Siman - Pesachim Daf 94
- Is one chayav if he could race to get to the azarah or if he experienced delays?
It was taught in a Baraisa, היה עומד חוץ למודיעים – If one was situated beyond Modi’im on the afternoon of the fourteenth of Nissan, ויכול ליכנס בסוסים ובפרדים – but he was able to race to Yerushalayim and get to the azarah in time by riding on horses or mules, one might think he should be chayav. Therefore, the Torah teaches, ובדרך לא היה – and if he was not on a distant road, indicating that kares is for someone who was not on a distant road and failed to come, and this person was on a distant road, and he is therefore patur. היה עומד לפנים מן המודיעים – If this person was situated within the perimeter defined by Modi’im, ואין יכול ליכנס מפני גמלים וקרונות המעכבות אותו – but he could not enter the azarah because of the camels and wagons that delayed him, which Rashi explains that he was travelling with his children and household members on them, one might think that he should be patur. The Torah therefore teaches, ובדרך לא היה – and if he was not on a distant road, and in this case, he was not on a distant road, and he is therefore chayav. Rashi explains that he cannot be considered an אונס, since he should have gone ahead on his own to schecht.
- The distance of the compass of the sun
Rava said, שיתא אלפי פרסי הוי עלמא – The compass of the sun as it passes over the world, is six thousand parsaos, וסומכא דרקיעא אלפא פרסי – and the thickness of the firmament is one thousand parsaos. After the Gemara explains how Rava arrived at these values, it brings a number of refutations, one being from the following Baraisa. מצרים היא ארבע מאות פרסה על ארבע מאות פרסה – Mitzrayim is four hundred parsah long by four hundred parsah wide, and Mitzrayim is only one sixtieth the size of Kush, and Kush is only one sixtieth the size of the world, and the world is only one sixtieth the size of Gan Eden, and Gan Eden is only one sixtieth the size of Eden, and Eden is only one sixtieth the size of Gehinnom. נמצא כל העולם כולו ככיסוי קדירה לגיהנם – It is thus found that the entire world, in comparison to Gehinnom, is like a pot cover compared to a pot. If the world is sixty times larger than Mitzrayim, and therefore, far larger than six thousand parsaos, the compass of the sun must be even larger.
- The Bas Kol’s response to Nebuchadnezzar
Another refutation of Rava’s calculation, is learned from the following. Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai said: What answer did the Bas Kol give to that rasha, Nebuchadnezzar, when he said, אעלה על במתי עב אדמה לעליון – I will ascend of the tops of the clouds; I will liken myself to the Most High! The Bas Kol called out and said, רשע בן רשע בן בנו של נמרוד הרשע – Rasha, son of a rasha, grandson of the wicked Nimrod, who led the whole world in rebellion against Me during his reign: כמה שנותיו של אדם – How many are the years of a man? Seventy years, and with strength, eighty years. מן הארץ עד לרקיע מהלך חמש מאות שנה – Now, from the earth to the firmament is a journey of five hundred years, and the thickness of the rakia is a journey of five hundred years, and between the first rakia and the second rakia is a journey of five hundred years, and so between each of the rakios. How, then, could you ever scale the heights of Heaven? אך אל שאול תורד אל ירכתי בור – Rather, but to the nether world will you be brought down, to the depths of the pit. Rashi brings the Gemara in Chagigah which proves this is a much larger measure than Rava’s calculation.
