Talmud - Beitza 19b ביצה י״ט ב׳

However, with regard to vow-offerings and gift-offerings, all agree that they may not be sacrificed on the actual Festival day, as stated by Ulla and Rav Adda bar Ahava.

§ The Gemara comments that in this matter, these tanna’im are like those tanna’im, who also disagreed about the same issue, as it is taught in a baraita: One may not bring a thanks-offering on the festival of Matzot due to the leavened bread included with it, as a thanks-offering must be accompanied by a meal-offering of forty loaves, ten of which are leavened bread, which may not be eaten on Passover. Nor may one bring this offering on Shavuot because it is a Festival, on which one may not bring any offering, even one that is eaten, if it is not part of the Festival obligations. However, a person may bring his thanks-offering on the festival of Sukkot.

The baraita continues: Rabbi Shimon says: But it says: “On the festival of Matzot, on the festival of Shavuot, and on the festival of Sukkot” (Deuteronomy 16:16), to teach: Any offering that comes on the festival of Matzot may come on the festival of Shavuot and on the festival of Sukkot, and any offering that does not come on the festival of Matzot may not come on the festival of Shavuot or on the festival of Sukkot. Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, says: A person may bring his thanks-offering on the festival of Sukkot and fulfill with it his obligation to bring peace-offerings of rejoicing. One fulfills the mitzva to rejoice on a Festival by eating the meat of offerings, and this obligation can be fulfilled with the meat of a thanks-offering. But he does not fulfill with it the obligation to bring a Festival peace-offering.

The Gemara analyzes the baraita cited above. The Master said in the baraita that one may not bring a thanks-offering on the festival of Matzot due to the leavened bread included with it. The Gemara expresses surprise: It is obvious that one may not bring this offering on Passover, as it contains leavened bread. Rav Adda, son of Rav Yitzḥak, said, and some say it was Rav Shmuel bar Abba who said: Here, this baraita is not discussing Passover itself; rather, we are dealing with a thanks-offering sacrificed on the fourteenth of Nisan, i.e., on Passover eve, and this tanna holds that one may not bring consecrated offerings to a situation where the time that they may be eaten is restricted, thereby increasing the likelihood of disqualification. Although it is permitted to eat leavened bread until the sixth hour of the fourteenth of Nisan, one may not bring a thanks-offering on Passover eve. The reason is that a thanks-offering may usually be eaten for one full day and the following night, and if it is brought on the eve of Passover, the time available before disqualification is reduced.

It was further taught in the baraita: Nor may one bring a thanks-offering on Shavuot because it is a Festival. The Gemara explains: This tanna holds that vow-offerings and gift-offerings may not be sacrificed on a Festival.

The baraita continues: However, a person may bring his thanks-offering on the festival of Sukkot. The Gemara asks: When? If we say he may bring it on the Festival day of Sukkot itself, this is difficult, as didn’t you say: Nor may one bring a thanks-offering on Shavuot because it is a Festival, indicating that a thanks-offering may not be brought on an actual Festival day? The same should apply to Sukkot. Rather, it means that one may bring it on the intermediate days of the Festival.

The baraita further taught that Rabbi Shimon says: But it says: “On the festival of Matzot, on the festival of Shavuot, and on the festival of Sukkot,” to teach: Any offering that comes on the festival of Matzot may come on the festival of Shavuot and on the festival of Sukkot, and any offering that does not come on the festival of Matzot may not come on the festival of Shavuot or on the festival of Sukkot. This seems to indicate that thanks-offerings may not be brought on any Festival. Rabbi Zeira strongly objects to this: Now, if we may chop kindling wood on the intermediate days of the Festival for the sake of the Festival, is it necessary to state that it is permitted to sacrifice vow-offerings and gift-offerings on the intermediate Festival days? How can it be suggested that Rabbi Shimon prohibits bringing thanks-offerings on the intermediate days of the festival of Sukkot?

