פרשת תזריע תשכ"ה - פרשת "החדש הזה לכם"

And they shall take of the blood, and put it on the two side-posts and on the lintel, upon the houses wherein they shall eat it.

And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and there shall no plague be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

(Exodus 12:7) "And they shall place it on the two side posts and on the lintel": on the inside. You say on the inside, but perhaps on the outside (is meant)? It is, therefore, written (Ibid. 13) "And I will see the blood" — blood which is seen by Me and not by others. These are the words of R. Yishmael. R. Nathan says: On the inside. You say on the inside, but perhaps on the outside? It is, therefore, written (Ibid.) "and the blood will be for you as a sign" — for you and not for others. R. Yitzchak says: On the outside — so that the Egyptians see (their gods being slaughtered), and their insides be "ripped apart!"

(Exodus 12:13) "And the blood shall be for you as a sign": for you as a sign, and not for Me as a sign; for you as a sign, and not for others as a sign. "on the houses": What is the intent of this? Is it not already written (Ibid. 7) "on the lintel of the houses where they shall eat it"? This tells me only of the houses in which they eat it. Whence do I derive (the same for) the houses in which they sleep? From (here) "the houses where you are" — in any event. "and I shall see the blood": R. Yishmael was wont to say: Isn't everything revealed to Him, viz. (Daniel 2:22) "He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him," and (Psalms 139:12) "Darkness, too, is not dark for You." What, then, is the intent of "And I shall see the blood"? In reward for the mitzvah that you do, I shall reveal Myself with compassion to you, as it is written (Ibid.) "ufasachti upon you," "pesichah" connoting life, as in (Isaiah 31:5) "As birds that fly, so will the L rd of hosts shield Jerusalem, shielding and saving, paseach and rescuing." Variantly: "And I shall see the blood": I shall see the "blood" of the binding of Isaac, as it is written (Genesis 22:14) "And Abraham called the name of the place 'The L rd will see.'" And elsewhere it is written (I Chronicles 21:15) "But as he was about to destroy, the L rd saw and He repented Himself of the evil." What did He see? The blood of the binding of Isaac.

And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.

Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; howbeit the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses; for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.