Mesechtas Pesachim

Mesechtas Pesachim includes ten chapters, spanning one hundred and twenty pages.

The subject of the Mesechtas is the holiday of Pesach; removing chametz, laws of Erev Pesach, slaughtering and roasting the Pesach sacrifice, the mitzvah of matzah, and the order of the holiday. Mesechtas Pesachim is one of the Mesechtass studied in Chabad yeshivot in an eight-year cycle.

The Rebbe's Explanations

Rabbi Yehudah's Advice

In the Mesechtas, there is a story about a non-Jew who told Rabbi Yehudah ben Beteira that he goes up to Jerusalem every year and eats from the Pesach sacrifice. Rabbi Yehudah advised him to request the portion of the tail fat from the animal. When the non-Jew requested this portion the next time he went up to Jerusalem, the Jews realized this was a tactic from his sender Rabbi Yehudah ben Beteira, and they killed the non-Jew. One of the novel teachings learned from this is that a non-Jew who ate from the Pesach sacrifice is liable to death.

Tosafot asks why Rabbi Yehudah ben Beteira himself didn't go up to Jerusalem, and provides three answers: a) He didn't own land. This answer is insufficient because there is a question whether someone without land is exempt from the pilgrimage festival, so Tosafot answers that he was elderly and couldn't make the journey.

Both of these answers raise a difficulty: why couldn't he simply tell another Jew from Netzivim who was going up to the Land of Israel to testify that this person was a non-Jew? Why did he need to use this entire scheme?

For this reason, Tosafot gives an additional answer, that Netzivim is outside the Land of Israel, and therefore not all its residents were obligated to make the pilgrimage.

Pesach Sheni

There is a dispute in the Mesechtas whether Pesach Sheni (Second Pesach) is a holiday in its own right, or a make-up for the first holiday. According to the first opinion, that Pesach Sheni is actually a separate obligation for every Jew apart from the obligation of the first Pesach, the Rebbe explains that the action of making the (first) Pesach sacrifice remains in effect until Pesach Sheni. Therefore, even though Pesach Sheni is an obligation separate from the first Pesach, one who offered his Pesach sacrifice during the first Pesach is not obligated in Pesach Sheni, because the action of the sacrifice of the first Pesach remains in effect until Pesach Sheni.

These words are based on the approach of the Rogatchover, that a continuous action exempts a person from the mitzvah, on condition that at the time of performing it, the person was obligated.

Additional Explanations

• 21a. Destroying chametz, dispute between Rabbi Meir and the Sages. Likkutei Sichos Vol. 7 p. 189 (p. 201)
• 28a. Chametz after Pesach, dispute between Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Shimon. Shaarei HaMoadim Vol. 1 p. 177 (p. 168)
• 44a. Rashi commentary "How do we say" "And we attribute leniently to the sin of death." Likkutei Sichos Vol. 7 p. 71 (p. 83)
• 53b. Tosafot s.v. "v'ein." Likkutei Sichos p. 107 (p. 119)
• 54b. There is no public fast in Babylon. Hitvaaduyot 5745 Vol. 2 p. 1154 (p. 470)
• 60b. They join and withdraw from it until it is slaughtered. Shaarei HaMoadim Pesach Vol. 1 p. 258 (p. 246)
• 64a. Rashi s.v. "They recited the Hallel." Shaarei HaMoadim Pesach Vol. 1 p. 262 (p. 250); Likkutei Sichos Vol. 7 p. 256 (p. 268)
• 64b. It is slaughtered in three groups. Likkutei Sichos Vol. 18 p. 105 (p. 116)
• 66a. "Don't we have many more than two hundred Pesach sacrifices in a year that override Shabbat." Likkutei Sichos Vol. 18 p. 104 (p. 113)
• 76b. It was only intended for eating from the beginning. Likkutei Sichos Vol. 18 p. 106 (p. 115)
• 88a. Not like Abraham who called it a mountain, nor like Isaac who called it a field, but like Jacob who called it a house. Likkutei Sichos Vol. 30 p. 70 (p. 83)
• 89a. They join and withdraw from it until it is slaughtered. Shaarei HaMoadim Pesach Vol. 1 p. 258 (p. 246)
• 95a. The first requires Hallel during its eating and the second does not require Hallel during its eating. Shaarei HaMoadim Pesach Vol. 1 p. 265 (p. 253)
• 95b. Is it possible that Israel slaughters their Pesach sacrifices and takes their lulavim without saying Hallel? Likkutei Sichos Vol. 7 p. 256 (p. 268)
• 109a. A person is obligated to make his children and household happy on the festival. Likkutei Sichos Vol. 33 p. 63 (p. 75)
• 117a. Contradiction in the words of Ramban s.v. "v'tamah," s.v. "v'od," and in Ran. Shaarei HaMoadim Pesach note 9 Vol. 1 p. 267 (p. 255)
• 117a. Is it possible that Israel slaughters their Pesach sacrifices and takes their lulavim without saying Hallel? Likkutei Sichos Vol. 7 p. 256 (p. 268)
• 121b. It is obvious about pidyon haben... the father of the son recites the blessing. Torat Menachem Vol. 23 p. 328 (p. 301); Likkutei Sichos Vol. 11 p. 42 (p. 50)
• Jerusalem Talmud 1:1. Israel was given permission to build the Beit HaMikdash. Shaarei HaMoadim Sefirat HaOmer p. 268 (p. 259)

Explanations of Chabad Rebbes

• Admor the Tzemach Tzedek, "Mesechtas Pesachim," Tzemach Tzedek on the Shas, Brooklyn, 5755, pages 128-135, on HebrewBooks website
• Explanation on the Tzemach Tzedek (page 16b) from the Rebbe: Shaarei HaMoadim p. 205 (p. 194)