Pesachim

He holds that megaddef is one who curses1 the [Divine] Name,2 while of him who curses the [Divine] Name It Is written, [Whosoever curseth his God] shall bear his sin,3 and [the meaning of] this ‘his sin’ is learnt from ‘his sin’ there: just as there [it means] kareth, so here too, [it means] kareth. Again, R. Nathan holds: And forbeareth to keep, the Passover, that soul shall be cut off’ for this ki denotes ‘because’4 and this is what the Divine Law saith, Because he brought not the offering of the Lord at the first. How does he employ this [phrase] ‘that man shall bear his sin’?5 — He holds that megaddef is not one who curses the [Divine] Name,6 and so [the meaning of] this ‘his sin’ [written] there is learnt from ‘his sin’ [written] here; just as [it means] kareth here,7 so there too [it means] kareth. While R. Hanania b. ‘Akabia holds [that we translate thus]: ‘and forbeareth to keep the Passover, that soul shall be cut off’;8 if [also] he brought not the offering of the Lord in its appointed season, [viz.,] at the second. And how does he employ this ‘shall bear his sin’? — As we have stated. 9 Therefore if [he neglected] deliberately both [Passovers], all agree that he is culpable. If [he neglected] both unwittingly, all agree that he is not culpable. If [he neglected] the first deliberately but the second unwittingly: according to Rabbi and R. Nathan he is culpable; according to R. Hanania b. ‘Akabia, he is not culpable. If [he neglected] the first unwittingly but the second deliberately: according to Rabbi he is culpable; according to R. Nathan and R. Hanania b. ‘Akabia he is not culpable. MISHNAH. WHAT IS ‘A JOURNEY AFAR OFF’? FROM MODI'IM10 AND BEYOND, AND THE SAME DISTANCE ON ALL SIDES [OF JERUSALEM]: THIS IS R. AKIBA'S OPINION. R. ELIEZER SAID: FROM THE THRESHOLD OF THE TEMPLE COURT AND WITHOUT. SAID R. JOSE TO HIM: FOR THAT REASON THE HEH IS POINTED11 IN ORDER TO TEACH: NOT BECAUSE IT IS REALLY AFAR OFF, BUT [WHEN ONE IS] FROM THE THRESHOLD OF THE TEMPLE COURT AND WITHOUT [HE IS REGARDED AS BEING ‘AFAR OFF’]. G E M A R A. ‘Ulla said: From Modi'im to Jerusalem is fifteen miles.12 He holds as Rabbah b. Bar Hanah said in R. Johanan's name: what is an [average] man's journey in a day?13 Ten parasangs: five mils from daybreak until the first sparklings of the rising sun, [and] five mils from sunset until the stars appear. This leaves thirty: fifteen from the morning until midday, and fifteen from midday until evening [i.e., sunset]. ‘Ulla Is consistent with his view, for ‘Ulla said: What is ‘a journey afar off’? Any place whence a man is unable to enter [Jerusalem] at the time of slaughtering.14 The Master said: ‘Five mils from daybreak until the first sparklings of the rising sun.’ Whence do we know it? — Because It is written, And when the morning arose [i.e., at daybreak], then the angels hastened Lot, saying etc.;15 and it is written, The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot came unto Zoar,.16 while R. Hanina said: I myself saw that place and it is five mils [from Sodom]. The [above] text [stated]: ‘’Ulla said, what is "a journey afar off"? Any place whence a man Is unable to enter [Jerusalem] at the time of slaughtering.’ But Rab Judah maintained: Any place whence one is unable to enter [Jerusalem] at the time of eating. Rabbah said to ‘Ulla: on your view there is a difficulty, and on Rab judah's view there is a difficulty. On your view there is a difficulty, for you say, ‘Any place whence a man is unable to enter at the time of slaughtering’: yet surely a man unclean through a reptile is unable to enter17 at the time of slaughtering, yet you say, One slaughters and sprinkles on behalf of a person unclean through a reptile? On Rab Judah's view there is a difficulty, for he says, ‘Any place whence one is unable to enter at the time of eating’: but surely he who is unclean through a reptile is able to enter at the time of eating, yet he says, One may not slaughter and sprinkle on behalf of a man unclean through a reptile?18 Said he to him: Neither on my view nor on Rab Judah's view Is there a difficulty. On my view there is no difficulty: ‘A journey afar off’ [is stated] in reference to a clean person, but ‘a journey afar off’ is not [stated] in reference to an unclean person.19 kareth). The meaning of megaddef is disputed in Ker. 7b. verse. relates it to the first, it is superfluous, having been already stated. Consequently, Nun,. XV, 30 cannot be identified with Lev. XXIV, 15 (v. notes supra), and so there is nothing to indicate the meaning of ‘shall bear his sin’ in the latter verse, which refers to blasphemy. Maccabean revolt against Antiochus flared up; it was some fifteen miles N.W. of Jerusalem. thus . Such a point was regarded as a weakening or limitation, as though the word were not really written. he could not reach it by sunset, which is the latest. Taking this statement in conjunction with the preceding calculation, we see that Modim must be fifteen mils from Jerusalem. etc. From this we see, (i) that the exemption for a man who is in a ‘journey afar off’ applies to a clean person, and (ii) that a ‘journey (afar off)’ is determined by his inability to do the Passover, i.e., to slaughter it. Hence if he is so far away that he cannot reach the Temple Court in time for the slaughtering, he is in a journey afar off’. But an unclean person is exempt because of his uncleanness, which prevents his eating, but not his sacrificing, since that can be done by another acting on his behalf. Moreover, since Scripture specifies one who is ‘unclean by reason of a dead body’ and does not state one who is unclean through a reptile, it follows that this exemption applies only to such as the former, who are unclean for a long period (seven days) and cannot be fit in the evening, but not to such as the latter, who can be fit to eat in the evening.