Abaye said: With regard to sacrificing these offerings on the intermediate days of a Festival, everyone agrees that it is permitted. When they disagree, it is not with regard to the halakhot of a Festival but with respect to determining when one is liable for violating the prohibition: You must not delay. If one vows to bring an offering but fails to fulfill his pledge, how much time must pass before he transgresses the prohibition: “You shall not delay to pay it” (Deuteronomy 23:22)?

The first tanna holds that the Merciful One states three Festivals in the Torah, even not in their proper order, meaning not in accordance with the yearly cycle found in the Torah: Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot. As soon as three Festivals have passed from the day a person took his vow, if he has yet to bring his offering, he has transgressed the prohibition against delaying. Therefore, the first tanna advises a person who vowed to bring a thanks-offering to do so on Sukkot, even if it is the first Festival after his vow, and even though it is not the first Festival listed by the Torah. If he fails to do so, he will have to make a special trip to Jerusalem in order to sacrifice the offering, as he will not be able to sacrifice it on Passover due to the leavened bread it contains, or on Shavuot because it does not have intermediate Festival days.

But Rabbi Shimon holds that if three Festivals have passed in their proper order, yes, he has violated the prohibition against delaying; but if they have passed not in their proper order, he has not violated the prohibition. If, for example, one vowed to bring an offering between Passover and Shavuot, he may put off bringing the offering until Sukkot of the following year, and therefore he would not be required to travel an extra time to Jerusalem specifically for this purpose.

The baraita further taught that Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, says: A person may bring his thanks-offering on the festival of Sukkot. The Gemara asks: When? If we say that he means on the intermediate days of the Festival, this is identical to the opinion of the first tanna of the baraita. Rather, he must be referring to the Festival day itself, and he holds that vow-offerings and gift-offerings may be sacrificed on a Festival.

The Gemara asks: If so, what is different about the festival of Sukkot that he cited it specifically as an example of a Festival? The Gemara answers: Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, conforms to his standard line of reasoning, and this ruling too is related to the prohibition against delaying. As it is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Shimon says: The verse did not have to say “the festival of Sukkot,” of which the immediately preceding verse was speaking; it was only necessary to add the other Festivals. Why, then, is “the festival of Sukkot” stated? It is to say that this Festival, i.e., Sukkot, must be the last one with regard to the prohibition against delaying; one transgresses the prohibition only if the three Festivals have passed in their proper order, so that Sukkot is the last of the three.

However, Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, says: It comes to say that this Festival is what causes a person to be late in fulfilling his vow. In his view, the prohibition against delaying does not depend on the number of Festivals. Rather, it means that by the time of Sukkot, the last Festival according to the yearly cycle found in the Torah, one must have brought all of his vow-offerings of that year. Even one who vowed to bring an offering just before Sukkot must bring his offering before the Festival ends.

It is taught in the baraita: A person may bring his thanks-offering on the festival of Sukkot and fulfill with it his obligation to bring peace-offerings of rejoicing, but he does not fulfill with it the obligation to bring a Festival peace-offering. The Gemara expresses surprise: It is obvious that one does not fulfill his obligation to bring a Festival peace-offering with his thanks-offering. The Festival peace-offering is an obligatory matter, as everyone is obligated to bring this offering, and the principle is that anything that is an obligatory matter must come only from that which is non-sacred, meaning that one cannot bring an obligatory offering from an animal that has already been consecrated for another purpose. It follows that one cannot discharge his obligation to bring a Festival peace-offering with a thanks-offering, as he is already obligated to bring the latter and has consecrated the animal for this purpose.

The Gemara answers: No, it is necessary to state this halakha in order to teach that even if one specified at the time of his vow that he is consecrating the animal as a thanks-offering on condition that it may be used as a Festival peace-offering as well, he nevertheless does not fulfill his obligation with it.

This teaching is similar to the question that Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish asked of Rabbi Yoḥanan: With regard to one who vows and says: It is incumbent upon me to bring a thanks-offering, and I will also fulfill my obligation to bring a Festival peace-offering with it; or if he says: I am a nazirite,

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Beitza 19b examines rulings on bringing thanks-offerings during Matzot, Shavuot, and Sukkot, weighing leavened bread restrictions against Festival rejoicing obligations.