The Pesach Sacrifice and the Story of the Exodus
Parashat Hashavua
Yeshivat Har
Etzion
This
parasha series is dedicated
Le-zekher Nishmat HaRabanit Chana
bat HaRav Yehuda Zelig zt"l.
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PARASHAT BO
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The Pesach
Sacrifice and the Story of the Exodus
By Rav
Yehuda Rock
In two different places, the
Torah commands Bnei Yisrael to offer the Pesach sacrifices, and the two sources
appear to contradict each other.
The first source is Parashat Ha-chodesh, in our
parasha (Shemot 12:1-20); the other is at the end of
Parashat Re'eh (Devarim 16:1-8). The Pesach sacrifice is also mentioned
elsewhere in the Torah: later on in our parasha we read, "Draw and take
for yourselves" (12:21-28), which complements Parashat Ha-chodesh;
in the section that begins, "Sanctify for Me" (Shemot 13) the sacrifice
is hinted at (in the words "this service"); in the discussion of the pilgrim
festivals in the parashot of Mishpatim and Ki Tisa (with
two laws that appear in both places the prohibition of eating the sacrifice
together with leaven, and the prohibition of leaving the sacrificial meat until
the next morning); in the lists of festivals and their respective additional
offerings in the parashot of Emor and Pinchas, and in the
context of Pesach Sheni in Parashat Beha'alotekha. But only in our parasha and in
Re'eh do we find a command concerning the actual sacrifice, and only in
these two sources is there a description of the sacrifice
itself.
As noted, there are a number of
contradictions between these two sources.
Let us set out the laws of the Pesach sacrifice as recorded in
Parashat Ha-chodesh, and then we shall look at Parashat
Re'eh.
Our chapter explicitly commands
the observance of the Pesach in Egypt, which thereafter became the model for the
observance of Pesach le-dorot - Pesach for all future generations. Pesach le-dorot is distinct from
the Pesach described in our chapter in that the former became a sacrifice. In other words, instead of performing
the ritual in the house, using hyssop branches to paint blood on the doorposts
and lintel, it is performed in the Temple, with the blood and fats being placed
upon the altar, as in the case of all other animal sacrifices. The other details of the Pesach that are
described here are to be followed for all generations. They include the
following:
a.
The sacrifice is to be a (male) sheep or goat in its first
year.
b.
The meat is eaten "roast with fire, its head with its legs and with its
entrails," not raw or boiled.
In contrast, in Parashat
Re'eh, we find a completely different set of laws, contradicting those set
out in Parashat Ha-chodesh and different from the halakha for all
future generations:
a.
"You shall offer a Pesach [sacrifice] unto the Lord your God of the flock
and of the herd." The plain meaning of the verse would seem to indicate that the
Pesach sacrifice can be offered at any time of the day! Furthermore, while
Chazal explain, "'Of the flock' for the Pesach sacrifice; 'And of the
herd' for the Chagiga offering" (Sifri piska 129 and elsewhere), and
Ramban attempts to trace this explanation back to the literal meaning of the
text by dividing the verse into two expressions, as though the text said, "You
shall offer the Pesach unto the Lord your God (in accordance with the familiar
laws of Pesach); and of the flock and of the herd (for the Chagiga),"
nevertheless the literal meaning of the verse is unquestionably that the Pesach
sacrifice is taken from the herd and from the flock. Finally, there is no specification that
the animal must be male or have any particular age.
b.
"And you shall cook it and eat it" the plain meaning here would seem to
indicate that the Pesach sacrifice may cooked in water contradicting the
explicit negative command in Parashat Ha-chodesh: "You shall not
eat of it raw, nor cooked with water." Here, too, Chazal try to resolve
the difficulty (Mekhilta Bo parasha 6): "The word 'cook' means 'roast,'
as it says here, 'You shall cook it and eat it,' and it says, 'They cooked the
Pesach sacrifice with fire, according to the law
' (II Divrei Ha-yamim
35:13). On this basis R. Yoshiya
used to say: One who makes a vow to abstain from cooked food is forbidden to eat
anything that is roasted." In other words, Chazal deduced from the
seeming contradiction between Parashat Ha-chodesh and Parashat
Re'eh, and from the verse in Divrei Ha-yamim where we learn that
"they cooked" the Pesach sacrifice "with fire" as required by law, that the
expression "cooking" includes roasting.
