Siman - Pesachim Daf 99
- Withdrawing from the Pesach
The Gemara suggests that the Mishnah, which allows registering strangers in order to avoid the problem of leaving the pesach ownerless, is not in accordance with Rebbe Yehudah, for it was taught in a Baraisa, ואם ימעט הבית מהיות משה – And if the household is too small for a lamb, מלמד שמתמעטין והולכין - this teaches that the registrants may continue withdrawing from the pesach, and diminishing the number of people registered on it, ובלבד שיהא אחד מבני חבורה קיים – provided that one of the original group remains registered, these are the words of Rebbe Yehudah. Rebbe Yose says, ובלבד שלא יניחו את הפסח כמות שהוא – provided that they do not leave the pesach as is, meaning, without any registrants at all. Since the strangers in our Mishnah’s case were not originally registered on the pesach, Rebbe Yehudah would not agree.
Rebbe Yochanan answered that you can even say that the Mishnah does accord with Rebbe Yehudah, since Rebbe Yehudah said, אין שוחטין את הפסח על היחיד – We do not shecht the pesach for a single individual, therefore, in the case of the Mishnah, where there is only one person being registered on it, there stands to be another person registered on it together with the original person, וכאחד מבני חבורה דמי – and therefore, the newcomer is like one of the original members of the group .
- Eating on Erev Pesach
The first Mishnah in the tenth perek states: ערבי פסחים סמוך למנחה לא יאכל אדם עד שתחשך – On erev Pesach, from close to minchah (that is, close to the time at which the afternoon korban Tamid was typically brought; Rashbam explains that this means from the end of the ninth hour of the day) one may not eat until nightfall. Rashbam explains that not eating then will enable a person to eat the matzah at night with an appetite.
The Gemara asks why our Mishnah implies that this halachah is specific to erev Pesach, if a Baraisa teaches that, according to Rebbe Yehudah, that one may not eat after minchah on any erev Shabbos or Yom Tov. Rav Huna answers that our Mishnah follows the opinion of Rebbe Yose, who generally permits eating on erev Shabbos and Yom Tov. Another answer, advanced by Rav Pappa, is eventually disproved.
- The poor reclining and fulfilling the mitzvah of dalet cosos.
The Mishnah states, אפילו עני שבישראל לא יאכל עד שיסב – And even the poorest man in Yisroel may not eat until he reclines, ולא יפחתו מארבע כוסות של יין – And they must not give him less than four cups of wine; ואפילו מן התמחוי – and this is so even if he is supported from the charity platter. The Rashbam brings the Bereishis Rabbah that Rav Huna said in the name of Rebbe Abba that the four cups of wine כנגד ארבע לשוני גאולה האמורין בגלות מצרים – correspond to the four expressions of redemption used by Hashem with regard to Mitzrayim, והוצאתי וגאלתי ולקחתי והצלתי. The Rashbam explains that it is incumbent on the community to ensure that the poor can fulfill this d’Rabbanon mitzvah. In the event that the gabbai tzedakah neglected, or were unable, to give them wine, the paupers must do their utmost to fulfill the mitzvah, even to the point of selling their clothing, borrowing, or hiring themselves out.
