'est-à-dire, dans la mitsva de (Deutéronome 16:16): "Trois fois par an, tous vos mâles apparaîtront (yeraeh)," tous devant apparaître dans l'azarah (la cour du Temple) le le festival. «Tous», pour inclure celui qui est à moitié libre d'esclave. Mais ce n'est pas la halakha. Car un tel est exempt de re'iah à cause de l'élément «esclave» en lui.] (Tous sont obligés) sauf celui qui est sourd [même s'il parle, et même s'il est sourd d'une seule oreille, cela étant écrit (Ibid. 31:11): "Quand tout Israël viendra pour comparaître devant le L rd," suivi de (12): "pour qu'ils entendent"—pour exclure celui qui n'a pas d'audition sonore. Et celui qui entend mais ne parle pas est exclu par (Ibid.): "Ulema'an yilmedu" (à comprendre aussi comme "ulema'an yelamdu" - "pour qu'ils enseignent")], un imbécile et un mineur, [aucune mitsvoth ne les lie. Et si un enfant peut tenir la main de son père et être emmené de Jérusalem au Mont du Temple, son père est obligé de le prendre, comme le dit Beth Hillel ci-dessous dans notre Michna.], Et un tumtum (celui dont le sexe est incertain ), et un hermaphrodite, et des femmes et des esclaves non libérés [Tous ces éléments sont exclus par "vos mâles"—pour exclure le tumtum, l'hermaphrodite et les femmes. Et les esclaves ne sont obligés dans aucune mitsva dont les femmes sont exemptées. De plus, il est écrit: "Quand tout Israël viendra pour apparaître, etc.", et les esclaves ne sont pas inclus dans "Israël."], Celui qui est boiteux, celui qui est aveugle, celui qui est malade, celui qui est vieux, et dont les jambes ne le portent pas [de Jérusalem à l'azarah, comme quand il est très délicat. Tous ces éléments (à l'exception de celui qui est aveugle) sont dérivés de: "Trois fois (regalim)"—pour exclure ceux qui ne peuvent pas monter avec leurs pieds (ragleihem). Et un aveugle est exclu de: "Quand tout Israël viendra pour apparaître (leraoth)". Tout comme ils viennent pour apparaître, ainsi ils viennent pour voir (lir'oth) Sa sainte montagne et la maison de Sa shechinah—exclure celui qui est aveugle, même s'il est aveugle d'un œil, sa vision n'étant pas complète.] Qu'est-ce qu'un mineur? Celui qui ne peut pas monter sur les épaules de son père et monter de Jérusalem au Mont du Temple. Ce sont les paroles de Beth Shammai. Beth Hillel dit: Celui qui ne peut pas tenir la main de son père et monter de Jérusalem au Mont du Temple, il est écrit: "Trois regalim" (voir ci-dessus) [celui qui est capable de monter avec ses pieds. Et comme un adulte (qui ne peut pas le faire) est exempté par les Écritures, un enfant (dans cette condition), lui aussi, n'est pas soumis à chinuch (mitsva-training) à cet égard.]
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.
