The Importance Of Availability Everywhere for Matzah and Maaser Sheni

In our Parshas this week, Parshas Re’eh, the Torah introduces the concept of Maaser Sheni, the second tithe, taken after the first set given to kohein and levi, and which requires a person to bring their produce to Jerusalem and consume it within the holy city before HaShem. However, recognizing human limitations and the practicalities of geography, the Torah accounts for the possibility that the journey may be overwhelming: “Should the distance be too great for you, should you be unable to transport them, because the place where HaShem your God has chosen to establish the divine name is far from you… then you shall turn it into money” (Devarim 14:24-25). This mechanism of redemption allows a person situated far from Jerusalem to convert the physical holiness of the produce into currency, carry the funds to the Mikdash, and repurchase food to consume in purity within the holy city. The legal definition of being “too far” creates a profound conceptual link between the halachot of Maaser Sheni and the halachot of the Korban Pesach, specifically the principle of derech rechokah (a distant journey) found in Parshat Beha’alotcha (Bamidbar 9:10).

The Gemara in Pesachim (94b) explores this connection deeply through the words of Rava, who cites a gezeirah shavah (a textual link) taught by Rabbi Eliezer: “The exemption of a distant journey is stated with regard to the Paschal lamb, and the exemption of a distant journey is stated with regard to the second tithe.” Rashi on the passage elucidates that “far” in both contexts fundamentally means being located anywhere outside the physical boundary where the food is permitted to be consumed—even a single step beyond the walls of Jerusalem. For both Maaser Sheni and the Paschal lamb, distance is not merely measured in miles or days of walking; it is defined by whether one stands inside or outside the space designated by HaShem for sacred eating. If a person is outside that spatial threshold at the required time, the Torah provides a halachic framework to address that distance: for Pesach, through the deferral to Pesach Sheini, and for Maaser Sheni, through the mechanism of redemption (pidyon).

This structural similarity between Maaser Sheni and Pesach reveals a shared........

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