Translation:Mishnah/Seder Moed/Tractate Pesachim/Chapter 9/2

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Introduction[edit]

Mishnah 9:2 continues to interpret Numbers 9:10, regarding the second Passover.

Hebrew Text[edit]

איזו היא דרך רחוקה?

מן המודיעים ולחוץ,
וכמדתה לכל רוח,
דברי רבי עקיבא.

רבי אליעזר אומר:
מאסקפת העזרה ולחוץ.

אמר רבי יוסי,
לפיכך נקוד על ה'
לומר,
לא מפני שרחוקה ודאי,
אלא מאסקפת העזרה ולחוץ.

English Translation[edit]

What is “a distant journey” (within the meaning of Numbers 9:10)?

From Modi’in and beyond,
And the same distance in any direction [from Jerusalem is a distant journey] —
[These are] the words of Rabbi Akiva.

Rabbi Eliezer says:
[A journey is distant anytime one leaves] from the threshold of the Temple Court and beyond.

Said Rabbi Yose [to Rabbi Eliezer]:
For that reason there is a dot over the letter hei [(ה) in the word “distant” (רְחֹקָה, rechokah) in Numbers 9:10 in a Torah scroll],
[In order] to teach:
Not because it is really distant,
But [when one has departed] from the threshold of the Temple Court and beyond
[One is regarded as being on “a distant journey”].


Explanation[edit]

In the Babylonian Talmud, the discussion of Mishnah Pesachim 9:2 begins on Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 93b.