28 Mar PESACH AVOIDANCE

I. Avoiding the
Korban Pesach
We know from tax law
the difference between
avoidance and evasion.
Tax avoidance involves
structuring your fi nances
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 fulfi lling an obligation — is sinful. Is it
possible or even proper to fi nd a legal way to
avoid bringing a korban Pesach, the special
sacrifi ce brought on the afternoon before
the fi rst 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
sacrifi ce 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 fi rst 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 suffi ciently distant
that they were exempt from bringing any
sacrifi ce (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 sacrifi ce 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 qualifi es 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 sacrifi ce? 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 fi gures 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 fulfi ll a positive biblical obligation. He
asks whether that means we are obligated
to travel away from our homes in order to
fulfi ll 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
fulfi ll that mitzvah? In his Nishmas Adam
(68:19), Rav Danzig argues that we do
not have to leave our hometown in order
to fulfi ll a mitzvah. If there is no shofar,
we make do without. The obligation only
begins when the time to fulfi ll 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 fulfi ll 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 fi nd yourself exempt
from a wide variety of mitzvos. You can
board an airplane at night without tefi llin
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 fi nd a
pair of tefi llin, even if it costs you up to 20%
of your assets. So check with your fi nancial
advisor before going on a trip without tefi llin.
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 fulfi ll it (annus). You are obligated to avoid
being annus by preparing in advance a shofar,
lulav, tefi llin, etc. You do not necessarily have
to have your own but you have to ensure that
you will be able to fulfi ll the mitzvah. You
cannot place yourself in a state of inability to
fulfi ll 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 fulfi ll as many mitzvos in as best
a way as possible. However, if there is no
absolute obligation, we have more fl exibility
in planning our schedules and attending to
unusual situations.