When Erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, there are many differences in Halacha that become relevant. In the times of the Beis Hamikdash, the central Avodah of Pesach was the offering of the Korban Pesach itself. When Erev Pesach fell on Shabbos, questions were not just raised about how the sacrifice should be done. What fell into question is whether we bring the sacrifice at all in such a year.
The Korban Pesach
The Korban Pesach was offered on the 14th of Nissan after the afternoon Tamid sacrifice. A representative from each group who would be eating the Korban Pesach together, would bring their sheep or goat to the Beis Hamikdash. The animal would be Shechted and its blood would be thrown on the base of the Mizbeach. The animal would be skinned and the sacrificial fats would be offered on the Mizbeach. All the while, the Leviim would sing Hallel and they would sound the trumpets.
From the Posuk וְשָׁחֲט֣וּ אֹת֗ וֹ כֹֹּ֛ ל קְה ַ֥ל עֲד ַֽת־יִשְ רָׁא ֵ֖ל ב ַ֥ין הָׁע רְ בַָֽׁיִם, “and all of the assembled community of Yisroel will slaughter the Pesach...” we derive that the Pesach sacrifices were brought by the Jewish people in three groups or shifts. Afterwards, the Korban Pesach was taken home and roasted whole on a spit in an oven, over an open fire. At the end of the Seder, each man and woman of the group would eat a Kzayis of its meat, finishing before midnight.
Korban Pesach on Shabbos
When the 14th of Nissan falls on Shabbos, the Halacha is that the Korban Pesach overrides Shabbos, even though it entails actions that are forbidden to do on Shabbos.
The Mishna qualifies that not all aspects of the Korban Pesach can be done on Shabbos. Only the parts of the sacrifice that are integral and have to be done on the day itself, override Shabbos. These include the slaughter of the Korban and the pouring of the blood on the base of the Mizbeach, which must be done on the 14th of Nissan.
In contrast, there is no dispensation to perform those aspects of the Korban Pesach that could be done after Shabbos ends. This includes roasting the Korban Pesach.
In other years, after each group had finished bringing their Korban Pesach, they would carry their animals to their homes, where they would start roasting it immediately. On Shabbos this could not be done.
An earlier Mishna teaches that carrying the animal home also did not override Shabbos. After the first of the three groups emerged, they would wait on the Har Habayis. The second group would wait in the Cheil (an area immediately outside the Temple courtyard). The third group would remain in the Temple courtyard. Only when Shabbos ended, with the emergence of 3 stars, did these groups leave their places to return home and begin roasting their Korban Pesach.
There is an argument between Rabbi Eliezer and the sages whether necessary preparatory activities (Machshirin) override Shabbos. These include carrying the Korban Pesach to the Temple, bringing the Korban Pesach from outside the Techum Shabbos and removing warts which would render the Korban ineligible. On one hand, these are necessary to be able to bring the Korban Pesach. On the other hand, they are not parts of the actual Avodah of the Korban itself. Rabbi Akiva teaches the rule that anything preparatory that could have been done before Shabbos, cannot be performed on Shabbos.
Does the Korban Pesach override Shabbos?
Whilst the Mishna takes it for granted that the Korban Pesach does override Shabbos, the Gemara presents a Braisa, that this was not always so certain.
One year, Erev Pesach fell on Shabbos during the time that the Bnei Beseira served as the Nesiim (heads of the Sanhedrin). The Gemara relates that they forgot the Halacha and did not know whether the Korban Pesach overrides Shabbos or not. Presumably this lapse of memory was due to the fact that Erev Pesach falling on Shabbos is such a rare event that had not happened for many years.
They asked whether any of the scholars knew the Halacha. They were told that there was a Rabbi who has come from Bavel, known as Hillel the Babylonian. He had served the two great sages of the generation – Shmaya and Avtalyon, and he would know the answer. Hillel was swiftly summoned before the Bnei Beseira.
Hillel responded “do we have only one Pesach sacrifice a year that overrides Shabbos? There are more than 200 Pesach sacrifices in the year that override Shabbos”. Hillel was not referring to the Pesach sacrifice of which there is only one each year. He was referring to the sacrifices that were brought in the Beis Hamikdash on each of the (minimum) 50 Shabbosos in a year. Each Shabbos, a minimum of 4 Korbanos were brought; the two daily Temidim sacrifices and the two sheep of the Shabbos Musaf. He refers to them as Pesach sacrifices to teach that just as they override Shabbos, so does the Korban Pesach.
