Pisqa’ 131¹

1

“Leaven² should be out of your sight” (Dt.16:4)—

you may see the leaven of [gentile] others among you.³

“Leaven should be out of your sight” (Dt.16:4)—

you may see the leaven of the Supernal One

[if it had been already consecrated

to the Holy Abode, for it is not yours].

“Leaven should be out of your sight” (Dt.16:4)—

[you may see leaven] on a plaza

where it is deemed to be ownerless, and thus not yours.

“Leaven should be out of your sight” (Dt.16:4)—

that is, nullify it in your heart.

On this basis they taught:

One who is on the way to slaughter his Paschal lamb,

or to circumcise his son,

and recalls that he has leavened-food inside his home—

if he has time to return and remove it,

and can still complete the intended commandment,

let him return home [to remove it].

But if not, he should nullify it in his heart.⁴

“Leavened-food (khametz) should be out of your sight” (Ex.13:7) and

“Leaven (se’or) should be out of your sight” (Dt.16:4)—

[why does the Torah distinguish khametz from se’or]?

This points to a dispute between

the disciple-circle of Shammai and the disciple-circle of Hillel.

For the circle of Shammai say:

as for leaven,

the volume of an olive [is prohibited during Passover];

but as for leavened-food,

the volume of a large date [is prohibited during Passover].

But the circle of Hillel say:

both this and that

[are prohibited at the smaller] volume of an olive.⁵

2

“And any meat that you slaughter for the evening

shall not remain over night” (Dt.16:4).

What sacrifice do you offer by day

in order to eat it that night?

I would say: the Paschal lamb!

“Till morning of the first day” (Dt.16:4)]—

that is, the morning of the third day.⁶

Or, is it possible to say that

it refers to the morning of the second day?⁷

The Teaching states:  

“If his sacrificial offering is a . . . Voluntary-offering . . .

on the day of his sacrifice shall he eat it . ..

but what remains of the sacrificial meat by the third day

shall be burnt in fire” (Lv.7:16-17).⁸
The phrase, or a Voluntary-offering,

includes the Festival-offering (khagigah) that is brought with the Paschal lamb

in the requirement to be eaten within two days.

Well, then, how do I understand the phrase till morning (Dt. 16:4)?

It refers to the

[Festival-offering, which may be eaten]

on the morning of the third day

[unlike the Paschal lamb].⁹

1. H:175; JN1:319-320.
2. Heb: se’or; the leavening agent, rather than khametz, the leavened product..
3. Cf. Mechilta Ishmael, paskha’, 10; Mechilta Shimon- Nelson, p. 38.
4. //M. Pes. 3:7.
5. Cf. M. Bez. 1:1; T. YT. 1:4.
6. Neusner explains as follows (JN1.320): “The first night, the intervening day, and the second night form the period during which the meat must be eaten up.”
7. Encompassing Passover evening, the following first day of Passover, and the next night t ill morning.
8. Commentaries are unclear about the import of this proof text. RH and Ish-Shalom omit it. See Sifra’s parallel (next note) and the comments of H:444, Pisqa’ 131, n. 7.
9. // Sifra, tsav, per. 12:7-8.