Sefer HaChinuch ספר החינוך

The commandment of the second Pesach (Pesach Sheni) on the fourteenth of Iyar: That anyone who was unable to offer the first Pesach-offering on the fourteenth day of Nissan — for example, due to impurity or because he was at a distance — [offer] the second Pesach-offering on the fourteenth day of Iyar; as it is stated (Numbers 9:11), “On the second month on the fourteenth day in the afternoon, you shall offer it.” The Sages taught us further (Pesachim 73a) that it is not specifically ritual impurity or distance, but any case of inadvertence or duress; or even if it was volitional and he did not offer the first one, he may offer the second one.

It is from the roots of the commandment that it is because the commandment of the Pesach-offering is a powerful and clear sign to all of the creation of the world. For at the time [of the exodus], God, blessed be He, performed great miracles and wonders for us and changed the nature of the world in the eyes of many nations. And [so] all the peoples of the earth saw that His providence and power is over the lower (earthly) beings. And then at that time, everyone believed and all who came after them believed that He, blessed be He, created the word ex nihilo at the time that He chose — and that was the well-known time. [As] even though creation ex nihilo is impossible according to the [laws of] nature, so too is splitting the depths of the sea to allow the passage of a great assemblage of people on dry land and returning them to their place, as is sustaining a large and numerous people for forty years on bread that would descend from the sky every day, and all the other signs and wonders that He performed for us at that time, as they all were novel and went against the laws of nature. This is the firm pillar of our faith and our Torah, for people who believe in the eternity of the universe have no Torah and no share in the world to come. This thing is well-known and there is no need to elaborate on well-known matters. Therefore, it was His will, blessed be He, to allow every man of Israel to merit in this important commandment, and that an accident or long-distance not impede him from fulfilling it. Rather, “if trouble will occur to him” and he is prevented in the first month and he did not do it with the earlier ones, he may do it in the second month. And since this is a great fundamental principle in our religion, the obligation even extends to a convert who converted between the first Pesach and the second, and so [too, to] a child who reached maturity between the two Pesachs — that they are obligated to [offer] the Pesach Sheni sacrifice. (See Mishneh Torah, Laws of Paschal Offering 6:7.)

From the laws of the commandment is that which they, may their memory be blessed, taught in Pesachim 95a in the chapter [entitled] Mi Shehayah Tamei, “What [are the differences] between first and second? On the first all leaven is forbidden to be seen or kept in one’s possession; on the second both leaven and matsah are with him in the house. The second is only observed one day, and there is no holiday or prohibition of labor. The first requires Hallel while eating it; the second does not require Hallel while eating it — though this and that require Hallel during the offering. Both are eaten roasted with matsah and marror,” as it is explicitly stated like that in the verse. “Both supersede the Shabbat, and neither may be left over or have bones broken in them,” as the verse explicitly warns about this too, with “do not leave over” and “they shall not break a bone in it.”

And if you ask, my son, why they are not completely equal, as behold, the verse explicitly states with respect to the Pesach Sheni sacrifice, “according to all the laws of the Pesach sacrifice shall you make it”; you should know that the Sages, may their memory be blessed, already alerted us to this. And they clarified in the chapter [entitled] Mi Shehayah Tamei (Pesachim 95a) that the verse refers only to details that pertain to the body of the Pesach sacrifice, such as eating it with matsah and marror, not leaving any over, and not breaking bones, as we have explained. They taught us this from [the fact] that the verse singled out a few laws here with Pesach Sheni, while if the laws were truly identical it would have been sufficient to simply state, “according to all the laws of the Pesach sacrifice, etc.” And so they said, “Just as the bone is remarkable in that it is part of the body, so too anything, etc.”

Also relevant to this commandment is that which they also said (Pesachim 93a) that the impure person that is delayed to Pesach Sheni is one who is impure in a severe way that impedes him from eating the Pesach sacrifice, such as someone who experienced a flow, or a menstruant, or a new mother, or one who had intercourse with a menstruant or someone who became impure through contact with the dead under circumstances that would require a nazirite to shave, as we explained in the Order of Nasso (Sefer HaChinukh 376). But if he became impure from the other impurities of the dead body for which the nazirite does not shave, and so [too,] if he touched a carcass or a crawling animal (sherets), or something like it — even on the fourteenth — behold, he will immerse [in the mikveh] and they slaughter [the Pesach sacrifice] after he immerses; and in the evening when the sun has set for him, he eats his Pesach sacrifice. Also relevant to this commandment is that which they, may their memory be blessed, said there in the chapter [entitled] Mi Shehayah Tamei (Pesachim 93b) that a “far distance” with regard to the established law [means anything] that is fifteen mil outside of the walls of Jerusalem, but less than that is not called a far distance. And the rest of its details are in Tractate Pesachim. (See Mishneh Torah, Laws of Paschal Offering 5.)

This commandment is practiced at the time of the [Temple] — by males in the category of obligation, and by females in the category of the optional. As so did they, may their memory be blessed, instruct us (Pesachim 91b) [regarding] women who were delayed to Pesach Sheni because of impurity or because of one of the things that we mentioned, that the offering of the Pesach Sheni sacrifice is optional for them: If they wish [to], they slaughter, if they wish [not to], they do not slaughter. And for this reason we may not slaughter only on their behalf on the Shabbat. And a man who transgresses this and volitionally violated this positive commandment and did not bring the Pesach Sheni sacrifice, after he was under duress and was unable to offer the first Pesach sacrifice, is liable for excision. This is the opinion of Rabbi [Yehudah HaNasi] in the Mishnah (Pesachim 93a). But Rabbi Natan, Rabbi Chaninah and Rabbi Akiva exempt him from excision, as he was not volitional in the first case. And we need not say that if he deliberately [did not partake of a sacrifice] the first time, and he also violated the second, whether willfully or not, that he incurs excision according to all, as he deliberately failed to offer the sacrifice of God in its proper time. And this is one of two positive commandments for which the punishment is excision, as we explained in the Order of Bo el Pharaoh (Sefer HaChinukh 5).