I forgot to mention yesterday that we began a the eighth chapter of our massekhet. There the Mishnah records “In the case of an orphan with multiple guardians, if each of his guardians [apotropsin] slaughtered a Paschal lamb on his behalf, intending that he be included in their group, he may eat in whichever place he wishes.” (Sefaria.org translation) While discussing this segment of the Mishnah today’s daf TB Pesakhim 88 highlights the importance of parents teaching their children.
“Rabbi Zeira said: The halakha in the mishna is not based on retroactive clarification, but rather on the following principle: The verse states: 'They shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household’ (Exodus 12:3), indicating that a minor’s membership in the household is sufficient for him to be registered in the households’ Paschal lamb in any case, even without his agreement.” (Sefaria.org translation)
Each individual person has to register to be part of a group (חבורה) to eat a specific korban Pesakh. Rashi says that a minor doesn’t need to register because his parents automatically include him in the group. This is an opportunity for the parents to educate their children about the Passover ritual.
Although Tosefot (ד"ה שה לבית מכל מקום) agrees that this is an opportunity for parents to educate the children, they provides us with a daring innovation (חידוש). If you should ask how can an unregistered child eat the korban Pesak, the answer is simple. One, having a minor child registered is not required by Torah law. Two, we can make an educational distinction. We shouldn’t give our children something obviously treif like a cheeseburger or a lobster. No one can mistake it is being kosher. The children would draw the wrong conclusions and think cheeseburgers are okay to eat. Eating the korban Pesakh is a mitzvah, we don’t have to take it away from the child. Ultimately, we want the child to be a custom to observing Passover correctly.
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