Chagiga 6: How do Mothers Rejoice? and a Debate About Offerings

We know that all males are obligated to appear in the Temple. Minors are exempt. Why were minors not obligated, ask the rabbis? Children were taken by their fathers from Jerusalem to the Temple Mount as long as they could sit on their fathers' shoulders. Rabbi Zeira is particularly frustrated - if they can make it to Jerusalem, why not a bit more, to the Temple Mount? Abaye points out that the entire family came to Jerusalem. If the children were able to hold their fathers' hands, they could continue on to the Temple Mount.

The story of Hanna is used in a baraita to explain further. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said in the name of Hillel that Hanna kept Samuel with her until he was weaned. A note teaches us that weaning took place at 24 months. Although she was also obligated to attend and rejoice, Hanna did not do so in order to attend to the needs of Samuel, whom the rabbis say was extra-sensitive.

I can't help but wonder if Hanna might have been worried that Samuel, promised to G-d, would be taken early from her had he continued on that journey.

An argument between rabbis is alluded to in Steinsaltz's notes. We learn that women's rejoicing, when they were mothers, was either delegated to their husbands or was achieved by journeying together with their husbands. We can see that the personhood of women is debated. Is she an independent individual, obligated to fulfil mitzvot herself? Or is she the belonging of her husband; her obligations either met or denied by him?

We learn that children who might be healed of a disability that would exempt them are not obliged; they do not have to learn to do these mitzvot "just in case" they are healed in adulthood. A more general principle is taught: Where an adult is exempt by Torah law, a child is exempt by rabbinic law.

Much of the remainder of today's daf looks at the burnt offering. The rabbis begin by arguing about the worth of a burnt offering. Soon the rabbis are wondering about when different sacrifices were offered and what prooftexts can be found to support their arguments. Because of this debate, we learn a number of larger ideas:

• The Festival peace offering (Hillel) and possibly the burnt offering (Shammai), may have existed before G-d's words were spoken on Sinai
• Moses offered only general, rather than specific, laws on Mount Sinai
• Hillel (then R.Akiva, R.Yosei ben Galili): the sacrifice at Mount Sinai was a daily burnt offering (communal)
• Shammai (then R.Elazar, R.Yishmael): the sacrifice at Mount Sinai was an offering of appearance (individual) 
• Original sacrifices may not have involved skinning and cutting
• We don't know whether or not the general Jewish population did sacrifices while in the desert