Physical Requirements of Pilgrimage

Early rabbinic tradition expands on the biblical requirement to appear at the sanctuary three times a year, specifying who is required to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem on the three major festivals and who is exempt. Consistent with the social classification evident throughout the Mishnah, women, enslaved people, young children, the elderly, the ill, and those with injuries or physical deformities are excused from the pilgrimage requirement. Because physical pilgrimage by foot is required (the Hebrew term for pilgrimage festival, regel, means “foot”), the law binds only those who are free and fit to fulfill the commandment.