QUESTION: The Gemara says that when the people would take the Korban Pesach home from the Beis ha'Mikdash, they would put it in the hides and carry it over their shoulders. Rav Ilish says that this was done "like Arab merchants." What does Rav Ilish intend to add with his statement?

(a) RASHI's short comment here suggests that Rav Ilish argues with the Tana Kama. He maintains that they would not sling the Korban over their shoulders, because that is the way Arab merchants carry their wares and it is not respectful to carry the Korban in such a manner.

(b) RAV YAKOV EMDEN explains that Rav Ilish teaches that it is a disgrace not to the Korban, but to the person who carries the Korban. Rav Ilish says that even though it is disgraceful to carry something in that manner, we still carry it like that to show our love for the Mitzvah and to show that we are willing to disgrace ourselves for the sake of the Mitzvah.

(c) The OR SAME'ACH (Hilchos Korban Pesach 1:6) points out that the Mishnah in Parah teaches that water drawn for use as Mei Chatas can become Pasul through Hesech ha'Da'as if the person who draws the water diverts his attention from the water at any point from the time that it is drawn until the ashes of the Parah Adumah are added to it. If he carries the water in a pail that hangs from a pole behind him, the water is Pasul because he removed his attention from it when it hung behind him.

We know that Hesech ha'Da'as also invalidates a Korban and other Kodshim (Pesachim 34a). Why, then, were the people permitted to hang the Korban Pesach over their shoulders and let it hang behind them? (See the answer of the Or Same'ach there.)

The DEVAR SHMUEL cites an original answer. The Mishnah in Parah (7:5) says that if one needs to carry two pails of water for the Mei Chatas, and he carries one pail in front of him, suspended from one end of a pole, and the other pail behind him, suspended from the other end of the pole, the problem of Hesech ha'Da'as does not apply, because it is not possible to carry two pails on one pole in any other way. Since it is normal to hang one pail from each end of the pole when one carries two pails, one who carries the pails in this manner does not show negligence and it is not considered a Hesech ha'Da'as.

This is the intention of Rav Ilish here who says that they carried the Korban "like Arab merchants." Since it is normal for a merchant to carry a heavy burden by slinging it over his shoulder, those who carry the Korban in such a manner are not considered to have a Hesech ha'Da'as and do not invalidate their Korban.