The Torah in Parashat Re’eh (Debarim 16:5) commands that one may not sacrifice the Korban Pesach “Be’ahad She’arecha” – “in one of your gates.” Meaning, the Korban Pesach must be sacrificed only in the central location – the Mishkan, and then the Bet Ha’mikdash – and may not be sacrificed on a private altar. Even during the periods when it was permissible to offer other sacrifices on private altars, the Torah prohibits offering the Korban Pesach on a private altar.
Before the construction of the Mishkan, Beneh Yisrael were permitted to offer sacrifices wherever they wished, but once the Mishkan was built, it became forbidden to offer any sacrifice anywhere other than the Mishkan. Later, when Beneh Yisrael crossed the Jordan River into the Land of Israel, the Mishkan was stationed in Gilgal, where it remained during the fourteen years when Beneh Yisrael captured and distributed the land. Throughout these fourteen years, it was permissible to offer sacrifices on private altars. Upon the conclusion of this period, the Mishkan was moved to the town of Shilo, whereupon it once again became forbidden to offer sacrifices anywhere besides the Mishkan. The Mishkan remained in Shilo for 369 years. It then moved to the towns of Nob and Gibon, where it remained for fifty-seven years, during which time Beneh Yisrael were allowed to offer sacrifices wherever they wished. Finally, the Bet Ha’mikdash was built, and from that point on, for all time, it is forbidden to sacrifice anywhere other than the Bet Ha’mikdash. The prohibition introduced in this verse in Parashat Re’eh forbids offering the Korban Pesach anywhere other than the Mishkan (or Bet Ha’mikdash) even during those periods when other sacrifices could be offered anywhere, such as when the Mishkan was in Gilgal, Nob and Gibon.
The Sefer Ha’hinuch explains this prohibition as an expression of the unique importance and significance of the Korban Pesach, which commemorates the miracle of Yesiat Misrayim (the Exodus from Egypt). This miracle demonstrated G-d’s unlimited control over nature, proving that He Created and governs the world. In order to impress upon us the great importance of the Korban Pesach and what it teaches us, the Torah required that it be offered only in the Bet Ha’mikdash, even when other sacrifices are allowed to be offered elsewhere.
This prohibition is binding upon both men and women, and it applies even nowadays – if somebody would consecrate an animal as a Korban Pesach, sacrificing it on an altar would violate the command forbidding sacrificing the Korban Pesach outside the Bet Ha’mikdash.
This Misva marks an unusual instance where the Sefer Ha’hinuch does not follow the Rambam’s counting of the Misvot. Whereas the Sefer Ha’hinuch generally adheres to the list of 613 Misvot compiled by the Rambam, in this case he disagrees with the Rambam, as the Rambam does not include this prohibition in his listing of the Misvot. The Rambam felt that this Misva does not apply for all time, and was limited to those several periods in Jewish history when other sacrifices were allowed to be offered on private altars. Once the Bet Ha’mikdash was built, the Rambam held, this prohibition is no longer relevant, since all sacrifices are forbidden outside the Bet Ha’mikdash. As the Rambam listed only those commands which are eternally relevant, this command was not included in his list.
Various theories have been advanced to explain why the Sefer Ha’hinuch deviated from the Rambam’s view in this instance. One intriguing possibility arises from an exchange of letters between a Rabbi named Rabbi Daniel Ha’babli (Syria, late 12th- early 13th century) and the Rambam’s son, Rabbi Abraham (1186-1237). Rabbi Daniel Ha’babli asked Rabbi Abraham why his father included in his list of Misvot the prohibition against offering the Korban Pesach on a private altar, being that this command was relevant only temporarily. Rabbi Abraham replied that the Rambam did not, in fact, include this command in his list of Misvot, and that there must be a faulty text of the Rambam’s work that led people to think that he did. Conceivably, the Sefer Ha’hinuch may have seen that text and thus assumed that the Rambam included this prohibition in his list of the 613 Misvot, and he therefore followed this opinion.
Regardless, according to the Sefer Ha’hinuch, even after the Bet Ha’mikdash was destroyed, and even today, offering the Korban Pesach on a private altar transgresses this prohibition.