Commentaire sur Haguiga 1:9

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).

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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.

הראיה שתי כסף – an adult who comes to be seen [in the Temple during the Three Pilgrimage Festivals] must bring a burnt offering, as it states (Exodus 23:15): “and none shall appear before Me empty-handed” (though the same connotation is found in Deuteronomy 16:16 – “…They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.”), which is not less than two silver MAOT, which are the weight of thirty-two globules/stones from purified silver.

Introduction In this mishnah the two houses debate the minimum value of the pilgrimage offering and the hagigah offering. These two offerings were explained in the introduction to the tractate.

וחגיגה – festival peace-offerings, as the Torah states (Exodus 12:14): “[This day shall be to you one of remembrance:] you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD [throughout the ages]….,” that is to say, they brought festival peace-offerings, none less than a silver M’AH, and even though there is no fixed measure for “appearing” and for the festival offering, as it is written (Deuteronomy 16:17): “But each with his own gift, [according to the blessing that the LORD your God has bestowed upon you],” the Sages gave them a lower fixed measure, that he should not bring less than this.

Bet Shammai say: the pilgrimage-offering (re’eyah) must be worth [at least] two pieces of silver and the hagigah one piece (ma’ah) of silver. But Bet Hillel say: the pilgrimage-offering must be worth [at least] one ma'ah of silver and the hagigah two pieces of silver. The pilgrimage offering is an olah, a wholly burnt offering, whereas the hagigah is a shelamim, a thanksgiving offering, part eaten by the priests, part by its owners and part offered on the altar. According to Bet Shammai the sacrifice that is completely for God, the pilgrimage offering, is the more expensive offering. If we extrapolate, we might say that when a person has a limited budget, he should spend more on God than on himself. Bet Hillel holds the opposite the hagigah offering, eaten by people, is to be the more expensive offering. Extrapolating again, Bet Hillel seems to put humans at the center, focusing on enriching their religious experience by providing them more food.

הראיה מאה כסף וחגיגה שתי כסף – for peace-offerings have in them for God and the Kohanim and their owners, therefore they are more plentiful than burnt-offerings, which lack in them other than for the All-High (God), and except for the burnt-offering of appearance and the festival peace-offerings that are mentioned in our Mishnah, they also had to bring an additional other kind of peace-offering, and they are called peace-offerings of rejoicing, as it is written (Deuteronomy 27:7): “And you shall sacrifice there offerings of well-being and eat them, rejoicing [before the LORD your God].” But the peace-offerings of rejoicing (called “offerings of well-being” in the Torah) are not mentioned here [in the Mishnah]. And the Sages did not give them a particular [required] measure. But women are obligated in them as are men, for as regards “rejoicing,” women were commanded, as is it written (Deuteronomy 14:26): “…And you shall feast there, [in the presence of the LORD your God,] and rejoice with your household.”

עולות באות מן החולין – Our Mishnah is deficient and should be read as follows: burnt-offerings, offerings made by vow and free-will offerings, during the Intermediate Days of the Festival (i.e., Hol HaMoed) – is comes [from them i.e., burnt-offerings, offerings made by vow and free-will offerings, but on Yom Tov (the “holy day”) itself, they do not come [from them]. But the burnt-offering of “appearance” is brought even on Yom Tov, even though it has indemnity all seven [days], the essence of its commandment is on the first day of Yom Tov, and when it is brought, it does not come from other than non-sacred [animals]. But the peace-offerings of rejoicing come from the [Second] Tithe, meaning, we can bring peace-offerings of rejoicing from the monies of the Second Tithe, since the peace-offerings of rejoicing are not obligatory in a place where there is meat. And behold, there are monies of the Second Tithe to spend in Jerusalem. Therefore, he should purchase with them peace-offerings and consume them, but the Festival offering of the First Day of Yom Tov, is a matter of obligation, even if he has a lot of meat. For anything that is because it is a matter of obligation, it does not come other than from non-sacred [animals] and not from the [Second] Tithe.

Introduction When people would make their pilgrimage festivals to Jerusalem, they would usually bring with them money which they had used to redeem their second tithe. Second tithe can be eaten by its owners but only in Jerusalem. To make things easier for people the Torah allows them to redeem the produce for money, take the money to Jerusalem and use it there to buy food items. Our mishnah deals with which sacrifices one can buy from second tithe money and which have to be purchased with “hullin,” unconsecrated money. It is in the best interests of the pilgrim to be able to use his second tithe money, money which he will have to spend in Jerusalem in any case.

