Chagigah 7a — the Talmud in English

1.

The pe'a

that a person is obligated to leave for the poor at the edge of his field has no limitation as to its size, neither below nor above, for the Torah said: “You shall not finish off the corner of your field when you harvest,” and the Torah did not give a measure for it [but the Sages gave it a lower measure, that he should not leave less than one-sixtieth of his field].

2.

And the first fruits,

which a person is obligated to bring from the first fruits of his field to the Temple and give them to a priest, have no limitation as to their measure, neither below nor above, for the Torah said: “And you shall take from the first of every fruit of the ground,” and the Torah did not give a measure for them.

3.

And the appearance-offering,

the burnt-offering of appearance, has no limitation as to its size or its value [and below it will be explained that included in the words of the Mishna is also that the appearance itself in the Courtyard has no measure].

4.

And acts of kindness

with his person [Jerusalem Talmud].

5.

And Torah study,

for it is written: “And you shall recite it day and night” [Rash].

Rabbi Yohanan said: We thought to say,

to explain what they said in the Mishna: “The appearance-offering has no measure according to Torah law,” that

the appearance-offering has no upper measure,

and he may bring as large an animal as he wishes,

but it does have a measure

according to Torah law

below,

so that he may not bring less than a silver ma'a, because he thought that the measure stated in our Mishna was according to Torah law.

Until Rabbi Oshaya bar Rabbi came [

the greatest of his generation],

and taught

—he explained the words of the Mishna:

“The appearance-offering has no measure”

according to Torah law,

neither above nor below.

But the Sages said

—that is, it was the Sages who said:

“The appearance-offering is a silver ma'a, and the festival-offering is two silver coins.”

And we raised an objection concerning it:

What

—how is it

“the appearance-offering”

that has no measure? Had the Mishna said “and the appearance,” it would have implied that the appearance-offering has no measure.

But since the Mishna used the expression “appearance-offering,” it implies that besides the offering, which has no measure as to its size and value, even the mitzva of appearing itself has no measure, and he may perform it as many times as he wishes, fulfilling an additional mitzva each time he comes to the Courtyard.

Therefore the Gemara is uncertain: must the additional appearances be accompanied by an appearance burnt-offering, or are they merely appearances in the Courtyard?

Rabbi Yohanan and Resh Lakish disputed whether he should bring an offering with him for those additional appearances in the Courtyard:

Rabbi Yohanan said:

The intention of the Mishna is to say that there is no measure for

appearing in the Courtyard

alone, and he does not bring an offering for his additional appearances.

And Resh Lakish said:

There is no measure for

appearing with an offering,

for those additional appearances are to be accompanied by an offering.

The Gemara explains their dispute:

1.

At the beginning of the pilgrimage,

on the first day of the pilgrimage,

everyone

—both Rabbi Yohanan and Resh Lakish—

does not dispute that appearing

must be

with an offering.

When they dispute—

Rabbi Yohanan and Resh Lakish—

is concerning the other days of the pilgrimage.

2.

Wherever he came and brought,

if, during the additional appearances, he brought an offering with him as an obligatory offering, even on the other days of the pilgrimage,

everyone

—both Rabbi Yohanan and Resh Lakish—

does not dispute that we accept it from him,

and we accept it from him and sacrifice it as an appearance burnt-offering.

When they dispute

Rabbi Yohanan and Resh Lakish is:

when he came and did not bring [

he appeared in the Courtyard and did not bring an offering], that is, their dispute is whether there is an obligation to bring an offering with him for the additional appearances during the other days of the pilgrimage.

For Rabbi Yohanan holds:

The intention of the Mishna is

appearing in the Courtyard

alone,

for whenever he comes, he need not bring [

every time he comes, he is not obligated to bring an offering].

Resh Lakish said: Appearing with an offering, for whenever he comes he must bring [every time he comes, he brings an offering; from the wording of Meiri it appears that this means one offering each day and not several times on the same day].