Hillel drew a parallel between the Korban Pesach and the daily Tamid using a Gezeira Shava (one of the tools of scriptural exegesis, where we can draw a parallel between two passages that feature the same word).
Concerning the Tamid sacrifice, the verse says צ ַ֚ו אֶת־בְנ ֣י יִשְרָׁא ֵ֔ל וְאָׁמ רְ תֵָׁ֖ אֲל הֶֶ֑ם אֶת־קָׁרְ בָׁנִִ֨י ל חְמִִ֜י לְאִש ֗ י ר ַ֚ יח נִַֽיחֹחִֵ֔י תִשְמְר֕וּ לְה קְרִַ֥יב לִֵ֖י בְמוֹעֲדַֽ וֹ “command the Bnei Yisroel and say to them, they shall guard My sacrifice... to offer to Me in its time (במועדו )”. The same word במועדו, is also used in relation to the Korban Pesach that was brought by the Jewish people in the desert, in the first year after the Exodus; וְיַעֲשׂ֧וּ בְנֵי־יִשְ רָאֵֵ֛ל אֶת־הַפָָּ֖סַח בְמוֹעֲדֽ וֹ, “and the Bnei Yisroel made the Pesach sacrifice in its time”. Through the Gezeira Shava, we derive that just as the במועדו concerning the Tamid overrides Shabbos, so too does the במועדו of the Korban Pesach.
Hillel further proves his case via a Kal Vachomer – a fortiori argument. The Korban Tamid does not incur the severe penalty of Kareis if one failed to bring it. Nonetheless, it still overrides Shabbos. Certainly, the Korban Pesach which is punishable by Kareis should override Shabbos as well.
With great humility, after accepting Hillel’s arguments, the Bnei Beseira stood down from their position and appointed Hillel to be the Nasi, in recognition of his superior Torah knowledge.
(The Talmud Yeurshalmi teaches that Hillel proved the Halacha with three different approaches; a Hekesh, Kal Vachomer and Gezeira Shava. However, the Bnei Beseira argued against all of Hillel’s proofs. Only when he swore that this was the tradition that he received from Shmaya and Avtalyon, did they concede.)
There is a fascinating continuation to the Talmud’s account. That day, Hillel expounded on the Halachos of the Korban Pesach. He rebuked the sages of Eretz Yisroel saying “what is it that caused me to come from Bavel to become the Nasi? It was your laziness, that you did not serve Shmaya and Avtalyon.”
At that assembly, someone asked what would be the Halacha if someone bringing the Korban Pesach on Shabbos forgot to bring the slaughtering knife to the Beis Hamikdash before Shabbos. Hillel conceded “I heard this Halacha but I have forgotten it.” This was a punishment for having ‘gloated’ over the Bnei Beseira for having forgotten a Halacha.
Nonetheless, Hillel said “leave it to the Jewish people, if they are not prophets themselves, they are the sons of prophets”, meaning that the Jewish people will know what the right thing to do is. The Gemara relates how “that Shabbos, whoever brought a Korban Pesach as a sheep stuck the knife into its wool to transport to the Beis Hamikdash. Those who brought goats placed their knives between the horns...” When Hillel saw this, he remembered that this was indeed the Halacha.
Private or communal? A matter of classification
What was the basis of the dispute between Hillel and the Bnei Beseira? Why were they in doubt as to whether the Korban Pesach overrides Shabbos, whereas Hillel was certain that it did?
The Korbanos brought in the Beis Hamikdash can be divided into two categories; a communal offering - Korban Tzibbur, and a personal offering – Korban Yachid. Examples of a Korban Tzibbur include the daily Tamid sacrifices and the Shabbos and Yomtov Musaf sacrifices. Korban Yachid includes sacrifices such as a Chatas, Asham (sin offerings), Todah (thanksgiving offering) and a Neder or Nedava (voluntary offerings).
A Korban Tzibbur that has a set day on which it must be brought, overrides Shabbos according to all opinions. Likewise, everyone agrees that a Korban Yachid does not override Shabbos.