בי"ט ראשון של פסח – The same rule applies regarding the First Day of the other Festivals, but for this [purpose] he took “Passover,” since there is [on] the Eve of Passover another Festival offering, when the group united for eating the Passover lamb in company (see Exodus 12:4) is larger m they would bring with them the Festival offering, in order that the Passover [lamb] sacrifice would be eaten after the appetite is satisfied (see Tosefta Pesahim, Chapter 5, Halakha 3), and our Mishnah comes to teach us that the Festival offering (i.e., Hagigah) itself does not come from anything other than non-sacred [animals], but the Festival offering of the fourteenth [of Nisan] comes from the [Second] Tithe.

Burnt-offerings during the festival [week] are to be brought from [animals bought with] unconsecrated money, and thanksgiving offerings, from [animals bought with] tithe money. This section deals with hol hamoed, the middle of the week of Sukkot and Pesah. Burnt-offerings, the pilgrimage offerings, which are obligatory, must be brought with animals purchased with unconsecrated money. This is the same rule as for all mandatory offerings they may not be purchased with tithe money. Celebratory thanksgiving offering, brought during the middle of the festival are not obligatory as are the other festival offerings. A person has to eat meat during the week and while it was customary to use thanksgiving offerings, it was not mandated. Since this sacrifice wasn’t mandated, one can use tithe money to purchase it.

ובה"א מן המעשר – In the Gemara, an objection is raised: why is this a matter that is obligatory? Since everything that is an obligation, does not come other than from non-sacred [animals]. And it responds that one combines [from two different monetary sources] (see Talmud Hagigah 8a) – that he combines Second Tithe monies with the [monies used to purchase the Festival offering/Pilgrim’s offering for] non-sacred animals and brings it [to the Temple]. If he has [with him] many “consumers” (i.e., people who need to eat), and he does not have sufficient with one animal, he brings one animal for the Festival offering from the non-sacred [animals], and the rest comes from the Second Tithe monies, and even though all of comes [for sacrifice] on the First Day of Yom Tov, the “name” of Hagigah/Festival offering is upon them. Nevertheless, the School of Hillel holds that it is permissible to bring the rest from the [Second] Tithe since he has already fulfilled his religious obligation on the First Day from the non-sacred [animals].

On the first festival day of Pesah: Bet Shammai say: [they must be brought] from [animals bought with] unconsecrated money. And Bet Hillel say: [they can be brought also] from [animals bought with] tithe money. On the first day of both Pesah and Sukkot, and on Shavuot, the thanksgiving offering, the hagigah, is obligatory. Since it is a mandated offering, Bet Shammai holds that it must come from animals purchased with unconsecrated money. Bet Hillel holds that one can still use tithe money because the hagigah is partially eaten by its owners. The Torah states that second tithe must be used to purchase food and the hagigah is food. According to the Talmud, second tithe cannot be used to purchase the whole animal, because some of the animal is offered on the altar. It may only be used as part of the purchasing price.

יוצאין ידי חובתן – [they fulfill their religious obligations] of peace-offerings of rejoicing, offerings made by vow and free-will offerings (see Mishnah Kinnim, Chapter 1, Mishnah 1) and the tithing of cattle, as it is written (Deuteronomy 16:14): “You shall rejoice in your festival…,” to include all kinds of joyous occasions, for the Biblical verse does not require other than rejoicing, and the Master said: There is no rejoicing other than through the eating of meat, and this [sacrifice] is meat.

Introduction During the festival it was a mitzvah to celebrate by eating meat. This was done by bringing celebratory thanksgiving offerings to the Temple and eating them in Jerusalem. Our mishnah teaches that both Israelites and priests can use animals and meat dedicated or made holy for other purposes in order to fulfill this obligation.

אבל לא בעופות ולא במנחות – as it is written (Deuteronomy 16:14): “You shall rejoice in your festival…” The Torah said, make a joyous celebration from whomever the Festival offering comes, excluding birds and meal-offerings for the Festival Offering does not come from them.

Israelites fulfill their obligation with vow-offerings, freewill-offerings and cattle tithe. An Israelite can fulfill his obligation to bring/eat a celebratory thanksgiving offering by bringing vow-offerings and freewill-offerings that he had set aside during the year for other purposes. During the year a person might make an offering to the Temple for all sorts of reasons (as a supplication, to show gratitude). He may take this animal with him on his pilgrimage and it can count as his celebratory thanksgiving offering. Cattle tithe, the tenth animal born of cows, sheep and goats, is “holy to the Lord” (Leviticus 27:32). This animal is brought to Jerusalem and eaten there. An Israelite can use an animal that was set aside to be cattle tithe as his celebratory thanksgiving offering.

