AboutDavid Rosenblum Expertise I am an ex-student of yeshiva and I like to be
presented with Torah study problems. If you have
studied the Torah and have questions on the subject
matter, I want to hear about it. I am not a Rabbi and
not qualified to decide halachic issues. I am still
interested in halachic questions for which I can
sometimes offer general guidelines or present
decisions in halachic works such as Mishna Berurah. I
welcome questions from non-Jewish people but I cannot
respond to religious references that are not part of
Judaism. If you are working on a paper or doing
research and want general information on a Jewish
subject, I may or may not satisfy your need, depending
on how comfortable I am with the question. If you
have a personal problem, I am not qualified to help
you but I will do what I can to offer you some
assistance.
I have a question about the pilgrimages made during the first and/or second Temple periods. It is my understanding that males (not sure of the age requirement) were to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the three major festivals (Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot).
1. This could put a hardship on some families with farm animals left behind, as well as potentially other family concerns. Was every male required to make these three trips annually?
2. Was this a mitzvah and were there consequences of not making the journey?
3. Was there a large percentage of women that were pilgrims each year?
Thanks.
Bob
Answer Hello Bob,
Anyone who was able to make the trip was required to go, even children as long as they could walk up the Temple Mount on their own holding on to someone's hands.
1. Although I first thought that people who found themselves a certain distance away from Jerusalem were exempt from the paschal lamb and perhaps other pilgrimages, that is in fact not correct; people had to come from all of the land of Israel for all three holidays, even if it took more than a day's travel; the exemption of distance is only from the "kores" punishment (being cut off from the nation of Israel) for those who found themselves too far to make it for the sacrifice of the paschal lamb on passover eve, i.e. people who were unclean or too far away on that day did not incur kores if they willfully neglected to sacrifice the make-up paschal lamb a month later where as people who for other reasons could not make it in time to the temple did incur kores for neglecting the make-up sacrifice. Sorry for the confusion. However, people who had a farm had servants who were exempt from the trip and who can perform the necessary tasks in the interim. Finally, see Ex. 34:24, "no man will covet your land when you go up..." which is a promise from G-d to protect our property from attack from enemies in our absence. We deserve such protection because we are engaged in fulfilling G-d's commandments; it is reasonable to assume that lesser threats to our land and property will be prevented as well.
2. It is a mitzvah, yes. The courts were not mandated to punish an individual for violating this commandment because the violation is effected through inaction. He will however suffer the consequences from the Heavenly Court just as for not fulfilling any other mitzvah for which the human courts do not punish. Know though that this was a great opportunity to visit the King of Kings, it would be quite boorish not to appreciate the significance of such a great mitzvah. Even now many people go through a lot of trouble to visit the Western Wall as much as possible when they're in the area. There is a powerful sense of G-d's presence there.
3. I don't have the number of how many women went but although they are exempt from the mitzvah mentioned in the Torah, they are nevertheless obligated in participating in the joy of the festival in Jerusalem with their husbands. Some say that just like men they are also required to partake in the festival offering that was sacrificed. See Samuel 1:4-5 and ibid. 1:22 where she excused herself.
