(ג) דַּבְּר֗וּ אֶֽל־כׇּל־עֲדַ֤ת יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר בֶּעָשֹׂ֖ר לַחֹ֣דֶשׁ הַזֶּ֑ה וְיִקְח֣וּ לָהֶ֗ם אִ֛ישׁ שֶׂ֥ה לְבֵית־אָבֹ֖ת שֶׂ֥ה לַבָּֽיִת׃ (ד) וְאִם־יִמְעַ֣ט הַבַּ֘יִת֮ מִהְי֣וֹת מִשֶּׂה֒ וְלָקַ֣ח ה֗וּא וּשְׁכֵנ֛וֹ הַקָּרֹ֥ב אֶל־בֵּית֖וֹ בְּמִכְסַ֣ת נְפָשֹׁ֑ת אִ֚ישׁ לְפִ֣י אׇכְל֔וֹ תָּכֹ֖סּוּ עַל־הַשֶּֽׂה׃ (ה) שֶׂ֥ה תָמִ֛ים זָכָ֥ר בֶּן־שָׁנָ֖ה יִהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֑ם מִן־הַכְּבָשִׂ֥ים וּמִן־הָעִזִּ֖ים תִּקָּֽחוּ׃ (ו) וְהָיָ֤ה לָכֶם֙ לְמִשְׁמֶ֔רֶת עַ֣ד אַרְבָּעָ֥ה עָשָׂ֛ר י֖וֹם לַחֹ֣דֶשׁ הַזֶּ֑ה וְשָׁחֲט֣וּ אֹת֗וֹ כֹּ֛ל קְהַ֥ל עֲדַֽת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בֵּ֥ין הָעַרְבָּֽיִם׃ (ז) וְלָֽקְחוּ֙ מִן־הַדָּ֔ם וְנָ֥תְנ֛וּ עַל־שְׁתֵּ֥י הַמְּזוּזֹ֖ת וְעַל־הַמַּשְׁק֑וֹף עַ֚ל הַבָּ֣תִּ֔ים אֲשֶׁר־יֹאכְל֥וּ אֹת֖וֹ בָּהֶֽם׃ (ח) וְאָכְל֥וּ אֶת־הַבָּשָׂ֖ר בַּלַּ֣יְלָה הַזֶּ֑ה צְלִי־אֵ֣שׁ וּמַצּ֔וֹת עַל־מְרֹרִ֖ים יֹאכְלֻֽהוּ׃ (ט) אַל־תֹּאכְל֤וּ מִמֶּ֙נּוּ֙ נָ֔א וּבָשֵׁ֥ל מְבֻשָּׁ֖ל בַּמָּ֑יִם כִּ֣י אִם־צְלִי־אֵ֔שׁ רֹאשׁ֥וֹ עַל־כְּרָעָ֖יו וְעַל־קִרְבּֽוֹ׃ (י) וְלֹא־תוֹתִ֥ירוּ מִמֶּ֖נּוּ עַד־בֹּ֑קֶר וְהַנֹּתָ֥ר מִמֶּ֛נּוּ עַד־בֹּ֖קֶר בָּאֵ֥שׁ תִּשְׂרֹֽפוּ׃ (יא) וְכָ֘כָה֮ תֹּאכְל֣וּ אֹתוֹ֒ מׇתְנֵיכֶ֣ם חֲגֻרִ֔ים נַֽעֲלֵיכֶם֙ בְּרַגְלֵיכֶ֔ם וּמַקֶּלְכֶ֖ם בְּיֶדְכֶ֑ם וַאֲכַלְתֶּ֤ם אֹתוֹ֙ בְּחִפָּז֔וֹן פֶּ֥סַח ה֖וּא לַיהֹוָֽה׃ (יב) וְעָבַרְתִּ֣י בְאֶֽרֶץ־מִצְרַ֘יִם֮ בַּלַּ֣יְלָה הַזֶּה֒ וְהִכֵּיתִ֤י כׇל־בְּכוֹר֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם מֵאָדָ֖ם וְעַד־בְּהֵמָ֑ה וּבְכׇל־אֱלֹהֵ֥י מִצְרַ֛יִם אֶֽעֱשֶׂ֥ה שְׁפָטִ֖ים אֲנִ֥י יְהֹוָֽה׃ (יג) וְהָיָה֩ הַדָּ֨ם לָכֶ֜ם לְאֹ֗ת עַ֤ל הַבָּתִּים֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אַתֶּ֣ם שָׁ֔ם וְרָאִ֙יתִי֙ אֶת־הַדָּ֔ם וּפָסַחְתִּ֖י עֲלֵכֶ֑ם וְלֹֽא־יִֽהְיֶ֨ה בָכֶ֥ם נֶ֙גֶף֙ לְמַשְׁחִ֔ית בְּהַכֹּתִ֖י בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃ (יד) וְהָיָה֩ הַיּ֨וֹם הַזֶּ֤ה לָכֶם֙ לְזִכָּר֔וֹן וְחַגֹּתֶ֥ם אֹת֖וֹ חַ֣ג לַֽיהֹוָ֑ה לְדֹרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם חֻקַּ֥ת עוֹלָ֖ם תְּחׇגֻּֽהוּ׃
(3) Speak to the community leadership of Israel and say that on the tenth of this month each of them shall take a lamb to a family, a lamb to a household. (4) But if the household is too small for a lamb, let it share one with a neighbor who dwells nearby, in proportion to the number of persons: you shall contribute for the lamb according to what each household will eat. (5) Your lamb shall be without blemish, a yearling male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. (6) You shall keep watch over it until the fourteenth day of this month; and all the assembled congregation of the Israelites shall slaughter it at twilight. (7) They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they are to eat it. (8) They shall eat the flesh that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. (9) Do not eat any of it raw, or cooked in any way with water, but roasted—head, legs, and entrails—over the fire. (10) You shall not leave any of it over until morning; if any of it is left until morning, you shall burn it. (11) This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly: it is a passover offering to יהוה. (12) For that night I will go through the land of Egypt and strike down every [male] first-born in the land of Egypt, both human and beast; and I will mete out punishments to all the gods of Egypt, I יהוה. (13) And the blood on the houses where you are staying shall be a sign for you: when I see the blood I will pass over you, so that no plague will destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. (14) This day shall be to you one of remembrance: you shall celebrate it as a festival to יהוה throughout the ages; you shall celebrate it as an institution for all time.