And priests with sin-offerings and guilt-offerings, firstlings, the breast and the shoulder, but not with bird-offerings, and not with meal-offerings. Pilgrims would also bring with them the various sin-offerings and guilt-offerings that they had become liable for during the year. They would also bring the “firstlings”, the first-born of every kosher animal. All of these go to the priest and he may use them to fulfill his obligation for celebratory thanksgiving offerings. The breast and the shoulder of thanksgiving offerings go to the priest. This meat will count for him in order to fulfill his obligation for eating meat. However, bird-offerings and meal-offerings don’t count because one can only fulfill the obligation with mammal meat sheep, goats and cows.

אוכלין מרובין – the members of the household are many

Introduction As I have explained in the previous mishnayot, the pilgrimage offering is a wholly burnt offering and is not eaten, whereas the celebratory offering is a thanksgiving offering and is eaten. Our mishnah gives four different possibilities for how much of each offering a person should bring.

מביא שלמים מרובין – many festival peace-offerings according to [the number] of consumers that he has.

He that has many people to eat [with him] and little money, brings many thanksgiving-offerings and few burnt-offerings. If a person has a lot of people he needs to feed and not a lot of money with which to buy the animals to use as sacrifices, he should spend more money on the edible thanksgiving offerings and less on the burnt offerings.

[He that has] a lot of money and few to eat [with him] brings many burnt-offerings and few thanksgiving-offerings. If he has a lot of money and wishes to spend it on sacrifices and he doesn’t have a lot of people to eat with him, he should spend more money on the burnt offerings. If he buys too many thanksgiving offerings (or too large of an animal) the meat will have to be burned (not as a sacrifice but as the remnant of uneaten sacrifice).

[He that has] little of either, for him is it is said: “One ma'ah of silver’, ‘two pieces of silver.” If he has few people to feed and little money, he should buy the minimum amount of each sacrifice. Our mishnah makes reference to mishnah 2 above where Bet Shammai and Bet Hillel debated the minimum amount for each sacrifice.

He that has a lot of both, of him it is said: “Every man as he is able, according to the blessing that the Lord your God has bestowed upon you” (Deuteronomy 16:17). If he is lucky enough to have brought a lot of people with him on the pilgrimage, and to have a lot of money, then he has been blessed by God. The mishnah quotes the verse which says that each brings according to his own blessing, meaning he can bring as many sacrifices as he wants.

מי שלא חג – He did not bring his Festival Peace-Offering and his burnt-offering of “appearance”/pilgrimage.

Introduction This mishnah teaches that if one did not bring the hagigah offering on the first day of the festival, he has the rest of the festival to bring it. This is derived from Leviticus 23:41 which says, “You shall observe it as a festival of the Lord for seven days” implying that the hagigah can be brought throughout the festival.

ויום טוב האחרון – Shemini Atzeret (sometimes called, “The Eighth Day of Solemn Assembly”); and even though it is a festival of its own, it is an indemnity of the First Day [of Sukkot]. And the holiday of Shavuot (sometimes called, “The Feast of Weeks”) also, even though it is not other than one day. But it has indemnity all seven, since we make an analogy of Biblical verses [in a comparison based upon close proximity] one with the other (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….].” Just as Feast of Unleavened bread has תשלומין /indemnity all seven days, even the Feast of Weeks (i.e., Shavuot) has indemnity all seven days.

He who did not bring his hagigah on the first day of the festival of Sukkot, may bring it during the whole of the festival, even on the last festival day of Sukkot. Even though the last day of Sukkot is a different festival called Shmini Atzeret, nevertheless even on this day one can bring his hagigah offering and have it count as his Sukkot hagigah.

If the festival, passed and he did not bring the festival offering, he is no longer liable for it. Of such a person it is said: “A twisted thing cannot be made straight, a lack cannot be made good” (Ecclesiastes 1:15). Once the festival is over, he cannot bring the hagigah offering. Even if he set aside an animal to be a hagigah and then it was lost during the festival and found afterwards, he cannot offer that animal as a hagigah. In such a case the animal would be offered as a freewill offering. The mistake of not bringing the hagigah during the correct time is a “lack that cannot be made good.”

והוליד ממנה ממזר – that he brought those ineligible into the Jewish people and they [remain] for him as a memory, therefore, his sin is not erased through [acts of] repentance.

Introduction The end of yesterday’s mishnah brought a quote from Ecclesiastes 1:15 about a wrong that cannot be corrected. Our mishnah continues to discuss this verse.

