פסחים 36 — Soncino English Talmud

¹He who eats nebelah on the Day of Atonement is not liable [to a sin-offering]. Rabina said, You may even say [that it agrees with] the Rabbis: [the meaning is] that the interdict which is on account of thou shalt not eat leavened bread with it’ alone, thus this is excluded, for its interdict is not on account of ‘thou shalt not eat leavened bread with it’ alone, but also on account of ‘thou shalt not eat tebel’. Is then ‘alone’ written? — Rather, it is clearly as R. Shesheth [stated]. Our Rabbis taught. You might think that a man can discharge his obligation with second tithe in Jerusalem; therefore it is stated, the bread of affliction [‘oni], teaching, [it must be] that which may be eaten in grief [aninuth]. thus this is excluded, which is not eaten in grief but [only] in joy: this is the view of R. Jose the Galilean. R. Akiba said: [The repetition of] ‘unleavened bread’, ‘unleavened bread’, is an extension. If so, what is taught by ‘bread of affliction’ [‘oni]? It excludes dough which was kneaded with wine, oil, or honey. What is R. Akiba's reason? — Is then lehem [bread of] ‘oni [grief] written? Surely ‘ani [poverty] is written. And R. Jose the Galilean? — Do we then read it ‘ani? Surely we read it ‘oni. And R. Akiba? — The fact that we read it ‘oni [is explained] as Samuel's [dictum]. For Samuel said: Bread of ‘oni [means] bread over which many words are recited [‘onin]. Yet does R. Akiba hold [that] dough which was kneaded with wine, oil, or honey is not [fit]? Surely it was taught: Dough must not be kneaded on Passover with wine, oil, or honey; and if one did knead it, — R. Gamaliel said: It must be burnt immediately; while the Sages say: It may be eaten. Now R. Akiba related: I was staying [one Passover] with R. Eliezer and R. Joshua, and I kneaded dough for them with wine, oil or honey, and they said nothing to me. And though one may not knead, yet one may smooth the surface with them, — this is according to the first Tanna. But the Sages maintain: With that with which one may knead, one may smooth, while with that with which one may not knead, one may not smooth. And they ail agree that dough may not be kneaded with lukewarm [water]! — There is no difficulty: the one refers to the first day of the Festival; the other, to the second day of the Festival. As R. Joshua b. Levi said to his sons: For the first day do not knead [it] for me with milk; from then onwards knead it for me with milk. But it was taught: Dough must not be kneaded with milk, and if one does knead it, the whole loaf is forbidden, because it leads to sin? Rather, he said this: For the first day do not knead it for me with honey; from then onwards knead [it] for me with honey. Alternatively I can say: After all it means with milk, [but] as Rabina said, [When made] like the eye of an ox, it is permitted; so here too, [it was] like the eye of an ox. ‘And they all agree that dough may not be kneaded with lukewarm [water]’. Why is it different from meal-offerings: for we learned: All meal-offerings are kneaded with lukewarm water, and he [the official in charge] guards them that they should not become in connection with the eating of unleavened bread on the night of Passover. leaven? — If this was said of [very] careful men [priests], shall it [also] be said of those who are not careful? If so, let it also be permitted to wash [the grain]; why did R. Zera say in the name of Rabbah b. Jeremiah in Samuel's name: The wheat for meal-offerings must not be washed? — The kneading was done by careful men, but the washing would not be done by careful men. Yet must the kneading be done by careful men [priests]; surely it is written, and he shall bring it to Aaron's sons the priests: and he shall take thereof his handful.’ from the taking of the handful and onwards is the duty of the priesthood; this teaches concerning the pouring [of oil] and the mixing, that it is valid [when done] by any man? — The kneading, granted that it is not [done] by careful men, yet it is [done] in the place of careful men. For a Master said: The mixing is valid [if done] by a lay Israelite; [but if done] without the wall[s] of the Temple Court, it is invalid. Thus this excludes washing, which is not [done] by careful men nor in the place of careful men. And wherein do they [all other meal-offerings] differ from the meal-offering of the ‘omer, for it was taught: The meal-offering of the ‘omer is washed and heaped up? — A public [offering] is different. Our Rabbis taught: You might think that a man discharges his duty with first fruits, therefore it is stated, in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread, teaching, [it must be] unleavened bread which is eaten in all your habitations, thus excluding first fruits, which may not be eaten in all your habitations save in Jerusalem [alone]: this is the view of R. Jose the Galilean. R. Akiba said: Unleavened bread and bitter herbs [are assimilated]: just as bitter herbs which are not first fruits [are required], so unleavened bread which is not first fruits [must be eaten]. If so, just as bitter herbs of a species not subject to first fruits [are required], so unleavened bread of a species [of grain] not subject to first fruits [is meant],^ᵃ^ᵇ^ᶜ^ᵈ^ᵉ^ᶠ^ᵍ^ʰ^ⁱ^ʲ^ᵏ^ˡ^ᵐ^ⁿ^ᵒ^ᵖ^ᵠ^ʳ^ˢ^ᵗ^ᵘ^ᵛ^ʷ^ˣ^ʸ^ᶻ^ᵃᵃ^ᵃᵇ^ᵃᶜ^ᵃᵈ^ᵃᵉ

^ᵃnote:Which eating on the Day of Atonement usually incurs, the reference being to eating in ignorance. The reason is that since it is forbidden on the score of nebelah, the interdict of the Day of Atonement cannot take effect. Thus the same applies here.
