Dans un endroit où il était de coutume de travailler sur Tisha b'Av, ils travaillent. Dans un endroit où il était de coutume de ne pas travailler, ils ne fonctionnent pas. Et en tout lieu, les érudits de la Torah sont oisifs [de leur travail de cette journée entière, afin de ne pas oublier le deuil.] R. Shimon b. Gamliel dit: Que l'on "se fasse toujours un érudit de la Torah" (et non pas travailler) [et cela ne lui paraîtra pas ostentatoire. Car celui qui le voit oisif pensera que c'est parce qu'il n'a rien à faire et non parce qu'il s'interdit de travailler.] Et les sages disent: En Juda, ils travailleraient de la veille de Pessa'h jusqu'à midi, et dans le Galil, ils ne fonctionnerait pas du tout. [Les sages soutiennent que l'accomplissement du travail à la veille de Pessa'h n'est pas une fonction de la coutume. En Juda, c'était permis, et dans le Galil c'était manifestement interdit, et non en fonction de la coutume.] Quant à la nuit [précédant le 14 Nissan], Beth Shammai interdit [l'accomplissement du travail aux hommes du Galil (qui interdit de travailler la veille de Pessa'h) tout comme il est interdit sur tous les autres festivals, la nuit appartenant au jour (qui suit)], et Beth Hillel le permet jusqu'au lever du soleil, [comme avec un jeûne, manger étant interdit pendant la journée , et autorisé la nuit (précédente).]
Bartenura on Mishnah Pesachim
תלמידי חכמים בטלים – [Sages are idle] from their work all that day, in order that their attentions would not be diverted from mourning.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Pesachim
Introduction
This is the last mishnah to note different customs in different places. It returns to the original topic of the chapter doing work on semi-holidays. The first section of the mishnah deals with the ninth of Av, a day of mourning commemorating the destruction of both Temples, while the second section returns to discuss the day before Pesah, the very topic that was discussed above in mishnah one. The fact that the mishnah returns to the same subject with which it began is a sign of its careful editing.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Pesachim
לעולם יעשה אדם עצמו כתלמיד חכם – and it does not appear like haughtiness, for a person who sees him idle would say that he has no work to do and not because he practices a prohibition upon himself.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Pesachim
In a place where it is the custom to do work on the ninth of Av, one may do it; where it is the custom not to do work, one may not do it. And in all places students of sages desist [from work on that day]. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel said: a man should always make himself a student of sages. The ninth of Av is not a festival such that it is strictly forbidden to do work on that day. Rather just as it is not appropriate for a mourner to work, so too in some places it was felt that it was not appropriate to work on this day. However, others allowed work on the ninth of Av. According to this position the mourning for the Temple is not the same as normal mourning since the tragedy has long passed. Even in places where work is allowed, students of sages (alternatively we might understand “talmidei hachamim” as referring to sages themselves) should not work. Their extra devotion to the Torah demands of them an extra observance of this day as well. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says that everyone should strive to act like students of the sages and not work on the ninth of Av. Such behavior is not considered to be overly arrogant.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Pesachim
וחכמים אומרים ביהודה – The Sages hold that doing work on the eve of Passover is not something dependent upon a custom but rather in Judea, they would permit it and in the Galilee, it would be a complete prohibition, and not from the strength of the custom.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Pesachim
But the sages say: In Judea they used to do work on the eve of Pesah until midday, while in Galilee they did not work at all. The sages here disagree with the mishnah in the beginning of the chapter. According to the sages, working on the eve of Pesach is not dependent on local custom, as was described above. Rather, in Judea they allowed people to work until midday, whereas in the Galilee they forbid work the whole day. Some explain that in this mishnah the sages explain the first mishnah above. When the mishnah said that there were places with different customs it meant, according to the sages, that these customs differed between Judea and Galilee.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Pesachim
הלילה – the night of the fourteenth [of Nisan]; for the people of the Galiele who prohibit doing work on the eves of Passover.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Pesachim
[With regard to] the night: Beth Shammai forbid [work], but Bet Hillel permit it until sunrise. In this section Beth Shammai and Bet Hillel debate what the custom was in Galilee, where they did not work on the eve of Pesah. According to Bet Shammai, this prohibition included working on the night before Pesah (the night before the seder), whereas Bet Hillel held that the prohibition of work did not begin until sunrise on the fourteenth.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Pesachim
ב"ש אוסרים – [prohibits] them like the other Holy days where it is prohibited to do work for the night follows after the day.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Pesachim
וב"ה מתירים – something that resembles a fast [day] where the day is prohiibred in eating and in the nighttime it is permissible.
