Commentaire sur Parah 1:2
רַבִּי יוֹסֵי הַגְּלִילִי אוֹמֵר, פָּרִים, בְּנֵי שְׁתַּיִם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (במדבר ח), וּפַר שֵׁנִי בֶן בָּקָר תִּקַּח לְחַטָּאת. וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים, אַף בְּנֵי שָׁלשׁ. רַבִּי מֵאִיר אוֹמֵר, אַף בְּנֵי אַרְבַּע וּבְנֵי חָמֵשׁ כְּשֵׁרִים, אֶלָּא שֶׁאֵין מְבִיאִים זְקֵנִים, מִפְּנֵי הַכָּבוֹד:
Rabbi Yose le Galiléen dit: Les taureaux [tels que mentionnés dans la Torah], ont deux ans, comme il est dit (Nombres 8): Et un deuxième taureau, fils d'un bovin, tu prendras pour offrande pour le péché. Et les Sages disent: même trois ans. Le rabbin Meir dit: Même quatre ans et cinq ans sont acceptables, mais les plus âgés ne sont pas amenés, par respect.
Bartenura on Mishnah Parah
ופר שני בן בקר תקח לחטאת- regarding the purification of the Levities, it I s written in the Torah portion of B’haalotekha (Numbers 8:8), and this "שני"/second is extraneous, for since it is written after it (Numbers 8:12): “One shall be offered to the LORD as a purification offering (i.e., sin-offering) and the other as a burnt offering, automatically one knows that there are two [bulls], but rather, it is written [the word]"שני" to teach that it is two years old, for just as for something three years old, we call שלשית, here also for something two years old it is called "שני".
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English Explanation of Mishnah Parah
Introduction
There are many occasions when the Torah mandates sacrificing a "par" or a bull. In today's mishnah there are three opinions as to how old the bull must be.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Parah
וחכמים אומרים כו' – and the Halakha is according to the Sages.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Parah
Rabbi Yose the Galilean said: bulls must be no more than two years old, for it is said, "And the second bull you shall take for a sin-offering" (Numbers 8:8). Rabbi Yose the Galilean bases his halakhah on a midrash on Numbers 8:8. The verse says that one should take the "second bull." Since the Torah states elsewhere said to take two bulls and one has already been sacrificed why does it need to say "second." From this "extraneous" word Rabbi Yose the Galilean concludes that the word "second" refers to how old the bull must be two years.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Parah
But the sages say: they may be even three years old. The sages say that the bull can even be three years old. There are some versions that don't include the word "even." According to this, the rabbis hold that it must be three years old.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Parah
Rabbi Meir says: even those that are four or five years old are valid, but old animals are not brought out of respect. Rabbi Meir again provides a much higher limit for the age of the animal being discussed (as he did in yesterday's mishnah). However, despite the fact that one can bring a relatively old animal, it is not respectful to do so because it looks as if he is offering this animal only because it will die soon anyway.
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