The Korban Pesah (KP) is unlike any other offering in Humash. Its specific and detailed instructions - I've highlighted 14 elements above - have taxed commentators ancient and modern. This shiur will study comments/interpretations by Rashi, Rashbam, the Hinukh and Hizkuni, all from the late Middle Ages. If we have time, we will read comments by Dr. Theodor Gaster, the late professor of Bible at Barnard College, who represents the academic approach to Passover.
We will consider an essay by Prof. Rabbi Marty Lockshin, Professor Emeritus at York University. He offers the insightful suggestion - drawing upon a work translated and analyzed by Dr. David Berger - that the many interpretations of the KP be considered in light of Christian exegetes who saw the pascal lamb in Christian terms.
Rashi (North France, d.1105)
(ב) וגם צדה לא עשו להם. לַדֶּרֶךְ. מַגִּיד שִׁבְחָן שֶׁל יִשְׂרָאֵל, שֶׁלֹּא אָמְרוּ הֵיאַךְ נֵצֵא לַמִּדְבָּר בְּלֹא צֵידָה? אֶלָּא הֶאֱמִינוּ וְהָלְכוּ;
הוּא שֶׁמְּפֹרָשׁ בַּקַּבָּלָה, "זָכַרְתִּי לָךְ חֶסֶד נְעוּרַיִךְ אַהֲבַת כְּלוּלֹתָיִךְ לֶכְתֵּךְ אַחֲרַי בַּמִּדְבָּר בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא זְרוּעָה" (ירמיהו ב'), מַה שָּׂכָר מְפֹרָשׁ אַחֲרָיו? "קֹדֶשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל לַה' וְגוֹ'":
" 2) NEITHER HAD THEY MADE FOR THEMSELVES ANY PROVISION for the journey. This is stated to tell how praiseworthy Israel was: that they did not say, “How can we go forth into the wilderness without provisions?” But they had faith and set forth.
This it is that is referred to more explicitly in the prophets: (Jeremiah 2:1) “I remember for thee the affection of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, how thou wentest after me in the wilderness in a land that was not sown”. What reward is afterwards set forth there? “Israel is the Lord’s hallowed portion etc.” (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:35).
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Rashi here interprets this verse as an illustration of the faithfulness of Israel: although the people did not have time to prepare appropriate attire and food for the Exodus, their total faith in God allowed them to depart immediately.
Rashbam (Northern France, 12th century)
(א) ועצם לא תשברו בו - כדרך אכילתו בחיפזון.
ועצם לא תשברו בו, as a symbol of the haste in which it must be eaten.
(א) ואכלו את הבשר בלילה הזה צלי אש וגו' - כל עניני אכילה דרך חפזון ומהירות הוא, כאדם הנחפז ללכת.
He would interpret all aspects of the Korban Pesah as evidencing the hurried nature of the Exodus:
loins girded sandals on feet staff in hand no time to boil their offering in a pot or break its
bones no time to extract the marrow
God acted immediately and decisively to bring about Israel's freedom. The details of the Korban Pesah illustrate the emotional tone of the Exodus. Israel's final acts in Egypt were done "b'hipazon." The details of the KP capture the rushed nature of the nation's deliverance from bondage.
The Hinukh (Spain; possibly 13th century)
(א) שלא לשבר עצם מן הפסח....
