Pisqa’ 63¹

1

“There shall you come. And you shall bring there

your Holocaust-offerings (`oloteichem), your sacrifices (zivkheichem; Dt.12:5-6).

Why is this stated?

Because it also states:

“These are the Occasions (mo`adei) of HASHEM which you are to convene

as Holy Assemblies (miqra’ei qodesh);

to make an offering by fire to HASHEM

each on its own day” (Lv.23:37).

Is it possible to say that

one may offer on the Pilgrimage Festival (regel)

only an offering appropriate to that Pilgrimage

[e.g., the Paschal lamb on Passover]?

On what basis do I know that

communal offerings that have been consecrated

before the Pilgrimage,

may be offered on the Altar

during the Pilgrimage?

And that private offerings

that have been consecrated

before the Pilgrimage,

are also offered

during the Pilgrimage?

And even those that have been consecrated

during the period of the Pilgrimage

may be offered during the Pilgrimage?

The Teaching states:

“In addition to your priestly Gifts (matenoteichem),

and in addition to all your Vow-offerings (nidreichem),

and in addition to all your Voluntary-offerings (nidvoteichem)

which you give to HASHEM” (Lv.23:38)—

this includes offerings of birds (`ofot) and grain (menakhot),

permitting offerings from all of these categories

­to be brought during the Pilgrimage Festival.²

2

Is it possible to say that

[this applies only]

to optional offerings?

The Teaching states:

“These shall you prepare for HASHEM at your Occasions” (Nu.29:39).

If this verse grants permission

[to bring optional offerings],

the prior verse (Nu.29:38) has already granted such permission!

If so, why is it stated:

“These shall you prepare for HASHEM at your Occasions” (Nu.29:39)?

To establish that all of them

may be offered on the Altar

during the Pilgrimage Festival.

Is it possible to say that

[these offerings may be made]

during any Pilgrimage that he chooses?

The Teaching states:

“There shall you come. And you shall bring there your Holocaust-offerings,

your sacrifices . . . (Dt.12:5-6).

If [this verse] grants permission

[to bring optional-offerings],

[the prior verse] (Nu.29:38) already granted permission!

If [the verse] establishes them as obligatory,

it already so establishes them (Nu.29:39)!

If so, why is it stated:

“There shall you come. And you shall bring there” (Dt.12:5-6)?

To establish the obligation to offer them

during the first Pilgrimage Festival they encounter

after consecration as an offering.

Is it possible to say that

if one Pilgrimage passes,

and he has not brought the offering—

he has transgressed the proscription

“do not delay!”³

The Teaching states:

“These shall you prepare for HASHEM at your Occasions” (Nu.29:39).

Indeed, one does not transgress “do not delay!”

unless all three Pilgrimages for the year

have passed him by.⁴

3

“Your Holocaust-offerings” (Dt.12:6)—

both the private Holocaust-offering

and the communal Holocaust-offering.

“Your sacrifices” (Dt.12:6)—

both the private Communion-offering ( zevakh shelamim)

and the communal Communion-offering.

“Your Tithes” (Dt.12:6)—

R. Akiva says:

This verse speaks of two distinct Tithes.

one is the Tithe of grain,

and the other is the Tithe of cattle.⁵

“And your Threshing-floor-offering”⁶ (Dt.12:6)—

this is the First-fruits-offering (bikurim).

This accords with what is said:

“And the priest shall take the basket from your hands” (Dt.26:4).

“And the Firstlings” (bechorot: Dt.12:6)—

this is the first-born cattle.

“Of your herd and your flock” (Dt.12:6)—

these are your Purification-offerings (khata’at)

and your Guilt-offerings (‘asham).

1. H:118-119; JN1:194-195.
2. // Sifra, ‘emor. par.12:10.
3. Viz., payment of the Tithe (Ex.22:28) or of a vow (Dt.23:22).
4. // Sifre Nu, 152.
5. //T. Bech. 7:1, Sifra, bekhuqotai, per. 13:6. Cf, Pisqa’ 63.3.
6. Heb: terumat yedchem; literally “the offering of your hand.” (See also, Dt.12:17) Commonly rendered in English as “heave-offering,” the offering usually is considered to be “offered up” (tarimu : Nu.18:28) to priests as a gift “from the threshing floor” (Nu.18:27) in return for their service in the Dwelling. Hence the term “Threshing-floor-offering” serves in most instances to describe the nature of this gift (terumah or terumah gedolah, in rabbinic terminology). In the present passage, Akiba insists that terumat yedchem applies as well to the First-fruits offering that is subject to the ceremony described at Dt.26:1-19. The material her at Pisqa’ 63.3 is reproduced with slight changes at 68.1 below.