^ᵇnote:Surely not! Scripture does not imply this at all.
^ᶜnote:Deut. XVI, 3.
^ᵈnote:Connecting ‘oni (hbg) with anah (vbt) to mourn or grieve, though the former is spelled with an g, while the latter is with an t,these letters often being interchangeable in Semitic languages. — Aninuth denotes the state of grief between the death of a near relative, e.g., one's father, and his burial, the bereaved person then being called an onen.
^ᵉnote:An onen (v. preceding note) may not eat second tithe, cf. Deut. XXVI, 14:]I have not eaten thereof (sc. second tithe) in my mourning
^ᶠnote:V. supra 35b and note a.l. Thus it includes second tithe.
^ᵍnote:Which makes it into ‘rich’ mazzah. The phrase is now translated: bread of poverty. from ‘ani ( hbg) poor.
^ʰnote:Though the word is read ‘oni, as though spelled with a waw ( hbug), it is actually written ‘ani (hbg), without a waw.
^ⁱnote:How does he rebut this?
^ʲnote:A long liturgical service — called the haggadah — is read
^ᵏnote:R. Gamaliel holds that it ferments too quickly, and so to prevent it from becoming leaven it must be burnt immediately. But the Sages hold that it can be baked before it is leaven.
^ˡnote:This causes fermentation very quickly.
^ᵐnote:On the night of the first day the mazzah must be ‘bread of poverty’, whereas this is a rich mazzah; hence it cannot be used. But on the second night any mazzah is permissible.
^ⁿnote:I.e., Passover night.
^ᵒnote:This too makes a ‘rich’ bread.
^ᵖnote:One may come to eat it with meat. This refers to the whole year.
^ᵠnote:I.e., when made very small, so that it is at once entirely eaten up, and nothing is left for later.
^ʳnote:Which were offered unleavened.
^ˢnote:This is the answer. The preparing of unleavened bread for meal-offerings was in the hands of priests, who were very careful and could be relied upon not to permit it to ferment. But unleavened bread for Passover is made in every home, and the people could not be trusted to take so much care.
^ᵗnote:I.e., to soak it slightly in water and then pound it so as to remove the bran and make a fine flour.
^ᵘnote:This was not the priest's duty.
^ᵛnote:Lev. II, 2.
^ʷnote:Which preceded the taking of the handful; v. ibid. 1, 2.
^ˣnote:I.e., in the Temple Court, which is frequented by priests, and these would take heed that whoever kneaded it should not permit fermentation.
^ʸnote:V. Glos.
^ᶻnote:For the water to drain off.
^ᵃᵃnote:This was a public offering, and everything in connection with it, right from the harvesting of the grain, was done under competent guidance and vigilance.
^ᵃᵇnote:E.g., a priest to whom an Israelite brought the first fruits of his wheat harvest.
^ᵃᶜnote:Ex. XII, 20.
^ᵃᵈnote:Num. IX, 11: they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
^ᵃᵉnote:For only the seven species enumerated in Deut. VIII, 8, (‘a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of oil olive and honey’) are subject to the law of first fruits.

²[and] I will [thus] exclude wheat and barley, which species are subject to first fruits? Hence [the repetition,] ‘unleavened bread’, unleavened bread’, is stated as an extension. If [the repetition] ‘unleavened bread, unleavened bread’ is an extension, then even first fruits too [may be included]? — R. Akiba retracted. For it was taught: You might think that a man can discharge his obligation with first fruits. Therefore it is stated, ‘in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread’, teaching, [it must be] unleavened bread which is eaten in all your habitations, thus excluding first fruits, which may not be eaten in all your habitations save in Jerusalem [alone]. You might think that I exclude second tithe too, but [the repetition] ‘unleavened bread’, ‘unleavened bread’,is stated as an extension. But what [reason] do you see to include second tithe and exclude first fruits? — I include second tithe because it can be permitted [to be eaten] in all habitations, in accordance with R. Eleazar, and I exclude first fruits, for which there is no permission in all habitations. For R. Eleazar said: Whence do we know in the case of second tithe that became defiled, that we can redeem it even in Jerusalem? From the verse, when thou art not able se'etho [to bear it]. Now se'eth can only refer to eating, as it is said, And he took and sent mase'oth [messes] unto them from before him. Now, whom do you know to maintain that he fulfils his obligation with second tithe? R. Akiba. Yet