Authority, Politics and Pluralism: Behind the Scenes of the Rabbinic Intellectual Revolution
פעם אחת חל י"ד להיות בשבת שאלו את הלל הזקן פסח מהו שידחה את השבת אמר להם וכי פסח אחד יש לנו בשנה שדוחה [את השבת] הרבה מג' מאות פסחים יש לנו [בשנה ודוחין] את השבת חברו עליו כל העזרה אמר להם תמיד קרבן צבור דוחה את השבת אף פסח קרבן צבור דוחה את השבת דבר אחר נאמר [בתמיד] (במדבר כח) מועדו ונאמר [בפסח] (במדבר ט) מועדו [מה תמיד שנאמר בו מועדו] דוחה את השבת אף [פסח שנא' בו מועדו] דוחה את השבת ועוד ק"ו ומה תמיד שאין חייבין עליו כרת דוחה את השבת פסח שחייבין עליו כרת אינו דין שידחה את השבת ועוד מקובלני מרבותי שפסח דוחה את השבת [ולא פסח ראשון אלא פסח שני ולא פסח צבור אלא פסח יחיד] אמרו לו מה יהא [על העם] שלא הביאו סכינין ופסחים למקדש אמר להם [הניחו להם רוה"ק עליהן] אם אין נביאים הן בני נביאים הן מה עשו ישראל באותה שעה מי שפסחו טלה טמנו בצמרו גדי קשרו בין קרניו והביאו סכינין ופסחים למקדש [ושחטו את פסחיהן] בו ביום מנו את הלל [נשיא והיה מורה] להם בהלכות הפסח.
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Once the fourteenth [day of Nisan] fell on the Sabbath. They asked Hillel the Elder: Does the Passover [sacrifice] supersede the Sabbath? He said to them: Do we have but one Passover [sacrifice] during the year that supersedes the Sabbath? We have more than 300 “Passovers” during the year, and they all supersede the Sabbath! The whole [Temple] courtyard congregated around him. He said to them: The Tamid, [the Regular sacrifice, offered each morning and twilight] is a communal sacrifice, and the Passover is a communal sacrifice. Just as the Regular [sacrifice] is a communal sacrifice that supersedes the Sabbath, so the Passover is a communal sacrifice that supersedes the Sabbath. Another proof: Scripture says in connection with the Regular sacrifice: “Present to me at its set time” (Num 28:2), and it says in connection with the Passover: “Keep the Passover at its set time” (Num 9:2). Just as the Regular [sacrifice], of which it says “At its set time”, supersedes the Sabbath, so the Passover, of which it says “At its set time”, supersedes the Sabbath. Moreover, it [can be deduced] from an inference [qal va-homer] If the Regular [sacrifice], for which one is not punished by being cut-off from the community (כּרת) supersedes the Sabbath, is it not logical that the Passover, for which one is subject to the punishment of cutting-off, supersede the Sabbath? In addition, I have received a tradition from my masters that the Passover supersedes the Sabbath. Not only the First Passover but even the Second Passover, and not only the communal Passover but even the individual Passover. They said to him: What will the people do, for they did not bring their slaughtering knives and Passovers to the temple [prior to the Sabbath, since they did not know that they would be sacrificing on the Sabbath]? He said to them: Leave them be. The Holy Spirit is upon them. If they are not prophets, they are the sons of prophets. What did Israel do at that time? He whose Passover was a lamb hid the knife in its wool. He whose Passover was a kid [goat], tied the knife between its horns, and [thus] they brought their knives and Passovers to the temple, and they slaughtered their Passovers. On that very day they appointed Hillel as Nasi (נשיא, Patriarch), and he would teach them the laws of the Passover. |
GEMARA: The Sages taught a baraita with regard to the basic halakha governing the eve of Passover that occurs on Shabbat: This law was forgotten by the sons of Beteira, who were the leaders of their generation. The fourteenth of Nisan once occurred on Shabbat, and they forgot and did not know whether the Paschal lamb overrides Shabbat or not. They said: Is there any person who knows whether the Paschal lamb overrides Shabbat or not? They said to them: There is a certain man in Jerusalem who came up from Babylonia, and Hillel the Babylonian is his name. At one point, he served the two most eminent scholars of the generation, Shemaya and Avtalyon, and he certainly knows whether the Paschal lamb overrides Shabbat or not. The sons of Beteira sent messengers and called for him. They said to him: Do you know whether the Paschal lamb overrides Shabbat or not? He said to them: Have we but one Paschal lamb during the year that overrides Shabbat? Do we not have many more than two hundred Paschal lambs, i.e., sacrifices, during the year that override Shabbat? They said to him: From where do you know this? He said to them: “Its appointed time” is stated with regard to the Paschal lamb and “its appointed time” is also stated with regard to the daily offering, for the verse says: “Command the children of Israel and say to them, My offering, the provision of My sacrifice made with fire, for a sweet savor to Me, shall you observe to offer Me at its appointed time” (Numbers 28:2). From here we learn that the daily offering is brought even on Shabbat. Thus, the daily morning and afternoon offerings are brought on more than fifty Shabbatot over the course of the year, and two sheep are offered every Shabbat as additional offerings, for a total of more than two hundred sacrifices a year that override Shabbat. Just as the expression “its appointed time,” which is stated with regard to the daily offering, indicates that it overrides Shabbat, so too “its