The Pesach offering that our ancestors were accustomed to eating when the Temple existed, for the sake of what was it? Because the blessed Holy One, passed over the homes of our ancestors in Egypt, as it is stated, "And you shall say: 'It is the passover sacrifice to the Lord, for that He passed over the homes of the Children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and our homes he saved.’ And the people bowed their heads in homage." (Ex. 12:27) The Pesach offering that our ancestors: The reason for the Pesach offering which we were commanded to bring is as was explained: “Draw out” (Ex.2:21) your hands from idolatry, “And take unto yourselves a lamb” to fulfill a divine command.46 Exodus 12:6, Mekhilta D”Rebbe Yishmael Exodus 12:6 Then discard the bones to show your disdain for idolatry. Throw them outside as a way of publicly stating it! But in the time when the Temple was standing, this reason no longer applied, neither completely or in part. Therefore we ask, “For what do we eat the Passover offering, since Pesach comes and is celebrated in the time that the Temple was standing.

The Rashbatz47 states that Rabban Gamliel who said these three things is not Rabban Gamliel the elder48 but his grandson, Rabban Gamliel ll. 49. He was the first person to lead the Sanhedrin as nasi after the fall of the Second Temple in 70 CE. He lived at the time of the destruction of the Temple…The temple was destroyed in the generation of Rabban Gamliel ll when Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai asked Vespasian not to terminate the patriarchate of Rabban Gamliel, as is written in Perek HaNizikin. Certainly this is Rabban Gamliel the elder who saw the Temple standing in his days when they offered the Passover offering…. This is also stated, “Rabbi Tzadok said: There was an incident with Rabban Gamliel, who said to his slave Tavi: Go and roast the Paschal lamb for us…”50 7:2 , BT 75a But this Mishnah was taught after the destruction of the Temple. Therefore it states, “The Pesach offering which our ancestors ate when the Temple was standing…” But the version of the Mishnah in Pesachim only states, “the Pesach because the Omnipresent passed over the homes of our ancestors in Egypt,” and no more. It does not state, “Which our ancestors ate when the Temple was standing.” The Rambam includes this version of the Mishnah in the Mishneh Torah, Hametz Ch. 7. It seems the Maggid expanded the words of the Mishnah. If that is so, there is no reason to assume that the Mishnah in Ch. 10 of Pesachim was composed after the destruction of the Temple. Or that the statement regarding Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai asking Vespasian not to terminate the Patriarchate is the same Rabban Gamliel as the Mishnah. It seems more likely that he didn’t ask to preserve the house of Rabban Gamliel as patriarchs but he asked not to kill them. This would explain how Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai became the Patriarch since the Romans were afraid that Rabban Gamliel should become the Nasi, the Patriarch.

I have further seen in the Responsa of Rashbatz,51 Part One, Sim. 136, and also in, Magen Avot, Pt. 1, Page 12b that he was of the opinion that Rabban Gamliel was a minor at the time of the destruction of the Temple. That is why Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai was appointed the head of the Sanhedrin. But at the end of Yebamoth, the statement that Rabban Gamliel allowed a woman to marry based on one witness is Rabban Gamliel the elder.52 122a It would appear then that Rabban Gamliel was 20 years old and that Rabban Gamliel the elder died 15 years before the destruction of the temple. (See what Rabbi Menachem Azariah for Fano53 wrote in the book מא"ד part 2.54 …Check this carefully for I cannot go on at length on this topic here. Some time later I came across the book Sh’eilat Yaavetz,55 Part 1, Siman 99 where he agrees that Rabban Gamliel was very young at the time of the destruction of the temple. Otherwise God forbid that Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai would have assumed the position of Patriarch if Rabban Gamliel was already an adult . The story in which he tells his servant to go roast the Pesach takes place after the destruction of the Temple. His statement regarding Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai is not convincing since he may have done so because he was afraid they might try to kill Rabban Gamliel. Also he does not mention the statement at the end of Yevamot which was at the time of the destruction of the Temple and he was more than 20 years old. Also, the suggestion that they were still offering the Passover sacrifice after the destruction of the temple seems far-fetched - a proof is needed from the sages for this…