he excludes first fruits through [the phrase] ‘in all your habitations’. This proves that he retracted. And R. Jose the Galilean, let him deduce it from [the phrase] ‘the bread of affliction [‘oni]’, implying, that which can be eaten in grief, thus excluding this [sc. first fruits], which can be eaten only in rejoicing? — He holds as R. Simeon, For it was taught: First fruits are forbidden to an onen; but R. Simeon permits [them]. What is the reason of the Rabbis? — Because it is written, Thou mayest not eat within thy gates [the tithe of thy corn ... nor the heave-offering of thy hand], and a Master said: ‘The heave-offering of [terumoth] thy hand’ means first fruits. Thus first fruits are assimilated to tithe: just as tithe is forbidden to an onen, so are first fruits forbidden to an onen. And R. Simeon? — The Divine Law designated them ‘terumah’, [hence they are] like terumah: just as terumah is permitted to an onen, so are first fruits permitted to an onen. Now R. Simeon: granted that he does not accept the hekdesh, yet ‘rejoicing’ is nevertheless written in connection therewith, for it is written, and thou shalt rejoice in all the good etc.? — That comes for the time of rejoicing. For we learned: From Pentecost until the Festival [of Tabernacles] he [the Israelite] brings [the first fruits] and recites [the ‘confession’]; between the Festival and Hanukkah he brings [the first fruits] but does not recite [the ‘confession’]. Our Rabbis taught: ‘Bread of poverty’, this excludes halut and ashishah [pancake]. You might think that a man can discharge his obligation only with coarse bread; therefore [the repetition] ‘unleavened bread’, ‘unleavened bread’, is stated as an extension, [intimating] even [if it is] like the unleavened bread of Solomon. If so, why is ‘bread of poverty’ stated? To exclude halut and pancakes. And where is it implied that this [word] ‘ashishah’ denotes something of value? — Because it is written, And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, both to men and women, to every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh [eshpar] and an ashishah, whereon R. Hanan b. Abba said: ‘Eshpar’ means one sixth [ehad mishshishah] of a bullock [par];ashishah means [a cake made with] one sixth of an ephah [of flour]. Now he differs from Samuel, for Samuel said: Ashishah is a cask of wine, for it is written, and love casks of [ashishe] grapes. Our Rabbis taught: One may not bake a thick loaf on Passover: this is the view of Beth Shammai;^ᵃᶠ^ᵃᵍ^ᵃʰ^ᵃⁱ^ᵃʲ^ᵃᵏ^ᵃˡ^ᵃᵐ^ᵃⁿ^ᵃᵒ^ᵃᵖ^ᵃᵠ^ᵃʳ^ᵃˢ^ᵃᵗ^ᵃᵘ^ᵃᵛ^ᵃʷ^ᵃˣ^ᵃʸ^ᵃᶻ^ᵇᵃ^ᵇᵇ^ᵇᶜ^ᵇᵈ^ᵇᵉ^ᵇᶠ^ᵇᵍ

^ᵃᶠnote:V. supra 35b and note a.l.
^ᵃᵍnote:From, the view that unleavened bread and bitter herbs are assimilated in this respect, and he accepts the deduction of R. Jose the Galilean.
^ᵃʰnote:In Jerusalem, since it may not be eaten outside Jerusalem.
^ᵃⁱnote:When it becomes defiled as explained below.
^ᵃʲnote:Deut. XIV, 24; the next verse states, then thou shalt turn it into money.
^ᵃᵏnote:,ta, to bear.
^ᵃˡnote:Gen. XLIII, 34. Thus he translates the first verse: If thou are not able to eat it — being defiled — then thou shalt turn it into money — i.e., redeem it.
^ᵃᵐnote:Supra 36a.
^ᵃⁿnote:Not by assimilating unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
^ᵃᵒnote:V. supra 36a. Why then does he deduce it from, ‘in all your habitations’?
^ᵃᵖnote:V. supra p. 166, n. 4.
^ᵃᵠnote:I.e., the first view, which forbids.
^ᵃʳnote:Deut. XII, 17.
^ᵃˢnote:V. Deut. XXVI, 14.
^ᵃᵗnote:How does he justify his view?
^ᵃᵘnote:V. Glos. I.e., even if he rejects the comparison of first fruits and tithe.
^ᵃᵛnote:Ibid. 11; this refers to first fruits. Since rejoicing is required, an onen is automatically excluded.
^ᵃʷnote:I.e., to teach that the first fruits must be brought to the priest, and the passage relative thereto, called the ‘confession’, recited at a time of natural rejoicing, viz., during the months of harvesting and collecting the produce from the fields.
^ᵃˣnote:Sc. Deut. XXVI, 3-10.
^ᵃʸnote:V. Glos. It generally falls towards the end of December.
^ᵃᶻnote:A rich bread made of dough prepared by stirring the flour with hot water.
^ᵇᵃnote:Where the dough is made compact and substantial by pressing (Jast.).
^ᵇᵇnote:Which is really ‘bread of poverty’.
^ᵇᶜnote:I.e., made of the finest flour.
^ᵇᵈnote:Viz., a rich food.
^ᵇᵉnote:II Sam. VI, 19.
^ᵇᶠnote:E.V.: a cake of raisins.
^ᵇᵍnote:Hos. III, 1; i.e., of wine. E.V.: cakes of raisins.