Chagigah 17a — the Talmud in English

Rav Ashi said: Even if you say that the sides are permitted,

it is impossible to lean on its head, since

everything that is alongside its back —

is considered like its back!

Every place on an animal that is equal to the height of the animal’s back, such as the head, is considered like the back of the animal, concerning which they enacted a prohibition of shevut, and there is an element of shevut in leaning, even on the head.

Mishna:

Beit Shammai say:

They bring

on the Festival

shelamim,

which are the obligation of the day, and in which there is eating for the owners [but vows and freewill offerings that are not the obligation of the day, and which he can sacrifice at another time, do not come, even as shelamim].

But they do not

the owners

lean upon them

on the Festival, because leaning is with all his strength, and by leaning upon it he uses a living creature, and it is forbidden on Shabbat and on a Festival by reason of shevut. Rather, he leans upon them on the eve of the Festival, for it is not necessary that the leaning be adjacent to the slaughtering [and this is according to the view of Shammai, their master, in the earlier Mishna].

But they do not

bring on the Festival

olot

at all, and not even olot re’iyah, which are the obligation of the day, since in them there is also no eating for the owners.

Except for olot whose time is fixed, such as the daily offerings and the additional offerings, which override Shabbat, and all the more so the Festival.

And Beit Hillel say:

They bring

on the Festival

shelamim. [

And they disagree about this in Beitza 19, whether even vows and freewill offerings of shelamim come, according to Beit Hillel, on the Festival, since there is eating for the owners, or perhaps they agree with Beit Shammai that only shelamim that are the obligation of the day come on the Festival, but not vows and freewill offerings, since he can bring them later.]

And

so they also bring on the Festival

olot. [

And they disagree about this in Beitza 20b, whether they bring only an olat re’iyah, which is the obligation of the day, or whether even vows and freewill offerings of olot are sacrificed on the Festival according to Beit Hillel; but offerings whose time is fixed, which override even Shabbat, all the more so override the Festival according to everyone.]

And they lean upon them.

Although leaning is shevut, since it is permitted to bring them, they did not enact shevut in order to nullify their leaning [and this is according to the view of Hillel, their master, in the earlier Mishna].

Shavuot

the Festival of Weeks

that occurs on the eve of Shabbat,

and according to Beit Shammai he cannot bring an olat re’iyah neither on the Festival nor on Shabbat; therefore:

Beit Shammai say: Its “Day of Slaughter”

the day on which the offerings of the festival peace-offering and the appearance-offering, or only the appearance-offerings, are slaughtered is called the “Day of Slaughter,” Meiri

is after Shabbat.

And Beit Hillel —

according to their position, that they hold that they bring an olat re’iyah on the Festival —

say: It has no “Day of Slaughter

”, but he brings it on the Festival.

And they agree

Beit Hillel with Beit Shammai:

that if

Shavuot

occurs on Shabbat, that

they make

the “Day of Slaughter” after Shabbat,

since an olat re’iyah does not override Shabbat.

And concerning the “Day of Slaughter” of Shavuot that occurs on Shabbat:

a.

The High Priest does not clothe himself in his garments

that are fine, of ordinary clothing [Rashi], but on other “Days of Slaughter” he would adorn himself.

b.

They are permitted to engage in eulogizing and fasting,

unlike on the other “Day of Slaughter.”

And the reason is: in order

not to fulfill the words of those who say

the Sadducees

that Shavuot is after Shabbat.

For it is stated in the Torah, concerning the counting of the Omer: “And you shall count for yourselves from the morrow after Shabbat,” and they interpret it according to its simple meaning, that one must always begin counting on Sunday, which is the day after Shabbat. According to their words, Shavuot always occurs on Sunday. But the Sages received the interpretation of the verse that its intention is the day after the first day of the Festival of Pesach.

Therefore, if they were to observe the practices of a Festival on Sunday, it would appear as though we agreed with the view of the Sadducees.

Gemara:

Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Oshaya:

From where is it derived concerning Shavuot —

which is only one day —

that

in any event

it has compensation,

for appearance-offerings and festival peace-offerings

throughout all seven days?

For it is stated:

“Three times in the year every one of your males shall appear:

on the Festival of Matzot, on the Festival of Weeks, and on the Festival of Sukkot.”

The verse compares

the

Festival of Weeks to the Festival of Matzot,

in order to teach you:

Just as the Festival of Matzot has

for appearance and for the festival peace-offering

compensation throughout all seven days,

as we indeed learned above, 9a, from what is stated concerning the Festival of Sukkot: “And you shall celebrate it as a festival for the Lord seven days,” and the same law applies to the Festival of Matzot, which is seven days —

so too the Festival of Weeks has

for appearance and for the festival peace-offering

compensation throughout all seven days,

even though the Festival of Weeks is only one day.

And we raise an objection:

And say: It compares

the Festival of Weeks

to the Festival of Sukkot,

and to teach you:

Just as the Festival of Sukkot has compensation for eight days,

for even on the final Festival day of the Festival they make up,

so too the Festival of Weeks has compensation for eight days?!

And we answer: The

eighth

day of the Festival of Sukkot

is a Festival in its own right,

and is not included in the comparison that compares the Festival of Weeks to Sukkot.

We still raise an objection:

You may say that they said, “The eighth is a Festival in its own right

” only

concerning pezer keshev.

But concerning compensation,

even the eighth day

is compensation for the first day.

And if so, the Festival of Weeks should also be compared to it, and the compensation of the Festival of Weeks would be eight days?!

For

so

we learned: One who did not celebrate on the first Festival day of the Festival celebrates throughout the entire Festival and on the final Festival day.

And we answer: Since you can compare the Festival of Weeks to the Festival of Sukkot and increase many days, and you can compare it to the Festival of Matzot and increase few days, there is a general principle:

You have grasped the many, you have not grasped; you have grasped the few, you have grasped!

That is to say: Wherever you find two paths, one grasping many and one grasping few, it is better for you to grasp the few, for even if you were required to grasp the many and you grasped the few, your grasp is a valid grasp, since the few is included within the many; but if you grasp the many when you were required to grasp the few, it is found that you grasped improperly [Rashi].

Rather, for what halakhic purpose did the Merciful One write it concerning the Festival of Sukkot?

In order

to compare

the Festival of Sukkot

to the Festival of Matzot,

to tell you:

Just as the Festival of Matzot requires lodging

in Jerusalem on the night following the first Festival day [Rashi],

so too the Festival of Sukkot requires lodging.

And we explain:

And there,

concerning the Festival of Matzot,

from where do we know

that it requires lodging?