However, even if we accept that the verse in Divrei Ha-yamim
indeed reflects accepted usage, rather than the result of interpretation similar
to that found in the Mekhilta, the appearance in Parashat Re'eh of
the word "cook" with no qualification, and without the clarification "with
fire," is problematic, especially in light of the fact that the word "cook" is
used in Parashat Ha-chodesh exclusively in the context of a forbidden
manner of preparation, while the required method of preparation of the Pesach
sacrifice is defined there as "roast with fire," with no appearance of the word
"cooked." Hence, it would seem that the literal meaning of the verse in
Parashat Re'eh does in fact refer to cooking in
water.
The discrepancies between these
two sources with regard to the details of the laws would appear to reflect a
fundamental difference in the existential nature of the Pesach sacrifice in each
case. Let us try to understand the
nature of the Pesach as expressed in each source, and then try to understand the
halakha.
Ha-chodesh
As noted, the Pesach of
Parashat Ha-chodesh is characterized by being taken specifically
from the flock, and being eaten exclusively in roasted form. Chazal explain the reason for the
Pesach being a sheep (or goat); Chazal explain as follows (Shemot
Rabba 16,3):
"'Draw and take for yourselves
sheep' as it is written, 'All who worship idols shall be shamed.' When the
Holy One, blessed be He, told Moshe to slaughter the Pesach sacrifice, Moshe
said: Master of the world how can I do this thing? How can You not know that
sheep are the gods of the Egyptians? As it is written, 'Shall we then offer up
the god [literally, 'the abomination'] of the Egyptians before their eyes,
without having them stone us?!' (Shemot 8:22). The Holy One said to him: By your life,
Israel will not leave here until they have slaughtered the gods of the Egyptians
before their eyes, that I may make known to them that their gods are worth
nothing
.
According to other commentators,
the literal meaning of the expression, "The abomination of the Egyptians,"
indicates that sheep were not the gods of the Egyptians, but rather that
Egyptian culture was repelled by sheep and the consumption of their meat
obviously for religious reasons.
Whatever the case may be, the slaughtering of sheep for the Pesach
sacrifice represented an active demonstration of rejecting Egyptian culture and
religion.
According to the above, we can
understand why the Pesach had to be roasted with fire. For cooking in water, meat is cut up
into pieces, such that the form of the animal is no longer recognizable. Only when it is roasted on the fire does
the animal remain whole, such that it is still recognizable. The commandment of the Pesach sacrifice,
then, is to slaughter the Egyptian culture, as it were, for the sake of Divine
service, and to serve at the table at eat not mutton meat that came from a
sheep but rather the sheep itself, whole and recognizable. Thus, the performance of the Pesach
becomes a conscious and holistic expression of rejection of Egyptian culture in
order to enter into God's covenant.
And for all future generations,
the Pesach of Egypt is reenacted every year. In this reenactment an Israelite affirms
each time anew his commitment to the covenant with God over foreign value
systems, and accepts upon himself anew the yoke of the Kingdom of
heaven.
Re'eh
As noted, the Pesach sacrifice
as described in Parashat Re'eh can be "from the flock or from the
herd," but not a bird; it may also be either male or female, and of any
age. There is no requirement of
roasting; the meat of the Pesach sacrifice may be cooked. Similarly to the Pesach of
Parashat Ha-chodesh, the meat is eaten by the owners, and only
until the morning.
Of the four basic categories of
sacrifices the burnt offering, peace offering, the various sin offerings and
the guilt offering the only one that has no clear requirements as to whether
it is male or female is the peace offering (Vayikra 3:1). The peace offering likewise has no
limitation on the age of the animal, and it may be from the flock or from the
herd but not a bird. The language
of the text describing the Pesach sacrifice in Parashat Re'eh
"You shall offer" (ve-zavachta) is likewise reminiscent of the peace
offering, which unlike other sacrifices is consistently referred to as a
"zevach" (offering).
In Parashat Tzav
(7:11-18) the Torah sets forth two types of peace offerings: vow offerings, and
offerings of thanksgiving. The main
difference, in terms of the laws applicable to them, is that vow offerings may
be eaten over a period of two days and a night, whereas the thanksgiving
offering must be eaten either on the day of the sacrifice or later on during the
night. In this regard the Pesach
sacrifice of Parashat Re'eh is remarkably similar to the
thanksgiving sacrifice, since in the context of the former we are told, "Nor
shall any of the meat, which you shall offer up on the first day in the evening,
remain until morning." From here we learn the essential nature of the Pesach
sacrifice in Parashat Re'eh: the Pesach of Parashat
Re'eh is a national offering of thanksgiving for the Exodus from
Egypt.
