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Chapter 8, Mishna 1

This chapter is about who may and who must be included in a group of people registered for a Korban Pesach, the Passover Offering. There was a custom that newlywed wives would return to their own families during the first Passover after their wedding, so it might be unclear which group she should join. Speaking of wives, Hosea was a prophet who did not stand up for the wicked Jewish people of his generation. God taught him a lesson by ordering him to a marry a prostitute and raise children with her, even thought he may have fathered them. He became attached to them, and learned that God remains attached to the Jewish people even when they stray into idolatry and other evil. Rabbi Elazar says the Jewish people were exiled into diaspora so that non-Jews would have an opportunity to learn about Torah and join the Jewish people.