OPINIONS: The Mishnah says that when the three groups slaughter their animals for the Korban Pesach on the day before Pesach, "they recite Hallel." Who exactly recites Hallel?

(a) TOSFOS (DH Kar'u, and in Sukah 54a, end of DH Shayar) explains that the Leviyim recite Hallel. He bases this assertion on the Tosefta (Pesachim 4:9) which says, "The Leviyim stood on their platform, and they would finish the Hallel in song." This is also consistent with the Mishnah in Erchin (10a) which states that there are twelve days in the year on which the Chalil is played in the Beis ha'Mikdash (these twelve days are the days on which Hallel is recited), and one of them is the day on which the Korban Pesach is slaughtered. The Mishnah there must refer to the Leviyim, because only the Leviyim are permitted to play musical instruments in the Beis ha'Mikdash. (Moreover, the topic of the Mishnah there is the songs of the Leviyim in the Beis ha'Mikdash.)

(b) RASHI says that the Mishnah refers to "all of the groups." Rashi implies that all of the people in the three groups recite Hallel. Rashi makes a similar statement in Sukah (54b, DH Erev Pesach). Tosfos infers from Rashi's words that Rashi maintains that all of the people in the Azarah recite Hallel, and not only the Leviyim.

However, this is not entirely evident from the words of Rashi here or in Sukah. Rashi says merely that Hallel is recited as each group enters the Azarah. He does not say that the members of the groups themselves sing Hallel. However, Rashi later (95b, DH Lailah) says that the reason Hallel is recited during the Shechitah of the Korban Pesach is because of the enactment of the prophets that the Jewish people recite Hallel on every Yom Tov. (On every other Yom Tov, that decree is fulfilled when everyone recites Hallel in the morning prayer service.) Furthermore, the Gemara there proves that the Jews must recite Hallel when they slaughter their animals for the Korban Pesach, because "how could it be that the Jews slaughter their Pesachim without saying Hallel?" Rashi there says that the performance of every Mitzvah warrants Hallel.

From Rashi's words there it is evident that everyone, not only the Leviyim, recite Hallel when the Korban Pesach is slaughtered. (Tosfos, who explains that only the Leviyim recite Hallel, may understand that the Gemara later refers to the Leviyim who sing Hallel when the Yisraelim slaughter their Korbanos.)

How does Rashi understand the Mishnah in Erchin, which implies that it is the Leviyim who recite Hallel? Rashi may understand that even though the Leviyim play the Chalil on the day that the Korban Pesach is slaughtered, that does not mean that they also recite Hallel. Similarly, Rashi may understand that the Tosefta means that the Leviyim stood on the Bimah and played the Chalil and "they," the Yisraelim, said Hallel.

(c) However, RASHI in Erchin (10a, DH v'Lo Hayah) clearly writes that the Leviyim sing Hallel on the days that the Chalil is played. Based on Rashi's words there, some Acharonim conclude that Rashi maintains that both the Leviyim and the Yisraelim in the Azarah recite Hallel.

1. The TOSFOS CHADASHIM (in Mishnayos) suggests that the Leviyim sang Hallel, as the Tosefta implies, and that everyone else responded to their Hallel, for the Hallel is said responsively (Sotah 26b).

2. The BRISKER RAV (in the beginning of Hilchos Korban Pesach) cites the Yalkut in Parshas Beha'aloscha which states that the Chatzotzeros were blown during the Shechitah of the Korban Pesach. The Brisker Rav points out that the musical instruments were always played in conjunction with the Shirah of the Leviyim. Therefore, he concludes that there are two different obligations to sing Hallel at the time of the Shechitah of the Korban Pesach. One obligation is the requirement for the Leviyim to sing when the Korban is offered. This obligation is a law in the Shir of the Korban, and it applies only to the Leviyim. A second obligation is the requirement to recite Hallel as an expression of joy and praise to Hash-m upon the fulfillment of a Mitzvah, as the Gemara later (95b) says. This applies to the Yisraelim. Therefore, both forms of Hallel -- that of the Leviyim and that of the Yisraelim -- would be said at the same time.

(The Brisker Rav explains that the reason why the Leviyim sing specifically the Shir of Hallel and not any other Shir when the Korban Pesach is slaughtered is because the Yerushalmi in Sukah (5:1) cites a source that proves that whenever the Chalil is played, Hallel is recited.)

