Talmud - Pesahim 88b פסחים פ״ח ב׳

You have remedied the situation of his master, who benefits fully from all his rights to the slave, but his own situation you have not remedied. How so? He is not able to marry a maidservant, since half of him is already free, and a free Jew may not marry a Canaanite maidservant. He is also not able to marry a free woman, since half of him is still a slave, and a Jewish woman may not marry a Canaanite slave. And if you say he should be idle and not marry, but is it not true that the world was created only for procreation, as it is stated: “He did not create it to be a waste; He formed it to be inhabited” (Isaiah 45:18)? Rather, for the improvement of the world we force his master to make him a free man, and the slave writes a bill accepting his responsibility to pay half his value to his master. This was the original version of the mishna.

The ultimate version of the mishna records the retraction of Beit Hillel: And Beit Hillel retracted its position and ruled like Beit Shammai.

MISHNA: In the case of one who says to his slave: Go and slaughter the Paschal offering on my behalf, but does not specify which type of animal to slaughter, the halakha is as follows: If the slave slaughtered a kid, his master may eat it; if he slaughtered a lamb, his master may eat it. If the slave slaughtered both a kid and a lamb, his master should eat from the first one that was slaughtered; the second is invalid and should be burned.

If the master had stated explicitly which type of animal to slaughter, but the slave forgot what his master said to him, what should he do? He should slaughter both a lamb and a kid and say the following stipulation: If my master said to me that I should slaughter a kid, the kid is for his Paschal offering and the lamb is for mine; and if my master said to me that I should slaughter a lamb, the lamb is for his Paschal offering and the kid is for mine. In this way, once the master ultimately clarifies what he had originally said, both animals may be used accordingly.

If his master also forgot what he said to him, neither animal may be used, since it has not been clarified which of the animals the slave and master are registered for. Therefore, both of them, the lamb and the kid, go out to the place designated for burning, in accordance with the halakha pertaining to offerings that may not be eaten. However, despite this, both the master and slave are exempt from observing the second Pesaḥ if the blood of the animals has already been applied to the altar before the master forgot.

GEMARA: The mishna teaches that if the master did not specify which type of animal he wishes to use, he eats from whichever type the slave slaughters. The Gemara exclaims: It is obvious. Since the master did not specify, he apparently does not have a preference. Therefore, whichever animal is used will be acceptable. The Gemara answers: The mishna’s ruling is necessary in the case where the slave slaughtered a kid. His master may eat it even though the master is accustomed to use a lamb. Even though he is accustomed to do so, it is not presumed that he is particular to use only a lamb, since he did not explicitly say so. Similarly, if the slave slaughtered a lamb, his master may eat it, although he is accustomed to use a kid for his Paschal offering.

We learned in the mishna: If the slave slaughtered a kid and a lamb, his master should eat from the first one the slave slaughtered. To allow for the possibility of eating from whichever one is slaughtered first, the master must have been registered to eat from either animal. The Gemara cites a baraita that appears to contradict this: Wasn’t it taught: One may not be registered for two Paschal offerings at once?

The Gemara answers: The mishna discusses a case of a king and queen and similar cases of those for whom food is supplied by slaves. They are content with whatever food is presented to them, since all their food is of good quality. Such people have the intent to be registered with whichever animal their slaves select to slaughter first, and only with that animal.

And similarly, it was taught in a baraita: One may not register for two Paschal offerings at once. And there was an incident involving a king and queen who said to their slaves: Go and slaughter the Paschal offering on our behalf. And they went out and slaughtered two Paschal offerings on their behalf. They came and asked the king which one he wished to eat. He said to them: Go and ask the queen. They came and asked the queen. She said to them: Go and ask Rabban Gamliel to rule which one should be used.

They came and asked Rabban Gamliel. He said to them: A king and queen, who are easily accepting of whichever foods their slaves choose to present to them, should eat from the first one that was slaughtered, since it is presumed they wished to be registered for any animal the slaves selected. But we, the general populace, who have limited supplies of food and so are particular about what food is served to us, would not eat from the first or from the second, since it is not permitted to be registered for two Paschal lambs at once.

And another time there was a similar incident involving the king, queen, and Rabban Gamliel. It happened that a dead lizard was found in the kitchen of the royal house. Since a lizard is one of the creeping animals whose carcasses impart ritual impurity upon contact, they wanted to pronounce the entire meal ritually impure. They came and asked the king. He said to them: Go and ask the queen. They came and asked the queen. She said to them: Go and ask Rabban Gamliel to rule on the matter.

They came and asked him, and he said to them: Is the kitchen boiling or cold? They said to him: It is boiling. He said to them: Go and pour a cup of cold liquid upon the lizard. They went and poured a cup of cold liquid on it and it quivered, demonstrating that it was still alive. That being the case, Rabban Gamliel pronounced the entire meal to be ritually pure, as a live creeping animal does not impart ritual impurity.

The Gemara comments: It turns out that the king is dependent on the queen, and it turns out that the queen is dependent on Rabban Gamliel. And so it turns out that the entire royal meal is dependent upon Rabban Gamliel.

