16 Apr PESACH AVOIDANCE

I. Avoiding the
Korban Pesach
We know from tax
law the difference
between avoidance
and evasion. Tax
avoidance involves
structuring your
finances to legally minimize your taxes.
In contrast, tax evasion is refusing to pay
taxes that you owe. Obviously, when it
comes to mitzvos, evasion — refraining
from fulfilling an obligation — is sinful.
Is it possible or even proper to find a legal
way to avoid bringing a korban Pesach, the
special sacrifice brought on the afternoon
before the first night of Pesach? The
discussion about this question will take us
to broader, more fundamental issues with
surprising implications.
The Torah allows for an exemption from
the korban Pesach for someone who is
impure or on a distant journey (Num.
9:10). In such a case, you are exempt from
bringing the sacrifice on the afternoon
before Pesach but you still have to bring it
a month later, for Pesach sheini. Someone
who does not bring a korban Pesach
and lacks the exemption of impurity or
distance, receives a punishment of kareis,

severance from the nation (ibid., 13).
One year in Mishnaic times, the first day
of Pesach fell on Shabbos. There was a
debate whether we are allowed to bring
the korban chagigah on Shabbos. The
majority believed we should not while
Yehudah Ben Dortai believed we are
obligated to do so. To avoid missing what
he considered an obligation, Yehudah
Ben Dortai and his son went up north
for Pesach, to be sufficiently distant that
they were exempt from bringing any
sacrifice (Pesachim 70b). It seems from
their actions that you are allowed to
intentionally exempt yourself from the
mitzvah (Pesach avoidance).
II. The Thirty Day Rule
The Gemara (Pesachim 70b) tells the story
of R. Yehudah Ben Beseira discussing with
a gentile the latter’s plan to experience the
korban Pesach in Jerusalem. While that
story is interesting in itself, it seems clear
that R. Yehudah Ben Beseira did not go
to Jerusalem for the korban Pesach. How

can that be? Tosafos (ad loc., s.v. me-
alyah) suggest that either he was old and

unable to travel, lived far away or did not
own land in Israel. The last exemption
is the subject of much discussion and
debate. Setting that aside, it seems that

R. Yehudah Ben Beseira was exempt
from the korban Pesach and did not try to
bring one. Even if his only exemption was
living far from Jerusalem, he still did not
travel in advance to be in Jerusalem for
Pesach. Rav Yechezkel Landau (18th cen.,
Austria) says that explicitly: if you live far
away from Jerusalem, you do not have to
go there to bring a korban Pesach because
you are exempt (Tzelach, ad loc.).
Rav Yosef Babad (19th cen., Ukraine)
struggles with this idea. Of course there
is an obligation for every Jew throughout
the world to go to Jerusalem to bring the
korban Pesach in its proper time. If despite
your efforts, you do not arrive in time or
become impure, then you can bring the
sacrifice a month later on Pesach sheini.
However, he recognizes the validity of the
contrary sources above and leaves them as
an open question (Minchas Chinuch 5:13).
Rav Ya’akov Emden (18th cen.,
Germany) argues similarly. Is it really
possible to say that only those who live
within 15 Talmudic miles of the Temple in
Jerusalem have to bring a korban Pesach
on the afternoon before Pesach? Everyone
else qualifies as far away and therefore is
exempt. How can we not be required to put
in a modest effort to get to Jerusalem for
the holiday in order to bring the special
sacrifice? Rather, he suggests, we have
to prepare for the holiday thirty days
in advance. We see a halachah of thirty
days of preparation appear in a variety
of places. If you live more than a thirty
day journey from Jerusalem, then you
are exempt. The two Talmudic figures
mentioned above must have been more
than thirty days away from Jerusalem
(She’eilas Ya’abetz 1:127).
III. An Astonishing Exemption
Rav Avraham Danzig (19th cen.,
Lithuania) notes that we are obligated to
spend up to 20% of our net worth in order
to fulfill a positive biblical obligation. He
asks whether that means we are obligated
to travel away from our homes in order to
fulfill a mitzvah. For example, if there is
no shofar in the city, do we have to spend
Rosh Hashanah in another city in order
to fulfill that mitzvah? In his Nishmas
Adam (68:19), Rav Danzig argues that
we do not have to leave our hometown
in order to fulfill a mitzvah. If there is
no shofar, we make do without. The
obligation only begins when the time to
fulfill the mitzvah starts, which is on the
holiday, not thirty days in advance. On
the holiday, it is generally impossible to
go to another city. Therefore, you do not
have to leave your city in order to fulfill
a mitzvah. The same applies to sukkah

and the korban Pesach.
Rav Moshe Sternbuch (cont., Israel)
writes with astonishment about this
conclusion (Mo’adim U-Zemanim, vol.
1, no. 3). If you don’t have to prepare for
a mitzvah, you can find yourself exempt
from a wide variety of mitzvos. You can
board an airplane at night without tefillin
and then not wear them the entire trip.
Don’t buy a lulav and then when Sukkos
arrives, you are exempt from the mitzvah.
Granted, this is a bit of an exaggeration.
Once morning arrives, you are obligated
to find a pair of tefillin, even if it costs you
up to 20% of your assets. So check with
your financial advisor before going on a
trip without tefillin. And while you can’t
buy a lulav on Yom Tov, you can walk
around the city trying to borrow (in the
proper fashion) someone else’s. But still,
this entire approach seems implausible to
Rav Sternbuch.
Rather, Rav Sternbuch distinguishes
between someone who is exempt from
a mitzvah (patur) and someone who
is unable to fulfill it (annus). You are
obligated to avoid being annus by
preparing in advance a shofar, lulav,
tefillin, etc. You do not necessarily have to
have your own but you have to ensure that
you will be able to fulfill the mitzvah. You
cannot place yourself in a state of inability
to fulfill the mitzvah. In contrast, someone
who is far away from Jerusalem is exempt
from bringing the korban Pesach. You are
allowed to place yourself in a situation of
exemption (patur), just not a situation of
inability (annus).
In summary, there seems to be a debate
whether we are allowed to intentionally
exempt ourselves from the korban Pesach
or must travel for up to thirty days in order
to bring it. With today’s technology, most
places in the world are within a thirty
day journey of Jerusalem. Of course, we
should all strive to fulfill as many mitzvos
in as best a way as possible. However, if
there is no absolute obligation, we have
more flexibility in planning our schedules
and attending to unusual situations.