וַיַּחֲנ֥וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בַּגִּלְגָּ֑ל וַיַּעֲשׂ֣וּ אֶת־הַפֶּ֡סַח בְּאַרְבָּעָה֩ עָשָׂ֨ר י֥וֹם לַחֹ֛דֶשׁ בָּעֶ֖רֶב בְּעַֽרְב֥וֹת יְרִיחֽוֹ׃
И расположились дети Израиля в Галгале; и держали пасху в четырнадцатый день месяца на равнинах Иерихоновых.
Jerusalem Talmud Challah
Rebbi Jonah asked before Rebbi Jeremiah: When Israel entered the Land and found there green grain standing, would that have been forbidden as new7Before the ‘omer, cf. Chapter 1, Notes 3–5.? He said to him, why not? So far green, even dry? He said to him, even dry, even cut. Then even grain in storage! So I am saying, Israel should not have eaten maẓẓot in the Passover nights8But they observed Pesaḥ on the 14th (Jos. 5:10); how could they have fulfilled the commandment to eat the meat “with maẓẓot and bitter herbs” when all grain was forbidden as new since the preceding year there could not have been any ‘omer and, according to the argument of the preceding paragraph, the laws were applicable retroactively?! Rebbi Jonah said, after I left there, I wondered that I did not say to him, it is different because a positive commandment overrides a prohibition9This is the position accepted everywhere in the Babli where, however, the principle is severely restricted (Yebamot 3b/4a).. In the opinion of Rebbi Jonah who said, a positive commandment overrides a prohibition even if it is not written next to it, it is understood. But according to Rebbi Yose who said, a positive commandment overrides a prohibition only if it is written next to it10The disagreement between Rebbis Jonah and Yose is also discussed Yom Ṭov 1:3 (fol. 60b, bottom) and commented upon by Or Zarua‘ vol. 2, #234. The position of R. Yose is not mentioned in the Babli. As Tosaphot note in Qiddušin 38a (an opinion attributed by Or Zarua‘ to R. Jacob ben Meїr of Provins), the argument of R. Jonah is weak since even according to him, only the first bite of maẓẓah would be permitted as a positive commandment; all further consumption of new bread would have been sinful.? What Gentile traders sold them, or following Rebbi Ismael, since Rebbi Ismael said, any “coming”11Any commandment introduced with the remark: “When you come to the Land.” mentioned in the Torah means after 14 years, seven of their conquest, seven of the distribution12Cf. Ševi‘it 6, Note 10. The statement of R. Ismael is discussed at length in Babli Qiddušin 37a–38a; it is quoted in Yerushalmi ‘Orlah 1:2 (fol. 60d), Soṭah 7:4 (fol. 21c), 9:1 (fol. 23c).. Rebbi Abun bar Cahana objected: Is it not written (Jos. 5:11): “They ate from the produce of the Land the day after the Pesaḥ,” on the sixteenth! Rebbi Eleazar ben Rebbi Yose objected before Rebbi Yose: Is it not written (Num. 33:3): “The day after the Pesaḥ, the Children of Israel left with raised hand before the eyes of all of Egypt.” Not on the fifteenth13Pesaḥ in Biblical texts is only the sacrifice of the afternoon of the 14th of Nisan. Only in rabbinic texts does Pesaḥ stand for the holiday of unleavened bread, usually called Passover, starting on the 15th. The objection of R. Abun bar Cahana is anachronistic.?
Jerusalem Talmud Pesachim
Rebbi Joḥanan in the name of Rebbi Benaiah: One sprinkles on an uncircumcised Jew157The position of the House of Hillel in the Mishnah is rejected. It is asserted that the uncircumcised can purify himself from the impurity and, being circumcised later, participate in the Pesaḥ celebration as asserted by the House of Shammai., for we find that our forefathers in the desert158Not in the desert, but after crossing the Jordan on the 10th of Nisan (Jos. 4:19). They were then circumcised (Jos. 5:2–8) and celebrated the Pesaḥ on the 14th (Jos. 5:10). received sprinkling when uncircumcised. Rav Ḥisda said, following him who said that they circumcised on the eleventh159If they were circumcised on the 11th they had to be sprinkled on the 10th, when they still were uncircumcised, in order to become pure on the 14th.. But for him who said that they circumcised on the tenth, they did not count sprinkling when uncircumcised. Rebbi Abun said, did they not have to count for sprinkling when uncircumcised in any case160Rav Ḥisda’s argument has to be rejected since if sprinkling on an uncircumcised person is ineffective, the underlying counting (of the third, seventh days) also must be ineffective. But for the Pesaḥ on the 14th, the counting had to start on the 7th, when according to the biblical text everybody (except Joshua, Caleb, and possibly Levites and/or Priests) were uncircumcised. He will hold that the first Passover in Canaan was held in impurity. This argument, represented in the Babli, loc. cit., by Mar Zuṭra, there is rejected by Rav Ashi.? Rebbi Eleazar in the name of Rebbi Ḥanina: It happened that an uncircumcised Cohen sprinkled161In Nazir: “he was sprinkled” (passive voice). and the sprinklings were declared valid. It was stated so: Rebbi Eliezer ben Jacob says, there were soldiers162Greek στρατιώτης, ὁ. and gate keepers in Jerusalem who immersed themselves and ate their Pesaḥ in the evening163They were Gentiles who converted to Judaism, were circumcised, immersed themselves in a miqweh on the 14th of Nisan, and participated in Passover, not needing cleansing by sprinkling following the House of Shammai.
Megillah
GEMARA. Our Rabbis taught: On Pesah we read from the section of the festivals and for haftarah the account of the Pesah at Gilgal (Joshua 5). And now that we keep two days of Pesah, the haftarah of the first day is the account of the Pesah in Gilgal and of the second day that of the Pesah of Josiah (II Kings 23:1-9, 21-25).