This message fits in well with
the themes of the other pilgrim festivals as set out in Parashat
Re'eh, with expressions of celebration and joy: on the festival of
Shavuot, the harvest is celebrated "as the Lord your God has blessed you"; the
festival of Sukkot with the ingathering of produce is celebrated "for the Lord
your God has blessed you." On all three pilgrim festivals one is to rejoice and
thank God on Pesach, for redemption from Egypt; on Shavuot and Sukkot, for
God's blessing in the agricultural produce.
Two Aspects of
Pesach
The two parashot that
present the commandment of the Pesach sacrifice reflect its two different
aspects: the aspect of a sacrifice that affirms the covenant, expressing the
negation of foreign cultures and the acceptance of the yoke of the Kingdom of
heaven, and the aspect of a sacrifice of praise and thanks to
God.
The halakhic characteristics of
the Pesach sacrifice, in the Oral Law, are established on the basis of
Parashat Ha-chodesh: a male sheep of the first year that is eaten
only roasted. This comes as no
surprise, since Parashat Ha-chodesh is the stricter of the two
sources in terms of halakhic requirements.
A view of both parashot as binding logically leads to the
conclusion that practically, the sacrifice must assume the character of
Parashat Ha-chodesh.
However, it would seem that
halakha is also influenced to some extent by the Pesach of Parashat
Re'eh. We quoted above the
exegesis of Chazal involving the obligation of the Chagiga offering:
"'From the flocks' for the Pesach sacrifice; 'And from the herds' for the
Chagiga sacrifice." Chagiga is referred to in halakha as "the Chagiga
(literally, "festive offering") of the fourteenth." This Chagiga has a most
peculiar status especially as viewed by the Rambam.
The Mishna in Pesachim
(69b) teaches: "When is the Chagiga brought together with it [the Pesach]? When
it is brought on a regular day, in purity, being modest in quantity. But when it is brought on Shabbat, in
large quantity, and in a state of impurity, then the Chagiga offering is not
brought together with it." In other words, the bringing of the Chagiga is
dependent upon three factors: the 14th of Nissan must fall on a
weekday, the sacrifice must be brought in purity, and the Pesach sacrifice
itself must be small, such that the group of people who own it should not be
satisfied after eating it. But if
the 14th of Nissan falls on Shabbat, or comes at a time of ritual
impurity (on the basis of the law that "ritual impurity is set aside if it
involves the whole community"), or if the Pesach sacrifice suffices for all to
eat of it and be completely satiated, then no Chagiga offering is
brought.
This conditional status of the
Chagiga is unusual: where else do we find the obligation of bringing a sacrifice
being dependent on such factors? It is for this reason that Rav Ashi concludes,
in the Gemara (70a), "This must mean that the Chagiga of the fourteenth [of
Nissan] is not obligatory." Tosfot explain: "'It is not obligatory' meaning,
there is no obligation from the Torah to bring it." As the continuation of the
Tosfot goes on to explain, the conclusion presented above was the subject of
some controversy among the Tannaim; the Mishna adopts the opinion that no
obligation to bring the Chagiga may be derived from the biblical verse; the
requirement is rabbinical in origin, and apparently the verse is teaching
something else.
But the Rambam (Laws of the
Pesach Sacrifice, 10:12-13) arrives at the requirement of the "Chagiga of the
fourteenth" on the basis of the verse, but he nevertheless rules in accordance
with the Mishna: "When the Pesach is offered in the first month, we sacrifice
thanksgiving offerings together with it on the 14th
and this is what
is known as the 'Chagiga of the 14th'; concerning this it is written
in the Torah, 'You shall offer a Pesach unto the Lord your God, of the flocks
and of the herds.' When is this Chagiga brought together with it? When it falls
on a weekday, and in purity, and in a small quantity. But if the 14th falls on
Shabbat, or when the nation is in a state of impurity, or if the Pesach
sacrifices are large in volume, then a Chagiga offering is not brought together
with it; the Pesach alone is offered.
The Chagiga of the 14th is voluntary and not
obligatory."