Resh Lakish raised an objection to Rabbi Yohanan:

It is stated by the Torah

“And they shall not appear before Me empty-handed”,

and how is it possible to say as you do, that he may appear and not bring an offering with him?!

He said

—he replied—

to him

Rabbi Yohanan to Resh Lakish:

At the beginning of the pilgrimage

alone did the Torah prohibit coming empty-handed. But on the other days of the pilgrimage, he may appear in the Courtyard; if he wishes, he brings an offering, and if he does not wish, he does not bring one.

Further,

he raised an objection

Resh Lakish to Rabbi Yohanan from that which was taught in a beraita:

“And they shall not appear before Me empty-handed”,

which the Torah said, means

with slaughtered offerings,

with animals slaughtered with a knife.

You say with slaughtered offerings, or is it only with birds

killed by pinching with a fingernail

or

with

meal-offerings?

It is not so.

For

the law is: It was stated

in the Torah, the mitzva of the offering of

the festival-offering,

which is a peace-offering intended

for

eating by

a common person, and it was stated

in the Torah, the mitzva of

the appearance-offering,

which is a burnt-offering intended for eating by

the Most High.

For the Torah said: “They shall not appear before My ‘face’ empty-handed,” implying: I ask you to bring an offering for My needs [Rashi].

Just as the festival-offering, which is stated for a common person,

is with

slaughtered offerings,

for Scripture says: “You shall not leave the fat of My festival-offering [the festival-offering] until morning”—thus the festival-offering is with animals, whose fat is burned on the altar,

so too the appearance-offering, which is stated for the Most High,

is with

slaughtered offerings,

and not with birds or meal-offerings.

And the beraita continues and explains:

And what are the slaughtered offerings?

Necessarily, the matter concerns

burnt-offerings!

You say burnt-offerings, or is it only peace-offerings?

Your answer is:

It is the law,

that the matter specifically concerns burnt-offerings:

The festival-offering was stated for

the needs of

a common person, and the appearance-offering was stated for

the needs of

the Most High,

for the Torah said: “They shall not appear before My ‘face’ empty-handed,” implying: I ask you to bring an offering for My needs [Rashi].

Just as the festival-offering, which is stated for a common person,

he celebrates

with what is appropriate for him,

for the festival-offering is a peace-offering, eaten by its owners,

so too the appearance-offering, which is stated for the Most High, with what is appropriate for Him,

that he should offer it entirely as a burnt-offering for the sake of the Lord.

And so is the law

that he should bring a burnt-offering that is entirely burned for the sake of the Lord:

So that

your table should not be full

on the festival with every kind of delicacy,

while the table of your Master—

the Holy One, blessed be He—

is empty.

We have thus learned that it is prohibited to appear empty-handed, and this is a difficulty for Rabbi Yohanan.

He said

—he replied—

to him

Rabbi Yohanan to Resh Lakish: The beraita is speaking

at the beginning of the pilgrimage,

when even in my opinion he is obligated to appear with an offering.

Further,

Resh Lakish raised an objection to Rabbi Yohanan,

from that which was taught in a beraita:

Rabbi Yosei bar Rabbi Yehuda says: Three pilgrimage festivals

times

during the year Israel were commanded to ascend on the pilgrimage: on the Festival of Matzot, on the Festival of Weeks, and on the Festival of Booths,

and they do not appear

when they are

halves [

he explains it below],

because it is stated: “Every” male of yours.

And they do not appear

when they are

empty-handed,

without an offering,

because it is stated: “And they shall not appear before Me empty-handed.”

This beraita is a difficulty for Rabbi Yohanan, for we have learned that they do not appear empty-handed?!

He said

—he replied—

to him

Rabbi Yohanan to Resh Lakish: This beraita too is speaking

at the beginning of the pilgrimage.