יכול הוא שיחזיר – the monies of his theft and robbery to the owners and it will be repaired from his the sin.

Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya says: Who is “a twisted thing that cannot be made straight?” He who has intercourse with a forbidden relation and bears by her a mamzer. Should you say that it applies to a thief or robber, he is able to restore [the stolen object] and make straight. Most transgressions can be “made straight,” that is to say they can be fixed. The damage is not irreparable. However, when a man has intercourse with a woman forbidden to him and they have a child, that child is a mamzer for life, there is nothing he can do to get out of this status. He/she will forever be a mamzer, restricted in marriage. Other sins such as stealing can be repaired by returning the stolen object.

Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai says: They only call something “twisted” if it was straight at first and then became twisted. And who is this? A disciple of the sages who forsakes the Torah. Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai reads the verse slightly differently. The verse does not relate simply to a wrong that cannot be corrected. Something is only considered to be twisted if it was originally straight. A mamzer was born “twisted” and hence is not referred to in the verse. Rather the verse refers to a Torah scholar who rejects his Torah learning. He was straight when he was dedicated to a life of Torah and became twisted when he separated from that life. The Talmud on this mishnah contains many of the legends about the famous Elisha ben Abuyah, the great Torah sage who later rejected his learning, professing, “there is no law and no judge.” For a very interesting read, one which illuminates the mishnaic period better than any book I know, check out Milton Steinberg’s “As A Driven Leaf.”

היתר נדרים פורחים באויר – there is a bit of an intimation in Scripture that a Sage would be able to release a vow, but one should not rely upon it, but this was transmitted to the Sages in the Oral Torah.

Introduction This mishnah, and the first two mishnayot of the next chapter, do not deal with the hagigah. Rather they are loosely connected to the end of the previous mishnah concerning the Torah scholar who separates from the Torah. Our mishnah deals with one issue which may have caused some rabbis to dismiss the Torah, especially the Oral Torah. There are many halakhot in the Mishnah which seem to have little connection to the Written Torah. Some rabbis may have rejected rabbinic learning claiming that the rabbis were just “making it up.” This was a common anti-rabbinic claim made throughout Jewish history, most famously by the Sadducees and later by the Karaites. Our mishnah acknowledges that some halakhot are indeed not well connected to Scripture and yet at the same time the mishnah seems to bequeath to these laws the same authority as those firmly anchored in the Written Torah.

הלכות שבת – and the laws of the Festival Offering and the laws of Sacrilege, each have many laws which are dependent upon intimations, with scant Scriptural [support] are like mountains suspended by the hair of the head.

[The laws concerning] the dissolution of vows hover in the air and have nothing to rest on. According to the rabbis, a sage has the power to dissolve a vow. This was a subject we covered when we learned Tractate Nedarim. However, there is no scriptural basis, no verses in the Torah, that give the rabbis (or anyone else) such power. These halakhot “hover in the air” meaning they are not grounded in the written Torah.

והעבודות – the laws of the Sacrificial Service.

The laws concerning Shabbat, hagigot, and trespassing are as mountains hanging by a hair, for they have scant scriptural basis but many halakhot. There are three categories of halakhah which have some scriptural basis, but not a lot and yet they have a lot of halakhot in the Mishnah and in other rabbinic works. The first of these is Shabbat. There were 24 chapters in Mishnah Shabbat and another 11 in Eruvin and yet the Torah barely discusses what types of work are prohibited on Shabbat. Hagigah, the subject of our tractate, is also another case of a lot of halakhah with little scriptural basis. The Torah only says the word “hag,” which the rabbis interpret to mean a sacrifice. This is not a lot of scriptural support for a whole tractate. Finally, “trespassing” which means illicit use of Temple property. There is a whole tractate called Meilah dedicate to this subject, and yet it too has scant scriptural support.

הן הן גופי תורה – The Gemara explains that they are the essence of Torah, that is to say, whether they lack upon what to be supported or are those which have upon what to be supported, or whether they are like mountains suspended by a hair, they are the essence of Torah.

[The laws concerning] civil cases and [Temple] worship, purity and impurity, and the forbidden relations have what to rest on, and they that are the essentials of the Torah. The Torah is full of verses dedicated to civil laws, the main topic of all of Seder Nezikin, Temple worship, the main topic of Seder Kodashim, purity laws, the main topic of Seder Toharot and the laws of forbidden relations, the main topic of large parts of Seder Nashim. These are the “essentials of Torah” in that the Torah dedicates to them more verses than to anything else.