Pesachim 42a (מב.) — the Talmud in English

Rav Hisda said: This

beraita that imposes lashes for this prohibition,

whose opinion is it?

It is Rabbi Yehuda's.

As it is taught:

It is written:

“An ox or a sheep that is deformed or has its limbs joined together—you shall make it a freewill offering”!

One may not consecrate a blemished animal for the altar; rather, one may consecrate it only with the sanctity of its monetary value for the repair of the Temple.

And we interpret:

“it”

[the blemished animal]

you may consecrate for the repair of the Temple.

But

you may not consecrate unblemished animals

[which are fit for the altar]

for the repair of the Temple,

but only for the altar.

From here they said: Anyone who consecrates an unblemished animal for the repair of the Temple violates a positive mitzva!

For this is a prohibition derived from a positive mitzva, as it says: “You shall make it a freewill offering.”

I have derived only

that he violates a

positive mitzva.

But

from where

do I know that he violates a prohibition?

The verse therefore states,

at the beginning of the passage:

“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying.” This teaches

that the word “saying”

applies to everything

written in the

entire passage, so that it shall be

forbidden

by a prohibition.

And the prohibition against consecrating unblemished animals for the repair of the Temple, which is stated in the passage, is therefore included in the warning of a prohibition—

the statement of Rabbi Yehuda.

Rabbi asked bar Kappara: What

is the reason that it

is inferred

from “saying” that it involves a prohibition?

He said to him,

bar Kappara: This

that is written

“saying”

is an acrostic for

“a prohibition was not stated in the words”!

That is, there is here an additional prohibition that was not stated explicitly in the passage.

The scholars of the study hall said:

The acrostic of

“saying”

is

“state the prohibition”!

The Lord told Moses: Tell them that these matters involve a prohibition.

The same applies to the prohibition against eating the Paschal offering during the day of the fourteenth of Nisan. Since at the beginning of the passage concerning the Paschal offering it is written, “The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, saying,” He issued a warning involving a prohibition regarding all the laws stated in the passage. Therefore, one who eats the Paschal offering during the day violates a prohibition and is flogged.

We learned in the Mishna:

The water used by a baker.

It must be poured out, because it ferments!

One beraita teaches

a beraita:

These waters may be poured

in

a sloping place!

For there the water is absorbed into the ground and lost.

But

one may not pour

them

in a depression

[a pit in the ground, from a term meaning the breaking of the ground], because the water collects and remains there rather than being absorbed into the ground, and it may ferment. It is forbidden to leave leaven in one’s possession during Passover.

And it is taught

in

another

beraita:

These waters may be poured

even

in a depression!

These two beraitot contradict one another.

And we resolve the contradiction:

It is not difficult. This

beraita, which teaches that one may not pour the water into a depression, is speaking of water

that is abundant

[a large quantity of water]. Since it is abundant,

it collects

[it gathers] in one place and is not absorbed into the ground.

And

this

beraita, which teaches that one may pour the water into a depression, is speaking of water

that is not abundant. Since

it is a small quantity,

it does not collect

in one place; rather, it is absorbed into the ground.

Rav Yehuda said: A woman should knead

the matza

only with water that has rested overnight

[water over which a night has passed after it was drawn]! This is because matza must be kneaded only with cold water. Hot water causes the dough to ferment, as will be explained below. The days of Nisan are still part of the rainy season, during which the springs are warm. As it is stated below: During the rainy season, the sun travels along the lower part of the sky. Therefore, the entire world is cold, while the springs are warm.

Accordingly, after drawing the water from the spring, one must leave it overnight in order to cool it.

Rav Mattana expounded

this halakha

in Paphunya.

The next day, everyone brought their pitchers

[they all brought their jugs]

and came to him,

to Rav Mattana.

And they said to him: Give us water

for kneading our matza! Since he had expounded before them in the Holy Tongue, those who heard him thought that by “water that has rested overnight” he meant that one may knead only with Rav Mattana’s water.

He said to them:

That is not what I said. Rather,

I meant, “with water that has rested in its home”

[over which a night has passed]

I said,

that the matza must be kneaded with it.

Rava expounded: A woman should not knead

the matza

in sunlight

[in a place illuminated by the sun]! The heat of the sun warms the dough and hastens its fermentation.

And

likewise

she should not

knead

with water heated by the sun

[water warmed by the sun]! All the more so, she should not knead with hot water heated by fire, because it causes fermentation.

And

likewise,

she should not knead with water drawn from the mulyar

[the remnants of water at the bottom of a large copper boiler], which is permanently suspended over a fire! Even when there is no fire beneath it, the water at the bottom is hot or lukewarm. Accordingly, one should not knead with it.

And she should not lift

her hand

from the oven until she has completed all the bread!

That is, she should not set the dough aside; rather, she should remain occupied with it continuously until its baking is complete. For if the dough remains unattended, it will ferment more quickly.

And she must have

for the time she kneads

two vessels

of water.

One in which

she

works with the dough

[into which she dips her hand and with it smooths the flatbread].

And

she needs one

additional

vessel so

that

she

can cool her hands in it!

After working with the dough, her hands become warm. She must cool them so that their heat will not cause the dough to ferment. She should not cool them in the same vessel in which she worked with the dough, because the water in it became warm from the heat of her hands and the heat of the dough. Rather, she requires a separate vessel for this purpose.

