## Pesachim Daf 2a

###### Pesachim 2a:1
[Pesachim 2a:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Pesachim/r/2a:1)

מַתְנִי׳ **אוֹר לְאַרְבָּעָה עָשָׂר** בּוֹדְקִין אֶת הֶחָמֵץ לְאוֹר הַנֵּר. כׇּל מָקוֹם שֶׁאֵין מַכְנִיסִין בּוֹ חָמֵץ, אֵין צָרִיךְ בְּדִיקָה. וּבַמָּה אָמְרוּ ״שְׁתֵּי שׁוּרוֹת בַּמַּרְתֵּף״ — מָקוֹם שֶׁמַּכְנִיסִין בּוֹ חָמֵץ. בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים: שְׁתֵּי שׁוּרוֹת עַל פְּנֵי כׇּל הַמַּרְתֵּף, וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים: שְׁתֵּי שׁוּרוֹת הַחִיצוֹנוֹת שֶׁהֵן הָעֶלְיוֹנוֹת.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**MISHNA:** **On the evening [*or*] of the fourteenth** of the month of Nisan, **one searches for leavened bread** in his home **by candlelight. Any place into which one does not** typically **take leavened bread does not require a search,** as it is unlikely that there is any leavened bread there. **And with regard to what** the Sages of previous generations meant when they **said** that one must search **two rows** of wine barrels **in a cellar,** i.e., **a place into which one** typically **takes** some **leavened bread,** the early *tanna’im* are in dispute. **Beit Shammai say** that this is referring to searching the first **two rows across the entire cellar, and Beit Hillel say:** There is no need to search that extensively, as it is sufficient to search **the two external rows, which are the upper ones.** This dispute will be explained and illustrated in the Gemara.


###### Pesachim 2a:2
[Pesachim 2a:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Pesachim/r/2a:2)

**גְּמָ׳** מַאי ״אוֹר״? רַב הוּנָא אָמַר: נַגְהֵי, וְרַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר: לֵילֵי. קָא סָלְקָא דַּעְתָּךְ דְּמַאן דְּאָמַר נַגְהֵי — נַגְהֵי מַמָּשׁ, וּמַאן דְּאָמַר לֵילֵי — לֵילֵי מַמָּשׁ.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**GEMARA:** The Gemara asks: **What is** the meaning of the term ***or*,** translated as: The evening of? The Gemara provides two answers. **Rav Huna said:** It means **light, and Rav Yehuda said:** In this context, it means **evening.** At first glance, **it** could **enter your mind** to suggest that **the one who said light** means that one searches for leaven by the **actual light** of day, on the morning of the fourteenth of Nisan, **and the one who said evening** is referring to the **actual evening** of the fourteenth.


###### Pesachim 2a:3
[Pesachim 2a:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Pesachim/r/2a:3)

מֵיתִיבִי: ״הַבֹּקֶר אוֹר וְהָאֲנָשִׁים שֻׁלְּחוּ״ — אַלְמָא ״אוֹר״ יְמָמָא הוּא! מִי כְּתִיב ״הָאוֹר בֹּקֶר״? ״הַבֹּקֶר אוֹר״ כְּתִיב, כְּמַאן דְּאָמַר: צַפְרָא נְהַר, וְכִדְרַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר רַב. דְּאָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר רַב: לְעוֹלָם יִכָּנֵס אָדָם בְּכִי טוֹב, וְיֵצֵא בְּכִי טוֹב.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
To clarify the meaning of the word *or*, the Gemara analyzes biblical verses and rabbinic statements. The Gemara **raises an objection** from a verse: **“As soon as the morning was *or*, the men were sent away,** they and their donkeys” (Genesis 44:3). **Apparently, *or* is day.** The Gemara rejects this contention. **Is it written: The light was morning? “The morning was light” is written.** In this context, *or* is a verb not a noun, **as the one who said:** The **morning lightened. And** this is **in accordance with** that which **Rav Yehuda said** that **Rav said, as Rav Yehuda said** that **Rav said: A person** should **always enter** an unfamiliar city **with “it is good”** (Genesis 1:4), i.e., before sunset, while it is light, as the Torah uses the expression “it is good” with regard to light upon its creation. This goodness is manifest in the sense of security one feels when it is light. **And** likewise, when one leaves a city **he** should **leave with “it is good,”** meaning after sunrise the next morning.


###### Pesachim 2a:4
[Pesachim 2a:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Pesachim/r/2a:4)

מֵיתִיבִי: ״וּכְאוֹר בֹּקֶר יִזְרַח שָׁמֶשׁ״ — אַלְמָא ״אוֹר״ יְמָמָא הוּא! מִי כְּתִיב ״אוֹר בֹּקֶר״? ״וּכְאוֹר בֹּקֶר״ כְּתִיב, וְהָכִי קָאָמַר: וּכְאוֹר בֹּקֶר בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה, כְּעֵין זְרִיחַת שֶׁמֶשׁ לַצַּדִּיקִים לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara **raises an objection** from another verse: **“And as the light [*or*] of the morning, when the sun rises,** a morning without clouds; when through clear shining after rain the tender grass springs out of the earth” (II Samuel 23:4). **Apparently, *or* is day.** The Gemara rejects this proof as well: **Is it written** that **the light was morning? “As the light of the morning” is written, and this is** what the verse **is saying: And as** brightly as **the morning light of this world** shines at its peak, **so will be the rising of the sun for the righteous in the World-to-Come,** as in those days the light of the sun will be seven times stronger than at present (see Isaiah 30:26).