(ב) משרשי המצוה. לזכר נסי מצרים כמו שכתבנו באחרות. וגם זה גזע מן השרש הנזכר, שאין כבוד לבני מלכים ויועצי ארץ לגרר העצמות ולשברם ככלבים, לא יאות לעשות ככה, כי אם לעניי העם הרעבים.
ועל כן בתחלת בואנו להיות סגלת כל העמים ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש (שם יט ו), ובכל שנה ושנה באותו הזמן, ראוי לנו לעשות מעשים המראים בנו המעלה הגדולה שעלינו בה באותה שעה.
(2) From the roots of the commandment is to remember the miracles of Egypt, as we have written in the other [related commandments]. And this is also a trunk from the root mentioned: For it is not honorable for the sons of kings and the advisers of the land to drag the bones and break them like dogs. Except for the impoverished among the people and the starving, it is not a proper thing to do this. And therefore, as we began to become the chosen of all nations, 'a kingdom of priests and a holy nation' - and in each and every year at that time - it is fitting for us to do acts that show the great stature which we achieved at that hour, about us.
Hizkuni: R. Hezekiah ben Manoah (France; 13th century)
(1) ואכלו את הבשר בלילה “they are to eat the meat during this night;” at the time when all people are at home....
(3) צלי אש, “roasted on the fire;” so that the fragrance of the meat will assail the noses of the Egyptians and they will reflect on what is happening to their deity.
(א) והיה לכם למשמרת.... (ג) עד ארבעה עשר יום כדי שיראו המצרים את יראתם קשורה בבשת ובזוי בבתי היהודים וישמעוה צועקת ואין מושיע לה, וראיה לדבר שהרי כאן כתיב לחדש הזה ללמדך שמצוה זאת לא נהגה רק לאותו פסח.
(3) עד ארבעה עשר יום, “in order to annoy the Egyptians who had to sit by unable to interfere while the Israelites prepared to kill their deities.” These animals were kept tied up where everyone could see them for four days. They would hear the animals bleat and were powerless to do anything about it. If we needed proof for this assumption it is found in the words: לחודש הזה “(only) during this month.” This means that this commandment was a commandment to be performed only once in Jewish history,
(ד) על מררים עם מרורים כל זה דרך בזיון שיאכלוהו עם דבר רע ומר ולא עם דבר חשוב ומתוק.
4) על מרורים, “together with bitter herbs.” All these (details of this observance) were (to taunt the Egyptians) by eating with it (i.e., their god) something degrading and bitter. This is why they were not to eat it with something sweet.
Theodor Gaster, Festivals of the Jewish Year, pp. 31-35.
Although he wrote his book in 1953, he offers a fine review of the academic approach to Passover and an interpretation of its rituals.
Dr. Lockshin offers another cause for the heroic attempts of our commentaries to explain each detail of the Korban Pesah. He cites Sefer Nitzahon Yashan, translated by Dr. David Berger in his The Jewish-Christian Debate in the High Middle Ages (JPS, 1979) Lookshin cites from this medieval work:
"...they [the Christians] say of the paschal lamb, concerning which it is written, "they shall take to them every man a lamb according to their fathers' houses," that it prefigures the hanged one [=Jesus]. There are, indeed, many verses which they interpret as references to the hanged one, and they tell us: Fools, we know that the Torah was given to you and not to us; why then do you not perceive its nature? Why do you not consider the apparently peculiar nature of the laws which God commanded you, such as "Eat not of it raw, nor cooked at all with water...nor shall you break a bone of it" What difference does it make whether or not it is cooked with water? Indeed, there are many peculiarities in that passage, and what could be the reason for them? Are you truly animals that you do not perceive what these things symbolize?"
Dr. Lockshin writes: "Ever since the New Testament, the paschal lamb has been interpreted as prefiguring Jesus. In subsequent centuries, Church Fathers and later clergy taught that Jesus was the lamb of God, the new Passover sacrifice. The Christian who is quoted or paraphrased in Sefer Nitzahon Yashan makes the curious argument: the difficulty of offering any rational reason for the details of the paschal sacrifice in Exodus 12 "proves" that the text requires an allegorical explanation, and it must be an allegory about Jesus. This seems to have led Jews to work harder to prove that, on the literal level, the rules were meaningful, not arbitrary.
We must be cautious when attributing anti-Christian polemical motives to any individual Jewish commentator who does not specifically identify his motives as such. But the longstanding nature of the Christian "paschal lamb" claim about Jesus and the explicit Christian anti-Jewish polemical comments, coupled with the Jewish thinkers in Christian countries' extensive explanations for the details about that paschal lamb, make such motives linkely in this case."
New Testament sources:
John 19:36: For these things were done [i.e., to Jesus] that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken."
I Corinthians 5:7: Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us
Sixth and final part of the Mass: Agnus Dei (Lamb of the World)
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us. (3x)