And now,

Rabbi Yohanan raised an objection to Resh Lakish:

It is written:

“He will appear”

[with a hirik] every male of yours, implying that he will see the Lord; and we read:

“He will be seen”

[with a tzeirei] every male of yours, implying that the Lord will see him. We expound the written form and the reading together, to teach you:

Just as I

see you

without charge, so too you

see Me

without charge.

From here it follows that there are times when one is not obligated to bring an offering, and this is a difficulty for Resh Lakish, who said that every time he appears he brings an offering with him.

Because of this difficulty, the Gemara explains their dispute in another manner:

Rather, wherever he came and did not bring [

he appeared in the Courtyard and did not bring an offering with him],

everyone

—both Rabbi Yohanan and Resh Lakish—

does not dispute that he enters, appears, and leaves [

he appears and leaves]; according to everyone, he is not obligated to bring an offering with him, for the Torah said: “Just as I am without charge, so too you are without charge.”

When they dispute: when he came and brought,

when he had already appeared once and brought an offering as an appearance burnt-offering: when he comes another time and wishes to sacrifice another offering as an appearance burnt-offering, do we accept this offering from him and sacrifice it as an appearance burnt-offering?

Rabbi Yohanan said:

Our Mishna—“These are matters that have no measure … the appearance-offering”—speaks of

appearing in the Courtyard.

And it holds that only

appearing in the Courtyard has no measure.

As for an offering,

an appearance burnt-offering,

it does have a measure,

and they do not accept an appearance burnt-offering from him unless he brings it merely as a voluntary offering.

And Resh Lakish said:

The “appearance-offering” mentioned in our Mishna means

appearing with an offering!

And the Mishna teaches

that even an offering also has no measure,

and he may bring burnt-offerings and sacrifice them as appearance burnt-offerings every time he appears in the Courtyard.

He raised an objection

to Resh Lakish: It is written:

“Make rare

—refrain from—

your foot from the house of your fellow” [

from the house of your beloved, the Holy One, blessed be He, who called Israel “His fellows,” as it is stated: “For the sake of my brothers and my fellows”], in order to teach you: Do not bring obligatory offerings to the house of the Holy One, blessed be He, beyond the obligation fixed by the Torah [Maromei Sadeh]?!

And we answer:

There,

in the verse “Make rare your foot from the house of your fellow,” it speaks

of sin-offerings and guilt-offerings,

to say that one should not sin and become obligated in sin-offerings and guilt-offerings. But an appearance burnt-offering one may bring as many as he wishes, and it has no measure.

And

in accordance with Rabbi Levi,

who explained the verse in this way:

For Rabbi Levi raises a contradiction [

he posed the contradiction between the verses]:

It is written: “Make rare your foot from the house of your fellow”,

implying that he should not increase obligatory offerings.

And it is written: “I shall enter Your house with burnt-offerings”,

implying that he may bring many burnt-offerings?!

And Rabbi Levi explains that

there is no difficulty:

Here—

“Make rare your foot from the house of your fellow”—

concerns sin-offerings and guilt-offerings.

Here—

“I shall enter Your house with burnt-offerings”—

concerns

appearance

burnt-offerings

and festival peace-offerings, as it is written: “I shall enter Your house.” And this is ascending on the pilgrimage [Maromei Sadeh].

It was also taught so: “Make rare your foot from the house of your fellow”—

the verse speaks of sin-offerings and guilt-offerings.

You say, of sin-offerings and guilt-offerings, or is it only of burnt-offerings and peace-offerings?

When it says: “I shall enter Your house with burnt-offerings; I shall pay my vows to You,” burnt-offerings and peace-offerings have been stated.

What then do I establish: “Make rare your foot from the house of your fellow”?

The verse speaks of sin-offerings and guilt-offerings!

The master said:

“And they do not appear as halves”:

Rav Yosef thought to say [

to explain]: It is to tell you:

He who has ten sons—

should not have five ascend today and five tomorrow [

one who has ten sons should not have half of them ascend today and half tomorrow; rather, he should bring them all at once].