Talmud - Hagigah 17b חגיגה י״ז ב׳

The Gemara answers: One may leave Jerusalem only in the morning, after staying there for the night following the Festival, as it is written following the laws of the Paschal offering: “And you shall turn in the morning and go to your tents” (Deuteronomy 16:7).

§ We learned in the mishna: If the festival of Shavuot occurs on the eve of Shabbat, Beit Shammai say: The day of slaughter is after Shabbat; and Beit Hillel say: It does not have a day of slaughter. What, is it not that it does not have a day of slaughter at all; i.e., there are no days of redress for an offering that was meant to be sacrificed on the festival of Shavuot itself? The Gemara rejects this: No, Beit Hillel means that it does not require a day of slaughter.

The Gemara asks: And what does this teach us; that all offerings are sacrificed on their day? But they have already disputed this once, as we learned in a mishna: Beit Shammai say: One may bring peace-offerings on a Festival but one may not place his hands on them. However, one may not bring burnt-offerings at all; and Beit Hillel say: One may bring peace-offerings and also burnt-offerings, and one places his hands on both of them. Why is it necessary to restate this argument in different terms?

The Gemara answers: It is necessary, for had the mishna taught us only this case, that Beit Shammai prohibits bringing burnt-offerings on a Festival, we might have said: It is with regard to this case, a regular Festival followed by a weekday, that Beit Shammai state their opinion, because it is possible to sacrifice these burnt-offerings on the following day, on the day of slaughter after the Festival; but there, with regard to a Shavuot that occurs on a Friday, when one cannot sacrifice offerings on the following day, you might perhaps say that they agree with Beit Hillel that the burnt-offerings should be sacrificed on the Festival itself. It was therefore necessary to state that Beit Shammai’s view is the same in both cases.

The reverse also applies: And had it taught us only that case, that there is no day of slaughter after Shabbat, we might have said: It is with regard to that case that Beit Hillel state their view, that the offerings should be sacrificed on the Festival itself, because it is not possible to sacrifice them on the following day, which is Shabbat; but here, on a regular Festival followed by a weekday, you might say that perhaps they agree with Beit Shammai. It is therefore necessary for the mishna to specify both cases. The question of whether there are days of redress for Shavuot according to Beit Hillel therefore remains unresolved.

The Gemara suggests: Come and hear a proof from a different source: One who did not celebrate by sacrificing the peace-offerings of the Festival on the seven days of Passover, or on the eight days of the festival of Sukkot, or on the first day of Shavuot may no longer celebrate and sacrifice those offerings. The Gemara infers: Does this not mean that if one did not sacrifice on the Festival day of Shavuot itself, this lapse cannot be remedied, thereby demonstrating that there are no days of redress for Shavuot? The Gemara refutes this: No, the term Festival day is referring to the day of slaughter, rather than the Festival itself. The Gemara immediately counters: If so, let us at least resolve from here, i.e., the mishna that there is only one day of slaughter and not seven days. The Gemara rejects this: Say that the wording of the mishna should be corrected, so that instead of: A day of slaughter, it reads: Days of slaughter.

The Gemara suggests further: Come and hear a proof from another source, as Rabba bar Shmuel taught the following baraita: The Torah said to count thirty days, as it is stated: “A month of days” (Numbers 11:20), and then sanctify the month with offerings. And the Torah also said to count days from Passover and then sanctify the festival of Shavuot with offerings, as it is stated: “You shall count fifty days” (Leviticus 23:16). From this comparison, we learn the following halakha: Just as the new month is sanctified for the unit of time by which it is counted, i.e., for one day, so too, Shavuot is sanctified for the unit of time by which it is counted, i.e., for one full week, as it is stated: “Seven complete weeks shall there be” (Leviticus 23:15). The Gemara infers from this: Does this not mean that we learn from the month? If so, we can also learn that just as the festival of a month, the New Moon, is one day, so too Shavuot is only one day, without days of redress.

Rava said: And how can you understand it that way? Is that to say that for Shavuot we count days but we do not count weeks? Didn’t Abaye say: It is a mitzva to count days, in the counting of the omer, as it is written: “Until the morrow of the seventh week, you shall count fifty days” (Leviticus 23:16); and it is also a mitzva to count weeks, as it is written: “Seven weeks you shall count for yourself, from when the sickle is first put to the standing corn” (Deuteronomy 16:9); and further, it is written: “The festival of weeks [shavuot]” (Deuteronomy 16:10), which indicates that it is a Festival that is established through a count of weeks? Consequently, the days of redress for Shavuot should last a week, in accordance with its components.

§ In the school of Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov, a Sage taught the following: The verse states with regard to Shavuot: “And you shall make a proclamation on this very day, it shall be a holy convocation, you shall do no kind of laborious work” (Leviticus 23:21), and it states in the same chapter: “And when you reap the harvest of your land” (Leviticus 23:22). Which is the Festival on which you make a proclamation and also reap, i.e., which Festival occurs in the harvest season? You must say it is the festival of Shavuot.

The Gemara proceeds to analyze the teaching: When exactly does this refer to? If we say it is referring to the Festival day itself, is it permitted to reap on a Festival? Obviously, ordinary work is prohibited on Festivals. Rather, is it not referring to the issue of redress? In other words, it speaks of those days on which redress can be made for the offerings of the Festival, i.e., the days of slaughter, on which one may indeed reap because they are regular weekdays, and they nevertheless have a festive quality.

The Gemara comments: And even though the teaching that Rabbi Elazar said that Rabbi Oshaya said, that the halakha of the redress for Shavuot is derived from the comparison to Passover, was stated, it was nevertheless necessary to state the teaching of Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov as well, for if we had learned only the proof that Rabbi Elazar said that Rabbi Oshaya said, I would say the following: Just as on the days of redress for the festival of Passover it is prohibited to perform any work that will not cause irretrievable loss, as they are part of the Festival, so too on the days of redress for Shavuot it is also prohibited to perform work. We are therefore taught the statement of Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov as well, that on these festive days one may reap, as they are weekdays. Conversely, if we had learned the halakha only from the words of Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov,

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

Chagiga 17b examines when pilgrims may leave Jerusalem after a Festival and debates between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel over sacrificing offerings when Shavuot falls before Shabbat.