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Text Excerpt
שהרי משה עומד בפסח ראשון, ומזהיר על הפסח שני, שנאמר: ״ויעשו בני ישראל את הפסח במועדו״, וכתיב: ״ויהי אנשים אשר היו טמאים לנפש אדם״.
The Talmud explains that this halakha is derived from the fact that Moses was standing at the time of the first Pesaḥ, on the 14th of Nisan, and warning the people about the halakhot of the second Pesaḥ, which occurred a month later, on the 14th of Iyyar. As it is stated that God said to Moses: “Let the children of Israel perform the Pesaḥ at its appointed time” (Numbers 9:2). A subsequent verse says: “And Moses told the children of Israel to perform the Pesaḥ, and they performed the Pesaḥ in the 1st month on the 14th of the month in the evening, in the desert of Sinai” (Numbers 9:4–5). And it is written in the next verse: “And there were people who were impure due to a dead body and could not perform the Passover on that day, and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day” (Numbers 9:6), at which point Moses explained the halakhot of the second Pesaḥ to them. This proves that one begins studying the halakhot of the Festival 30 days beforehand.
ורבן שמעון בן גמליאל אמר לך: איידי דאיירי במילי דפסחא, מסיק להו לכל מילי דפסחא.
And Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel could have said to you in rejecting that proof: Since Moses was speaking with regard to the laws of Passover, he completed teaching all the matters of Passover, including those of the second Pesaḥ. Consequently, one cannot derive a principle from this case.
מאי טעמא דרבן שמעון בן גמליאל? שהרי משה עומד בראש החדש, ומזהיר על הפסח, שנאמר: ״החדש הזה לכם ראש חדשים״, וכתיב: ״דברו אל כל עדת ישראל לאמר בעשר לחדש הזה ויקחו להם איש שה לבית אבות וגו׳״.
The Talmud asks: What is the reason for Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel’s ruling? He explains that Moses was standing on the 1st day of Nisan and warning about the performance of the first Pesaḥ, as it is stated: “This month should be for you the beginning of the months, the first of the months of the year” (Exodus 12:2). And it is written in the next verse: “Speak to the entire congregation of Israel, saying: On the 10th day of this month they should take for them every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for each household” (Exodus 12:3). The Torah proceeds to detail the halakhot of the Paschal lamb sacrificed on the 14th day of that month.