Tanach · Acharonim on Tanach · Or HaChaim · Torah
Or HaChaim on Numbers 9:13/אור החיים על במדבר ט׳:י״ג
אוְהָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר הוּא טָהוֹר וְגוֹ׳. צָרִיךְ לָדַעַת לָמָּה לֹא כָּתַב עֹנֶשׁ הַמְּבַטֵּל פֶּסַח בִּזְמַנּוֹ עַד עַתָּה וְלֹא כְּשֶׁכָּתַב מִצְוַת הַפֶּסַח, וּלְפִי מַה שֶׁנֶּחְלְקוּ בְּעִנְיָן זֶה (פסחים צג.) וְזֶה לְשׁוֹנָם: תָּנוּ רַבָּנָן חַיָּב עַל הָרִאשׁוֹן וְחַיָּב עַל הַשֵּׁנִי דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי, רַבִּי נָתָן אוֹמֵר חַיָּב עַל הָרִאשׁוֹן וּפָטוּר עַל הַשֵּׁנִי, רַבִּי חֲנִינָא בֶּן עֲקִיבָא אוֹמֵר אַף עַל הָרִאשׁוֹן אֵינוֹ חַיָּב אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן לֹא עָשָׂה הַשֵּׁנִי, וְאָמְרוּ שָׁם בִּפְסָחִים וּשְׁלָשְׁתָּם מִקְרָא אֶחָד דָּרְשׁוּ, יְעֻיַּן שָׁם. מֵעַתָּה לְכָל אַחַת מֵהַסְּבָרוֹת הִנִּיחַ הַכָּתוּב לוֹמַר עַד כָּאן לְכָל אֶחָד מֵהַסְּבָרוֹת כְּדַרְכּוֹ, מַה שֶׁלֹּא הָיִינוּ שׁוֹמְעִין כֵּן אִם הָיָה מְצַוֶּה בִּמְקוֹמוֹ.
1 והאיש אשד הוא טהור, As to the man who is ritually pure, etc. Why did the Torah delay informing us about the penalty for people who deliberately fail to observe the Passover legislation until now? Why has this not been spelled out in Parshat Bo where the legislation was spelled out? We find a debate in Pessachim 93 between Rabbi and Rabbi Natan concerning whether a person who has failed to observe the Passover both on the 14th of Nissan and the 14th of Iyar incurs the prescribed penalty or whether the Karet penalty applies only if one has deliberately failed to observe the Passover on the 14th of Nissan. Rabbi holds that deliberate failure to observe either Passover results in that penalty, whereas Rabbi Natan holds that there is no Karet penalty for failure to observe the second Passover seeing that the Torah does not mention this penalty in that context. Rabbi Chanina son of Akiva holds that one is not even guilty of the karet penalty for failure to observe the Passover on the 14th of Nissan unless one had also failed to observe it on the 14th of Iyar. All three scholars cite the same verse to support their respective opinions. If the Torah had informed us about the penalty for deliberate non-observance in Parshat Bo, it would not have been possible for the three scholars to hold three different views on the subject.