Ein Yaakov — Pesachim 77a / 78b
Must You Avoid Violating Shabbos for a Communal Korban?
Part of Ein Yaakov · 2:03
A short sugya on the halachos of tumah affecting a communal offering, and whether alternatives must be sought before overriding Shabbos.
Audio Transcript
When he brings it, it's a קרבן ציבור, it's a community korban. And community korban, the tumah is לכתחילה מותר when it comes to tzibbur. So therefore, you don't even need a ריצוי. So the כהן גדול, if he became tamei, it's a קרבן ציבור so the tumah is הותרה. So the hava amina was the other opinion learns that טומאה דחויה בציבור. It only gets pushed away, but you need a ריצוי. See there's מחלוקת in Gemara whether in this Gemara there, not it's not brought down in Ein Yaakov, is that if it comes to a קרבן ציבור, let's say most of the people are tamei, they still could bring the קרבן פסח because it's tzibbur. Is it דחויה or הותרה? דחויה means it's pushed away. It's still tamei, and it's still a problem, but the Torah says that problem this overcomes that problem. הותרה means it became mutar. It's not asur to begin with. By tzibbur, there's no problem of tumah. So he holds there's no problem, that's why he doesn't need ריצוי. But if you learn the other way, holds it's דחויה בציבור, even though the Torah says that you should do it, but you need a ריצוי. You need something to forgive for it. The Torah says do it, but I'll forgive you. The other way, you don't have to forgive, because there's no עבירה that's done. We find that חקירה, that שאלה, דחויה הותרה by many things. פקוח נפש, that on Shabbos you could מחלל שבת, if it's פקוח נפש, is it דחויה or הותרה? Is the פשט it's no problem, it's מותר, when it comes to pikuach nefesh it's מותר, or it's הותרה?
One of the differences is do you have to look for a way not to מחלל שבת? When it comes to someone with pikuach nefesh, do you have to try not to מחלל שבת? If it's דחויה, you have to. If it's הותרה, there's no Shabbos. Actually, the Rambam uses a לשון that לגבי פקוח נפש שבת is like chol, like the weekday. So it seems like he holds הותרה. But he uses the לשון דחויה. He says שבת שבת נדחה מפני פקוח נפש, it's דחויה because of pikuach nefesh, and then later he uses the לשון cuz שבת לגבי פקוח נפש is kachol. Which is a bit ס'איז דא א דריטע פשט אין Rambam, צוויי מדרגות, anyway. זאגט די Gemara ווייטער, דתניא, it says in a ברייתא, Rav Natan Rabbi Natan says, מניין שכל ישראל יוצאין בפסח אחד? How do you know that all the Yidden in theory, all the Yidden could bring one קרבן פסח?