QUESTION: The Mishnah says that after the three groups slaughter their Korbanos, "the first group sits in the Har ha'Bayis, the second in the Chayil, and the third one in its place [in the Azarah] it stands."

Why does the Mishnah add that the third group "stands" in its place, and not say simply, "and the third one in its place," as it says with regard to the second group? Furthermore, why does the Mishnah reverse the order of the predicate? The Mishnah says that the first group "sits in the Har ha'Bayis," but the third group "in its place it stands" ("bi'Mekomo Omedes," as opposed to "Omedes bi'Mekomo").

ANSWER: REBBI AKIVA EIGER (in Mishnayos) quotes the Yerushalmi in Sotah (8:8; see also TOSFOS to Sotah 40b, DH v'ha'Amar) which explains why the third group specifically "stands" in the Azarah. The Yerushalmi says that no one is permitted to sit in the Azarah except for kings of Davidic ancestry (Sotah 40b). Therefore, the Mishnah emphasizes that the members of the third group -- who remained in the Azarah after they slaughtered their Korbanos -- had to stand.

This might also be the reason for the reversal of the order of the text in the Mishnah. In a normal sentence, the causative element precedes the effect. The first group "sits in Har ha'Bayis" -- they needed a place to sit, so they sat where they happened to be located, in Har ha'Bayis. The last group had to stay in the Azarah, and as a result they needed to remain standing there. Therefore, the Mishnah says that "bi'Mekomo Omedes" because it was the place in which they were located that was the cause of the requirement to stand. (M. KORNFELD)

QUESTION: The Mishnah (64a) says that the owner of the Korban Pesach slaughters his Korban himself, and then the Kohen is Mekabel the blood. The Gemara infers from the Mishnah that the obligation for a Kohen to perform the Avodah of a Korban applies only from the Kabalah of the blood and onward. The parts of the Avodah before the Kabalas ha'Dam (such as the Shechitah) may be done by a non-Kohen.

The Gemara implies that there is no specific obligation for the Yisrael himself to perform the Shechitah of his Korban. Rather, he is permitted to perform the Shechitah if he wants. Indeed, RASHI (DH Shachat) seems to emphasize this point on the Mishnah when he says that "the Yisrael slaughters [the Korban] if he wants."

However, Rashi earlier in Pesachim (7b, DH Pesach) writes that it is a Mitzvah for the owner to slaughter his own Korban Pesach. This is also evident from the Gemara in Kidushin (41b) which teaches that the source for the principle of "Shelucho Shel Adam Kemoso" -- "[an act performed by] the Shali'ach of a person is like [an act performed by the person] himself" -- is the law that one Shali'ach may slaughter the Korban Pesach on behalf of all of the members of the Chaburah. The Gemara there clearly implies that each owner of the Korban Pesach is obligated to slaughter the Korban, because if he is not obligated, there is no need to appoint a Shali'ach.

The SEFAS EMES points out that this is also evident from Rashi in Divrei ha'Yamim II (30:16). Rashi there implies that it is preferable that the owner slaughter his Korban rather than have the Kohen slaughter it for him, presumably because of the principle of "Mitzvah Bo Yoser mi'b'Shelucho."

Why, then, does the Gemara here not explain that the Mishnah teaches that the Yisrael has a Mitzvah to slaughter his Korban? Why does the Gemara focus only on the Mishnah's statement that the Kohen is Mekabel the blood?

ANSWER: Perhaps the Gemara does not explain that the Mishnah teaches that the Yisrael is obligated to slaughter his Korban, because it is possible that the owner of the Korban himself is a Kohen. Since that might be the case of the Mishnah, the Gemara cannot infer from the Mishnah that a Yisrael is obligated to slaughter his Korban. Second, even if the owner of the Korban Pesach has an obligation to slaughter the animal himself, the owner can appoint a Kohen to be his Shali'ach to slaughter the animal, and the owner thereby fulfills the Mitzvah to slaughter his Korban. There is no proof that the owner must actually slaughter the animal. Third, the MINCHAS BARUCH (#14) proves that b'Di'eved, if someone who is not the owner or a Shali'ach of the owner performs the Shechitah, the Shechitah is valid. The Gemara does not infer from the Mishnah that the owner must slaughter his own Korban, because, b'Di'eved, the Shechitah could be done by someone else. The only law that the Mishnah certainly is teaching is that after the Shechitah, no one except a Kohen may perform the Avodah.