To explain the Rambam we may
suggest that the terms "voluntary" and "obligatory" here mean absolute and
supreme obligation, requiring an independent sacrifice like other sacrifices
(see Chagiga 8a concerning a sacrifice brought from unsanctified
animals), and that this definition of "obligation" is the basis for the
sacrifice overriding both Shabbat and the communal state of ritual
impurity. The Chagiga of the
14th is not an "obligation" requiring an independent sacrifice, but
it is a commandment a commandment of praise and thanksgiving to God through
offerings brought from the flocks or from the herds. However, this commandment may be
fulfilled through the Pesach itself: if that sacrifice is sufficient to
represent a full meal of sacrificial food, a worthy banquet of praise. Only when the Pesach is small in volume
does this commandment require that it be "supplemented" with additional
offerings from the herds (since if there were any extra sheep, they would be
offered as Pesach sacrifices and divided amongst the groups). This supplement, owing to its lack of
any defined identity as an independent sacrifice, falls under the category of a
vow offering.
This commandment, then, not
requiring a defined, independent offering, is the result of the discrepancy
between the two aspects of the Pesach.
In fact, we have here two laws concerning the Pesach: one law as to a
limited, defined sacrifice that is brought from the males of the flocks, and a
second law as to a magnanimous banquet of sacrificial food an offering of
thanks to God. From the perspective
of the identity of the Pesach sacrifice itself, the first law takes precedence;
the second law does not establish the identity of the sacrifice, but remains a
commandment pertaining to the person.
Chazal refer to this commandment as "the Chagiga of the
14th" (we shall not elaborate here on the reason for this
title).
The Story of the Exodus
from Egypt
The mitzva of recounting the
story of the Exodus is, in terms of its substance, a commandment to give verbal
expression to the existential expression of the Pesach sacrifice. This concept arises from the context of
the verses that represent the source for the law of recounting; these describe
the story of the Exodus as an explanation for the Pesach sacrifice
(Shemot 12:26-27; 13:6-8):
"And it shall be when your
children say to you: What is this service to you? Then you shall say: It is a
Pesach offering to God, for He passed over the houses of Bnei Yisrael in Egypt
when He struck Egypt, saving our houses
and you shall perform this service in
this month
and you shall tell your son that that day, saying: Because of this
God did for me, when I left Egypt
."
Ramban notes the close
connection between the commandment to recount the Exodus story and the Pesach
sacrifice. In his gloss to
Sefer Ha-Mitzvot (note 15 on positive commandments), he explains
the reason for counting the blessing recited over the Torah as a commandment
that is separate from the reading from the Torah: "It is not proper that it be
counted as the same commandment together with the reading, just as the
recitation over the first fruits [brought to the Temple] is counted as a
commandment that is independent of the actual bringing of the first fruits, and
the story of the Exodus is independent of the eating of the Pesach sacrifice."
Clearly, to Ramban's view, the relationship between the story of the Exodus and
the Pesach sacrifice resembles the relationship between the recitation over the
first fruits and the bringing of them, and between the blessing over the Torah
and the reading of it. [Ramban
expresses the same idea in Milchamot Hashem Berakhot 2b, and in his
Chiddushim on Pesachim 117a, end of s.v.
ve-od].
This relationship between the
Pesach sacrifice and the story of the Haggada is also anchored in several laws:
the law that the "telling" must follow the format of questions and answers (even
for a person who is sitting alone); the opinion of Rabban Gamliel that mention
must be made of Pesach, matza and maror; etc.
Hence, it is not at all
surprising that we find the two aspects of the Pesach sacrifice the acceptance
of the yoke of heaven, and praise and thanksgiving reflected in the laws of
the Haggada, too. The Mishna in
Pesachim (116a) establishes as the first element of the answer to the
question, "Why is this night different
": "We begin with disgrace and end with
praise." The Amoraim are divided as to the specific content of the disgrace and
the praise: "What 'disgrace' is referred to? Rav taught: 'At first our
forefathers were worshippers of idols.' Shemuel taught: 'We were slaves.'"
Rabbeinu Chananel notes: "Nowadays we do like both of them." Rambam codifies
this as law, and we follow this custom today. The section that begins, "At first our
forefathers were worshippers of idols, and now God has brought us close to His
service," highlights the Exodus as the definitive event of God taking Israel to
be His nation; as such, the retelling of the story is a reenactment of the
experience of entering into the covenant with God at the time of the
Exodus. This is a verbal expression
of the Pesach of Parashat Ha-chodesh. The section that begins, "We were slaves
to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord our God took us out of there with a strong
arm," highlights the Exodus as an event that radically changed the status of
Am Yisrael from being slaves to being free people, and emphasizes that
the event was accompanied by great miracles. Unquestionably, the theme of this
section is praise and thanks to God for what He did for Israel at the time of
the Exodus.
Thus, the two sections that
represent central elements of the Haggada reflect the two aspects of fulfilling
the Pesach, as arising from the two sources.
Translated by Kaeren
Fish