We learned in the mishna: If the master had explicitly stated which type of animal to slaughter, but the slave forgot what his master said to him, the slave should slaughter both a lamb and a kid and stipulate: If my master said to slaughter a kid, the kid is for his Paschal offering and the lamb is for mine. The Gemara asks: How does it help if the slave stipulates that lamb will be for mine? Whatever a slave acquires, he does not gain ownership of it; rather, his master acquires it in his stead.

Abaye said the slave can retain ownership of the lamb in the following manner: The slave goes to a shepherd that his master regularly patronizes, since it can be assumed such a person is pleased to find a solution for his master. The shepherd grants the slave ownership of one of the animals on condition that his master has no rights to it. With this condition, the slave is able to retain ownership of the animal, thus allowing him to effectively make the stipulation described in the mishna.

We learned in the mishna: If a slave forgot which animal his master had specified and therefore offered a lamb and a kid with a stipulation, and his master also forgot what he said to him, neither animal may be used. Instead, both are burned. However, despite this, both the master and the slave are exempt from observing the second Pesaḥ. Abaye said: They taught that they are exempt from the second Pesaḥ in a case where the master forgot only after the sprinkling of the blood on the altar, for at the time the blood of each animal was sprinkled, it was still fit to be eaten, since the master still knew which animal he desired. Both animals are therefore considered to have been offered properly, and so both master and slave are exempt from the second Pesaḥ. But if the slave had already forgotten which animal he specified before the sprinkling, so that when the blood was sprinkled the offering was not fit to be eaten, the animals are not considered to have been properly offered. Consequently, the master and slave are both obligated to observe the second Pesaḥ.

Some teach this statement of Abaye as referring to the following baraita: Five people had the hides of their Paschal lambs mixed up together, and a wart was found on one of them. Since a wart is one of the blemishes that disqualify an animal from being used as an offering, the Paschal lamb from which the hide came is invalid. Since it is not possible to identify which lamb the hide came from, the meat of all of the lambs must go out to the place designated for burning. Nevertheless, all five people are exempt from observing the second Pesaḥ.

It is with regard to this baraita that Abaye said: They taught that they are all exempt from the second Pesaḥ in a case where the hides were mixed up together only after the sprinkling of the blood on the altar, for at the time the blood of each of the other four animals was sprinkled, each one of the four unblemished lambs was, at any rate, fit to be eaten, and therefore the owners are considered to have fulfilled their obligation to slaughter a fit Paschal lamb. As such, they are exempt from the second Pesaḥ. But if they were mixed up together before the sprinkling, each of the five lambs could possibly be the blemished one. Because of the doubt that exists with regard to all of them, they are all disqualified from being offered. Therefore, none of the five people fulfill their obligation, and they are all obligated to observe the second Pesaḥ.

The Gemara comments: The one who teaches this statement of Abaye as referring to the case in the mishna, where the disqualification is due only to a lack of awareness of which animals are registered for whom, but the animals themselves are inherently valid to be used, he would say that Abaye’s ruling applies all the more so to the baraita, where the disqualification is due to a blemish in the body of the animal itself. However, the one who teaches Abaye’s statement as referring to the case in the baraita would say that with regard to the mishna, no, it does not apply. Since both animals are inherently valid to be used, for if the slave remembers which animal the master requested, each one will be fit to be eaten, the following may be said: It is revealed before God in Heaven which offering belongs to which person; the lack of awareness of this information does not impinge on the offerings’ validity, and therefore both the master and slave are exempt from the second Pesaḥ.

The Gemara returns to discuss the previously mentioned baraita concerning five people who offered Paschal lambs, and it was made clear that one of the lambs was invalid: The Master said: All of them are exempt from observing the second Pesaḥ. The Gemara asks: But there is one, the owner of the lamb with the blemished hide, who did not fulfill his obligation to bring a valid Paschal lamb. How then can all five be exempt?

The Gemara answers: Because it is not possible to do otherwise; for what should he do? Let each one of the five bring a Paschal lamb. This would not be a solution. They would be bringing unconsecrated animals into the Temple courtyard, since four of them, i.e., the owners of the unblemished lambs, have already validly performed the ritual of the Paschal lamb. They are not obligated to bring another Paschal lamb; therefore, they are unable to consecrate another Paschal lamb. If they attempt to do so, the lamb remains unconsecrated and may not be brought into the Temple courtyard.

The Gemara suggests an alternative way for the five to ensure that they have all fulfilled their obligations: Let them all bring one Paschal lamb as a unified group. The Gemara rejects this as well: This would also not be a solution. It would turn out that the Paschal lamb was eaten by those who have not registered for it, since one who has already fulfilled his obligation to bring a Paschal lamb is unable to be registered in a group formed in order to offer another one.

What is this? Surely a solution can be found by using the following stipulation: Let each one bring his Paschal lamb and stipulate and say: If mine was the blemished lamb, this lamb that I am bringing now shall be a Paschal lamb, and if mine was unblemished, this lamb that I am bringing now shall be a peace-offering.

It is not possible to do this,

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

Pesachim 88b explores a half-slave's marriage restrictions and the mishna's rules for slaughtering the Paschal offering when instructions are unclear.