appointed time,” which is stated with regard to the Paschal lamb, indicates that it overrides Shabbat. And furthermore, it is an a fortiori inference: If the daily offering, the neglect of which is not punishable by karet, overrides Shabbat, is it not right that the Paschal lamb, the neglect of which is punishable by karet, should override Shabbat? After Hillel brought these proofs, they immediately seated him at the head and appointed him Nasi over them, and he expounded the laws of Passover that entire day. In the course of his teaching, he began rebuking them [mekanteran] them with words. He said to them: What caused this to happen to you, that I should come up from Babylonia and become Nasi over you? It was the laziness in you that you did not serve the two most eminent scholars of the generation living in Eretz Yisrael, Shemaya and Avtalyon. They said to Hillel: Our teacher, if one forgot and did not bring a knife on the eve of Shabbat and cannot slaughter his Paschal lamb, what is the law? Since he could have brought the knife before Shabbat, he cannot bring it on Shabbat; but what should he do in this situation? He said to them: I once heard this halakha from my teachers but I have forgotten it. But leave it to the Jewish people; if they are not prophets to whom God has revealed His secrets, they are the sons of prophets, and will certainly do the right thing on their own. The next day, on Shabbat that was the eve of Passover, one whose Paschal offering was a lamb took the knife and stuck it in its wool; and one whose Paschal offering was a goat, which does not have wool, stuck it between its horns. Hillel saw the incident and remembered the halakha that he had once learned and said: This is the tradition I received from the mouths of Shemaya and Avtalyon, meaning that this is in fact the proper course of action. This concludes the text of the baraita and the Gemara will begin to elucidate it.
This law was concealed from the elders of Betera.
Once the fourteenth [day of Nisan] fell on the Sabbath, and the elders of Betera did not know whether the Passover supersedes the Sabbath or not.
They said: There is here a certain Babylonian named Hillel, who served Shemaya and Avtalion. He knows whether the Passover supersedes the Sabbath or not. Perhaps something good will come from him!?
Hillel said to the [Elders of Betera]: Do we have but one Passover alone throughout the whole year that supersedes the Sabbath? Do not many Passovers throughout the year supersede the Sabbath?
They [the elders of Betera] said: We already said - what good could come from you…
Hillel started to expound [the law] for them based on a topical analogy (heqesh), an inference [qal va-homer] and a gezeira shava.
From a topical analogy [היקש]: Since the Regular [sacrifice] is a communal sacrifice that supersedes the Sabbath, so too the Passover is a communal sacrifice that supersedes the Sabbath.
From a qal va-homer [קל וחומר]: If the Regular [sacrifice], for which one is not subject [to the punishment of] excision, supersedes the Sabbath, then the Passover, for which one is [subject to the punishment] of excision,—is it not logical that it supersede the Sabbath?
From a gezeira shava [גזירה שוה]: Just as the Regular [sacrifice], in connection with which its says At its appointed time (Num 29:2), supersedes the Sabbath, so too the Passover, in connection with which it says At its appointed time (Num 9:3), supersedes the Sabbath.
They said to him: Did we think that nothing good would come from a Babylonian!
The topical analogy that you stated can be refuted: What you say of the Regular sacrifice, which has a limit [of two per day], you cannot say [=apply to] the Passover, which has no limit [in the number that may be offered.]
The qal va-homer that you stated can be refuted: What you say of the Regular [sacrifice], which is of the Most Holy [class of] sacrifices, you cannot say of the Passover, which is of the Lesser Holy sacrifices.
The gezeira shava that you stated—one may not create a gezeira shava from his own study [but only if he received it as a tradition from his masters.]...
Even though he [Hillel] was sitting and expounding for them the whole day, the Elders of Betera did not accept it [the ruling] from him until he said to them: May [harm] befall me if I did not learn thus from Shemaya and Avtalion.
As soon as the Elders of Betera heard that from him they rose and appointed him Nasi over them.
As soon as they appointed him Nasi over them he began to rebuke them with words, saying: What caused your need for this Babylonian [=me]? Is it not that you did not serve the two great men of the world, Shemaya and Avtalion, who were dwelling with you?
As soon as he rebuked them with words the law was concealed from him.
They said to him: What will we do for the people—they did not bring their knives?
He said to them: This law I heard and forgot. But leave Israel be. If they are not prophets, they are the sons of prophets.
Immediately, he whose Passover was a lamb stuck it [the knife] in its hair. He whose Passover was a kid tied it between its horns. It turned out that their Passovers brought their knives with them.
As soon as he saw the event he remembered the law, he said: Thus I learned from Shemaya and Avtalion.