The dilemma concerning the Korban Pesach stems from the fact that it is an anomaly. It was somewhat of a hybrid, having elements of both a Korban Tzibbur and a Korban Yachid. The Rambam describes the Korban Pesach as a Korban Yachid that is like a Korban Tzibbur.
On one hand, the Korban Pesach was brought by small individual groups, technically it could even be brought by a single individual. It was purchased with private funds and was eaten outside of the Beis Hamikdash in these groups. These features make it like a Korban Yachid.
Yet, the Korban Pesach had to be offered by all Jews on the same day. Further the Korban Pesach had to be offered in three collective groups.
The Bnei Beseira were unsure as to which dimension of the Korban Pesach is dominant. Was it essentially a Korban Yachid that could not be brought on Shabbos or was it essentially a Korban Tzibbur and should be brought on Shabbos?
Hillel’s teaching was that the Korban Pesach is a communal sacrifice. This is why he drew a comparison to the Tamid and Musaf sacrifices that were brought on Shabbos. This is clearly stated in the Yerushalmi’s account, where Hillel reasons “the Korban Pesach is a Korban Tzibbur just like the Tamid. Just as the Korban Tamid overrides Shabbos, so too the Korban Pesach overrides Shabbos.”
The nature of the Jewish people
There is a deeper philosophical implication in this dispute, that goes to the very essence of what it means to be a people and to be a community.
A Tzibbur can be created in one of two ways.
1. The Tzibbur is a new entity that supersedes the individual.
On becoming part of the Tzibbur, the constituents no longer exist as independent individuals, but merely as part of the greater whole. In other words, to become part of the Tzibbur, an individual must defer and surrender their individuality.
2. Another perspective is that the Tzibbur is not a new homogenous entity that negates the individual or requires one to surrender their individuality.
Rather, it is a unity of its constituent members as individuals, who remain unique and distinct.
Yetzias Mitzrayim was the birth of the Jewish people, when we went from being a group of related individuals, to becoming a nation. As the central motif of the Exodus, the unique nature of the Korban Pesach reflects the nature of the Tzibbur that we became.
Our unity is like the Korban Pesach; a Korban Tzibbur that still possessed elements of a Korban Yachid. The collective of the Jewish people is a unity that embraces, rather than negates the individual. Every individual is part of the greater nation, yet we each have infinite individual worth.
To be part of some groups, you need to surrender yourself; You must think like the group, dress like the group and generally conform with the group. Otherwise you cannot be part of ‘us’.
The Torah’s perspective of unity is that we recognise the strengths and talents that Hashem has given to each of us. We can think differently and contribute differently and strive for personal achievements. Yet we are all one and part of the same Kahal with the same goals. Our group does not shun difference, we embrace differences, and we are a more successful nation as a result.
Two Korban Pesachs in the Torah
Yetzias Mitzrayim was only the beginning of our status as a nation. Only after we received the Torah on Har Sinai, when we were given our collective mission in this world, did we truly become a nation.
This is why the Korban Pesach that was brought in Egypt before the Exodus had greater emphasis on the Korban Yachid dimension; It was entirely done in their private homes and there was no communal Altar. The next Korban Pesach that the Jewish people offered was one year later in the desert. Since this was after Matan Torah, it now had the Tzibbur dimension; it was slaughtered in the three groups, all at the Mishkan, with the blood being placed on the same Mizbeach.
Perhaps on a deeper level, this is why the Korban Pesach in Mitzrayim was brought on a weekday (Wednesday) rather than Shabbos, as it was more of a Korban Yachid that would not have been able to override Shabbos. Only after we achieved true nationhood, was the Korban Pesach a true Korban Tzibbur that could be brought on Shabbos as it was in that second year. Indeed, it was from a Posuk about this Korban Pesach that Hillel taught his Gezeira Shava using the word במועדו.
Individual and collective redemption
We know that the key to our future Redemption is Ahavas and Achdus Yisroel, unity and love between Jews. This unity is at the very heart and soul of what it means to be a Tzibbur. Hashem will redeem us in the same dual manner of our unity as a nation; a collective of individuals.
Yishayahu the Novi describes the return of the Jewish people from Exile וְא תֶֶּ֧ם תְלֻקְטֹּ֛וּ לְא ח ַ֥ד אֶחֵָׁ֖ד בְנ ַ֥י יִשְרָׁא ַֽל, “and you, Bnei Yisroel, will be picked up one by one”.