###### Pesachim 2a:5
[Pesachim 2a:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Pesachim/r/2a:5)

מֵיתִיבִי: ״וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לָאוֹר יוֹם״ — אַלְמָא ״אוֹר״ יְמָמָא הוּא! הָכִי קָאָמַר: לַמֵּאִיר וּבָא קְרָאוֹ יוֹם. אֶלָּא מֵעַתָּה, ״וְלַחֹשֶׁךְ קָרָא לָיְלָה״ — לַמַּחְשִׁיךְ וּבָא קָרָא לַיְלָה?! וְהָא קַיְימָא לַן דְּעַד צֵאת הַכּוֹכָבִים יְמָמָא הוּא!

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara **raises an objection: “And God called the *or* Day,** and the darkness He called Night” (Genesis 1:5). **Apparently, *or* is day.** The Gemara rejects this proof as well. **This is** what the verse **is saying:** God **called the advancing light Day.** As stated previously, the word *or* can also be a verb; in this context, God called the beginning of that which eventually brightens, Day. The Gemara challenges this explanation: **However, if** that **is so,** the continuation of the verse, **“and the darkness He called Night,”** should be understood to mean: **He called the advancing darkness Night,** even before it is actually dark. However, this cannot be the correct interpretation of the verse, **as we maintain it is day until the emergence of the stars.** Since the stars emerge only after the sky begins to darken, the advancing evening cannot be defined as part of the night.


###### Pesachim 2a:6
[Pesachim 2a:6](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Pesachim/r/2a:6)

אֶלָּא, הָכִי קָאָמַר: קַרְיֵיהּ רַחֲמָנָא לִנְהוֹרָא וּפַקְּדֵיהּ אַמִּצְוְתָא דִימָמָא, וְקַרְיֵיהּ רַחֲמָנָא לַחֲשׁוֹכָא וּפַקְּדֵיהּ אַמִּצְוְתָא דְלֵילָה.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara rejects the previous explanation. **Rather, this is what** the verse **is saying: God called the light** to come **and commanded it** to perform **the mitzva of the day, and God called the darkness and commanded it** to perform **the mitzva of the night.** Called, in this context, does not connote the giving of a name. It means that He instructed the day and night to carry out their characteristic functions.


###### Pesachim 2a:7
[Pesachim 2a:7](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Pesachim/r/2a:7)

מֵיתִיבִי: ״הַלְלוּהוּ כׇּל כּוֹכְבֵי אוֹר״ — אַלְמָא ״אוֹר״ אוּרְתָּא הוּא. הָכִי קָאָמַר: הַלְלוּהוּ כׇּל כּוֹכָבִים הַמְּאִירִים. אֶלָּא מֵעַתָּה, כּוֹכָבִים הַמְּאִירִים הוּא דְּבָעוּ שַׁבּוֹחֵי, שֶׁאֵינָן מְאִירִין לָא בָּעוּ שַׁבּוֹחֵי?! וְהָא כְּתִיב: ״הַלְלוּהוּ כָּל צְבָאָיו״!

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara **raises an objection:** “Praise Him, sun and moon; **praise Him, all the stars of *or*”** (Psalms 148:3). **Apparently, *or* is** the **evening,** as the stars of light appear at night. The Gemara rejects this contention. **This is** what the verse **is saying: Praise Him, all the stars that radiate,** as in this context *or* is not a noun but rather a verb that describes the activity of the stars. The Gemara challenges this explanation: **However, if** that **is so,** does the verse mean that **it is** the **stars that radiate that are required to praise** God, whereas those **that do not radiate** light **are not required to praise** Him? **But isn’t it written** in the previous verse: **“Praise Him, all His legions,”** indicating that all stars should praise God?


###### Pesachim 2a:8
[Pesachim 2a:8](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Pesachim/r/2a:8)

אֶלָּא הָא קָא מַשְׁמַע לַן — דְּאוֹר דְּכוֹכָבִים נָמֵי אוֹר הוּא. לְמַאי נָפְקָא מִינַּהּ? לְנוֹדֵר מִן הָאוֹר. (דִּתְנַן:) הַנּוֹדֵר מִן הָאוֹר — אָסוּר בְּאוֹרָן שֶׁל כּוֹכָבִים.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Rather, this** phrase, the stars of light, comes to **teach us that the light of stars is also** considered **light.** The Gemara asks: **What** is the **practical difference** that emerges from the fact that the light of the stars is classified as light? The Gemara answers: It is significant with regard **to one who vows** that he will derive no benefit **from light.** It is necessary to define precisely what is included in the term light. **As we learned** in a mishna: For **one who vows** that he will derive no benefit **from light, it is prohibited to** benefit even from **the light of** the **stars.**


###### Pesachim 2a:9
[Pesachim 2a:9](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Pesachim/r/2a:9)

מֵיתִיבִי: ״לָאוֹר יָקוּם רוֹצֵחַ יִקְטׇל עָנִי וְאֶבְיוֹן וּבַלַּיְלָה יְהִי כַגַּנָּב״,

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara **raises an objection: “A murderer rises with the *or* to kill the poor and needy; and in the night he is as a thief”** (Job 24:14).