הלכה על שמות 16:22

R. Jacob Ettlinger notes that members of the generation of the Exodus acquired status as Jews by means of circumcision and immersion, i.e., circumcision before their departure from Egypt and immersion immediately prior to the giving of the Torah at Sinai. Hence, at the time of the offering of the first paschal sacrifice on the eve of the Exodus from Egypt, their status was that of circumcised converts who had as yet not undergone immersion. Yet the Gemara, Shabbat 87b, declares that the commandment concerning Sabbath observance was given at Marah, before revelation at Sinai. Indeed, a literal reading of the sequence of events described in Exodus 16:22-30 indicates that our ancestors were commanded to observe the Sabbath prior to experiencing revelation at Mount Sinai.¹²It should be noted that Rabbi Schwartz remarks parenthetically that, prior to receiving the Torah at Sinai, our ancestors refrained only from the activity expressly proscribed in Exodus 16–29, viz., collecting manna on the Sabbath, but did not refrain from other restricted activities. In a somewhat similar vein, Ḥatam Sofer, Shabbat 87b, cites an earlier authority who maintains that, although commanded at Marah, Sabbath restrictions became binding only at Sinai. Accordingly, argues Rabbi Ettlinger, it may be deduced that the commandment concerning Sabbath observance is binding upon all who enjoy a similar status, i.e., upon converts who have undergone circumcision but who have as yet not undergone immersion. Thus, according to R. Jacob Ettlinger, such individuals are not only permitted to observe the Sabbath but are required to do so. Indeed, he argues, if not for a specific exclusion of the circumcised but unimmersed convert, such an individual would be required to participate in the paschal offering as well, since his status is identical to that of those who offered the first paschal sacrifice.¹³Cf., Avnei Nezer, Yoreh De’ah, no 351, sec. 4.