They raised a dilemma:

If

she transgressed and kneaded

the matza with hot water,

what

is the status of the matza after the fact?

Mar Zutra said: It is permitted

to eat it!

And

Rav Ashi said: It is forbidden

to eat it!

Mar Zutra said: From where do I derive

that the matza is permitted after the fact? From this

that is taught: One may not soak

[soak in water]

barley on Passover. And if one did soak it—

if

it split open,

the barley is

forbidden.

It will certainly come to ferment. But if

it did not split open,

it is

permitted

after the fact!

It is evident, then, that although initially we are concerned that the barley may ferment as a result of soaking, if, after the fact, it is apparent that it did not ferment, it is not forbidden.

The same applies to kneading with hot water. Although the dough is liable to ferment as a result, if, after the fact, it is apparent that it did not ferment [for example, it does not display the signs of fermentation established by the Sages, such as grasshopper-horn-like projections or cracking], it is not forbidden.

And Rav Ashi said:

The case of soaking is not proof, for

are all

the rabbinic prohibitions on Passover to be

woven into one fabric

[woven into one weave; this is a metaphor]?!

Where it was stated

that the prohibition applies only initially,

it was stated so. And where it was not stated

thus,

it was not stated so!

Specifically, with regard to soaking, the Sages did not impose a penalty after the fact. But with regard to the prohibition against kneading with hot water, the Sages did impose a penalty and forbade the dough even after the fact, since she violated a rabbinic prohibition. For it is highly likely that it will ferment in this manner, and one who violates this prohibition is nearly considered deliberate.

We have completed the chapter “All the Hours.”

There are three types of chametz:

A. Actual chametz, for eating which one is liable to karet during Pesach, and for keeping which one violates the prohibitions of bal yera'eh and bal yimatzei—“it shall not be seen” and “it shall not be found”—in one's home.

B. Inferior chametz (chametz nuksha), which is unfit for human consumption.

C. A mixture of chametz—that is, chametz that is not discernible on its own, but is mixed into something else.

None of the types of chametz described below in our Mishna is actual chametz. Rather, some are inferior chametz, and some are a mixture of chametz.

The tanna teaches us two novel points, one in the first clause and the other in the latter clause:

A. That one also violates a prohibition during Pesach on account of these substances, whether by eating them or by possessing them, as will be explained.

B. The warning against eating them is a prohibition for which there is no liability of karet, unlike eating actual, discernible chametz, for eating which one is liable to karet.

The early authorities disagree as to whether the first clause of our Mishna concerns the prohibition against eating these types of chametz or the prohibition against keeping them.

According to

Rashi

the first clause of the Mishna teaches that, in addition to the prohibition against eating them, one also violates bal yera'eh on their account.

Whereas according to

Rabbeinu Tam

the Mishna teaches that they must be removed from the table so that one will not come to eat them, but one does not violate bal yera'eh by keeping them.

Our explanation is based on Rashi's approach.

Mishna:

And these

are the substances on account of which one

violates

the prohibition

during Pesach

by possessing them, in violation of bal yera'eh

Babylonian kutah

a milk-based food into which flour is mixed,

Median beer, Edomite vinegar, Egyptian zitom, dyers' zoman, cooks' starch, and scribes' kohl.

And the Gemara will explain of what all these types are made.

The Gemara will explain what each of these substances is made from.

Rabbi Eliezer

says: Even

on account of

the cosmetics

of

women

one violates bal yera'eh. The Gemara will explain which women's cosmetics are being referred to here.

This is the general principle: Anything that is of a grain species—

one violates

on account of it

during Pesach

by possessing it, in violation of bal yera'eh, even if it is only inferior chametz, or is not discernible on its own but is part of a mixture.

As stated, this is Rashi's approach in his interpretation of the Mishna .

But

Rabbeinu Tam

explains that they are prohibited only when eaten. And “these pass” means that they must be removed from the table, for inferior chametz and a mixture of chametz are not subject to the prohibition of bal yera'eh .

All these types of chametz, whether they are inferior chametz or a mixture of chametz,

are subject to a warning

not to eat them.

But

there is not

in eating them

the liability of

the punishment of

karet.

For the punishment of karet was stated only with regard to discernible chametz, and not with regard to a mixture of chametz or inferior chametz.

Gemara:

The Sages taught: Three things are stated concerning Babylonian kutah:

a.

It dulls

and seals

the heart,

causing a person's wisdom to be lost.

b.

And it blinds the eyes.

c.

And it weakens the body.

The Gemara explains the words of the beraita:

It dulls the heart—

because of the whey of the milk

that it contains.

And it blinds the eyes—

because of the salt

of Sodom that it contains. For if one touches it and then touches one's eye, the eye becomes blinded.

And it weakens the body—

because of the mold of the bread

that it contains. The flour in the kutah becomes moldy after some time, and eating moldy bread is harmful to the body.

The Sages taught: Three things increase waste

in a person's body,

bend the stature,

weakening the body's strength,

and take

a portion

of one five-hundredth of a person's eyesight.

And these are they: Coarse bread

made from flour that has not been sifted of its bran,

new beer, and raw vegetables.

For example, leeks, onions, and chard. When one eats a great deal of them regularly, they harm the body.

The Sages taught: Three things decrease the waste

in the body,

straighten the stature and illuminate the eyes.

And these are they: Fine bread, fatty meat, and aged wine.