intended to increase the knowledge, interest, and anticipation of the reader, thereby hastening the realization of our hopes and prayers for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash.

Thoughts on Pesach and Aliyat Regel
Before the Aliyot Regel, untold numbers of Am Yisrael from Eretz Yisrael and abroad would gird their loins and ascend to Yerushalyim in fulfillment of the Torah's command, "Three times during the year shall all your males appear before the Lord G-d" (Shemot 23:17). On Pesach there was an additional Mitzva. "You shall slaughter the Passover-offering… in the place where G-d will choose to rest His Name" (Devarim 16:2). Three times a year, from near and far, colorful caravans of Olei Regel, men, women, and children, mounted on donkeys, camels, horses and accompanied by thousands of others on foot, wended their way to Jerusalem. Singing, "I rejoiced when they said to me, We are going to the house of G-d", they jammed the winding roads that led through the verdant flower-covered hills of Eretz Yisrael in springtime. Though many would buy their sacrificial animals in the teeming markets of the Holy City, others drove cattle, sheep and goats before them to be offered as Korbanot. Wives joined their husbands and daughters their fathers and brothers, as they all ascended to Yerushalyim. "The rejoicing (during the Regalim, the Pilgrimage Festivals) applied both to men and women" (Chagiga 6b).

By the time the Korban Pesach was to be slaughtered, all circumcised Jewish males above the age of 13, and all women and girls above the age of 12, who were "not distant" from Jerusalem, were required to join a Chavura. A Chavura was usually an extended family together with friends and neighbors - that united to offer and eat the Korban Pesach as a group. Women could form their own Chavurot (Hil. Korban Pesach 2:4).The Gemara relates how "a man once said to his children, 'I am slaughtering the Korban Pesach on behalf of whichever of you goes (first) to Jerusalem' and the daughters outdistanced the sons! The daughters were found to be enthusiastic (in their desire to fulfill the Mitzva), the sons were apathetic" (Pesachim 89a). Whena caravan of Olei Regel drew near to Jerusalem, "they sent messengers before them (to inform the Mikdash authorities of their presence)... the rulers and the prefects (the leading Kohanim and Leviyim) and the Temple treasurers went forth to meet them. According to the honor due to the Olei Regel, so did they go out" (Bikkurim3:3). From the descriptions in various Mishnayot and other sources, it appears that as soon as the ritually pure Olei Regel entered Jerusalem, they immersed in a Mikva, changed into fresh white garments, and marched straight to the Mikdash. They were careful to come up to Jerusalem on roads approved by the Mikdash authorities which were known to be free of graves and other sources of impurity that might defile them.

Olei Regel who were T'mei Meit (ritually impure because of contact with a corpse) had to arrive in Jerusalem early enough to complete the purification process in time. Once they arrived in Jerusalem, the Halacha mandated that theybe purified with Mei Nida (water mixed with the ashes of the Para Aduma, the red heifer) on the third and seventh day, immerse in a Mikva and only the next morning enter the Mikdash complex.

How many Olei Regel actually came to Jerusalem and ate of the Korban Pesach? One Gemara reads: "Our rabbis taught: King Agrippa once wanted to cast his eyes on the populations of Israel (i.e. take a census). He said to the Kohein Gadol, 'Cast your eyes on the Korbanot Pesach (brought by the Olei Regel). He (the Kohein Gadol) thereupon took a kidney from each (sacrificial animal) and 600,000 pairs of kidneys (Zugei Kelayot) were found there, twice as many as those who departed from Egypt (600,000 x 2 = 1,200,000) excluding those who were ritually impure, and those who were on a distant journey. There was not a single Korban Pesach for which more than ten people had not registered" (Pesachim 64b). Josephus gives his version. "So these high priests, upon the coming of that feast which is called the Passover... when they slay their sacrifices (i.e. the Korban Pesach)…, a company (a Chavura) of not less than ten belong to every sacrifice …and many of us are twenty in a company. (The high priests) found the number of sacrifices 256,500; which, upon the allowance of no more than ten that feast together, amounts to (at the very least) 2,700,200 that were pure and holy (Wars Bk 6 Ch.9:6). Josephus also emphasized that there were large numbers of Israelites who were ritually impure and therefore were barred from partaking of Korban Pesach. That the real number of Olei Regel was considerably lower may be surmised from the very realistic descriptions of the Olei Regel in the Mikdash in the 5th chapter of Pesachim.

The Torah excuses those "on a distant journey" from the Mitzva of Korban Pesach (Bamidbar 9:10). An undeservedly little- known Mishna asks, "What counts as a distant journey? Beyond Modi'im or a like distance in any direction. So says R. Akiva. R. Eliezer says: Beyond the threshold of the Temple Court (Iskupat Ha'azara).R. Yossi said: Therefore there is a dot over the (Hebrew letter) Hei (in the word Rechokah), as if to say, not because it is indeed far off, (but only far off as) the threshold of the Temple Court and beyond" (Pesachim 9:2). Though their rulings were not accepted as normative Halacha, it is interesting to note how prominent these two dissenting sages were. R. Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, the only Tanna in the Mishna to have HaGadol (the "Great") added to his name... His teacher, R. Yochanan compared R. Eliezer to a "sealed cistern which does not lose a drop"... R. Yochanan ben Zakkai called his other student R. Yossi, a Chassid, a saint, a righteous man (Avot 2:12). However, the Halacha is according to the ruling of R. Akiva, the leader of the next generation.

Rambam summarizes, "Someone who was at a distance of 15 miles or more from Jerusalem at sun rise on the 14th of Nisan is considered 'on a distant journey' (and is exempt from bringing Korban Pesach). If he was at a distance of less (than 15 miles from Jerusalem), he is not considered on a distant journey because he is able to arrive in Jerusalem by Chatzot, midday (Hil. Korban Pesach 1:1). What is the Halachic significance of Chatzot, midday? "It is a Mitzvat Asei (a positive commandment) to slaughter the (Korban) Pesach onthe 14th of Nisan after Chatzot" (Hil. Korban Pesach 5:9). In practice, it was only about 2 hours after Chatzot, after the Kohanim finished offering the afternoon Tamid, the Ketoret (incense), and lit the Menorah was the first of three groups of Olei Regel admitted to the Azara to slaughter their Korbanot Pesach. On ErevShabbat, they began Korbanot Pesach an hour earlier to allow enough time for them to be completely roasted before Shabbat.

Catriel is in the process of writing a book: The Temple of Jerusalem, A Pilgrims Prospective; A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service

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