No Fault Lines
‘…His Father And Mother Were In Prison…’
(Yevamos 71b)
The Torah (Exodus 12:48) states that a person who has uncircumcised children may not offer a paschal sacrifice (or have it offered on his behalf). (A baraita cited on 71a derives from this verse that having uncircumcised children also prevents one from eating the paschal sacrifice.) Rava maintains that if the parents of an uncircumcised child were in prison on Erev Pesach, making it impossible for them to circumcise their child, they are permitted to have the korban Pesach slaughtered on their behalf.
An Arel Nevertheless?
In a mishnah (Yevamos 70a, see Rashi ad loc.) we learn that if a person is prevented from undergoing milah because of an oness, he is nevertheless called an arel and forbidden to eat terumah and partake of the paschal sacrifice. This rule applies even to a child who could not be circumcised because his parents were in prison. In light of this law, why does Rava allow the parents of this arel to offer the paschal sacrifice?
A Distinction
To answer this question, Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman (Kovetz Shiurim Vol. 1, Beitzah 20b, os 54) draws a distinction between the law of milas atzmo – the obligation to circumcise oneself – and the law of milas zecharav – the obligation to circumcise one’s sons. The state of being uncircumcised can be compared to the state of being ritually impure (tamei). Just as a ritually impure person is unfit to eat the paschal sacrifice even if he became tamei through no fault of his own, so too an arel is unfit to eat the paschal sacrifice even if being uncircumcised is not his fault.
A person who didn’t circumcise his children is different. He is not unfit per se to offer the korban; rather, the mitzvah of circumcising his sons takes precedence over the mitzvah of offering the korban Pesach. In a situation, however, where it is impossible for a person to circumcise his sons (e.g., he is in jail), he may – Rava argues – offer the paschal sacrifice since he is unavoidably prevented from giving precedence to the mitzvah of milas zecharav.