For the source text click/tap here: Pesachim 91
To download, click/tap here: PDF
The Torah (Deut 16:5-6) teaches that one cannot bring the korban Pesah “in any one of your gates” – that is to say, in one of the communities outside of the Temple; rather it must be sacrificed in the place chosen by God. This passage is understood by the Sages to teach a number of halakhot connected with the sacrifice.
On its simplest level, that pasuk teaches that the korban Pesah must be brought in the Temple. Rabbi Shimon understands this to mean that someone who brings the sacrifice on a bamat yahid – a private altar – will be held liable for transgressing a negative commandment. This only holds true, however, when private altars are forbidden, when the Jews all “enter through the same gate,” i.e. when the Temple is standing. During a time when private altars are permitted, the korban Pesah can be brought as a private sacrifice.
This leads us into a historical review of BAMOT and an intriguing feminist reading of the Tosefta regarding women’s participation in the chaburah for the Korban Pesach.