Bamidbar 9: Do Not Passover us

The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying:וַיְדַבֵּר ה׳ אֶל־מֹשֶׁה בְּמִדְבַּר סִינַי בַּחֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן בַּשָּׁנָה הַשֵּׁנִית לְצֵאתָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לֵאמֹר׃(2) Let the Israelite people offer the Passover sacrifice at its set time:וְיַעֲשׂוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־הַפֶּסַח בְּמֹעֲדוֹ׃(3) You shall offer it on the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, at its set time; you shall offer it in accordance with all its rules and laws.בְּאַרְבָּעָה עָשָׂר יוֹם בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה בֵּין הָעַרְבַּיִם תַּעֲשׂוּ אֹתוֹ בְּמֹעֲדוֹ כְּכָל־חֻקֹּתָיו וּכְכָל־מִשְׁפָּטָיו תַּעֲשׂוּ אֹתוֹ׃Chapter nine begins with God’s commandment that the people celebrate Passover. (Numbers 9:1–3) God had already instructed the people to celebrate Passover generally multiple times already. The fact that God had to specially instruct the people to celebrate Pesach at its set time means that the previous pronouncements of the holidays were not meant to be immediate. God also provided a two week warning to the people, and that was not enough for some who approached Moshe with a conundrum. They were ritually impure and unable to sacrifice the korban Pesach. They approach Moshe and Aaron and ask for advice. This is quite an amazing moment. Until this point- through all the laws of Exodus and Leviticus there had been no dialogue. Everything was one sided except for the people’s pronouncement at Sinai that they will obey the laws. Now, a group of people have come up with an unforeseen dilemma. The fact that they went to Moshe to ask for advice is impressive and even more so that God agreed that the petitioners were correct. The original pronouncement did not take into account those who were unable to perform the ritual through no fault of their own. Moshe’s reaction is telling. The solution does not come from Moshe. He seems quite paralyzed by the question and immediately seeks out God’s advice. Moshe’s ability to lead here is in some ways hampered by his direct connection to God. He does not see a way to be flexible and must ask God for advice. This also seems like an amazing admission of oversight by God and gumption on behalf of the people that they even approach with this concern. Once this issue is brought up, God adds one other scenario that would qualify one for Second Passover- being a far distance away. This second scenario was not relevant to the wilderness but would be relevant in Canaan. “Speak to the Israelite people, saying: When any party—whether you or your posterity—who is defiled by a corpse or is on a long journey would offer a Passover sacrifice to God” (verse 10). “דַּבֵּר אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר אִישׁ אִישׁ כִּי־יִהְיֶה טָמֵא לָנֶפֶשׁ אוֹ בְּדֶרֶךְ רְחֹקָה לָכֶם אוֹ לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם וְעָשָׂה פֶסַח לַה׳” The Gemara in Pesachim learns from the specific rule that the Second Passover is for “any party” and that if the entire nation is impure, then everyone can celebrate Passover at the regular time. The Second Passover also has the unique rule that one eats matzoh and marror with the korban but may have chametz in the household. In this way the second Pesach is not a complete replacement for the primary one. Later on, we will learn about the daughters of Tzelofchad who also approach Moshe and God with a dilemma that has not been addressed by Moshe’s pronouncement of the rules. Perhaps the fact that the daughters and these people wanted so much to be included in the rituals created the scenario for God to provide alternative ways for them to participate.